Over the last several weeks, I have been back and forth between Stade and Göttingen. I’ve been visiting family and friends. I’ve also been spending some time looking through old pictures at my grandparents’s home and working on putting together a family tree.
I haven’t really done much exploring as I intended to. This is multifactorial. Firstly, going back and forth between Stade and Göttingen so frequently eats up quite a bit of time. Especially when I get back to the house in Stade, its grocery shopping, doing laundry, getting organized. When I leave the house, there is a checklist of things that need to be done and trying to pack as minimally as possible for the baby and myself.
Secondly, the weather has been a bit of a bummer lately. It’s not exactly an appealing thought to go on a long walks in the rainy, windy weather.
Thirdly, the COVID numbers have been rising dramatically again in Germany. These numbers are mainly fueled by the unvaccinated. About 68.6% of the eligible population is vaccinated. The distribution is not proportional. There is a clear north-south divide when you look at a map of the cases. The north is more vaccinated and has less cases. Northern states are taking ICU patients from the southern states because the southern hospitals are overwhelmed. With these rising numbers comes increased restrictions on public life. As of today, many parts of Lower Saxony have a 2G+ rule.
Canal in Buxtehude 
A free library in an old telephone booth 
Cinderella in Buxtehude 
Die Sterntaler in Buxtehude
German Covid Regulations
In Germany, they have the 2G and 3G regulations. The G’s are geimpft (vaccinated), genesen (recovered), and getestet (tested). Many places already had 2G regulations in place. If you were vaccinated or had recovered from Covid in the past 6 months, you were good. As I mentioned, as of today, many increased the restrictions to 2G+. So in order to partake in certain activities (Christmas markets or going to get your hair cut), you need a few things. You have to be either fully vaccinated or have recovered from Covid no more than 6 months ago AND need to have a negative test result from that day as well. Oh, and you still have to wear a mask.
The rising numbers have also caused many Christmas markets to shut down after only being open a few days or not opening at all.
Christmasmarket Adventures
I briefly visited the Christmas market in Göttingen last week when I was in town to grab some chocolates and flowers for my friend’s birthday. I had to show my proof of vaccination and ID to obtain a wristband. This wristband had to be shown to vendors to be able to buy anything. I quickly grabbed some fried mushrooms as a little snack. Back in the day when I was a medical student, we would head to the Christmas market as much as possible in the evening to drink some Glühwein (hot, spiced wine).
Yesterday, I drove to Buxtehude, about 20 minutes from Stade, to check out their Christmas market. Buxtehude is associated with fairytales. The city’s mascots are a hare and hedgehog. The story surrounding the two is similar to the American story of the tortoise and the hare. You’ll find statues and depictions of the two in stores, on the street and on street signs. For Christmas, they set up statues of various fairytale characters throughout the city. To enter the Christmas market, I had to show them my proof of vaccination and ID. I read a few of the stories posted under the fairytale statues and grabbed some Schmalzkuchen. That is fried pieces of dough topped with powdered sugar. Similar to funnel cake in the USA. Overall, it wasn’t really busy. Maybe I was just too early. But it didn’t feel like the typical Christmas market experience.
Buxtehude Christmas Market 
Buxtehude Christmas Market 
Storytelling in Buxtehude 
Buxtehude Christmas Market
Mission: get into the Christmas market!
Today, I drove in the opposite direction and wanted to see the Christmas market in Himmelpforten (Heaven’s Gate). On the radio, I heard that Lower Saxony was now using the 2G+ rule and wondered if this would already apply to the Christmas market. When I arrived, I saw the large poster at the entrance gate announcing the 2G+ rule. I asked the gate attending where I could get tested. Luckily for me, there was a testing location in walking distance. Their website said they weren’t open for another 40 minutes but I decided to head over anyways. The walk was filled with light rain and fairly strong winds. My baby was tucked in the baby wrap under a cashmere sweater and oversized winter jacket. If it weren’t for the imminent threat of Christmas markets potentially closing soon, I would’ve gotten back into my car and driven home.
My wait at the testing center was maybe 15-20 minutes before being tested. They had opened early. When I exited the building, I saw that the line had quadrupled in length. I apparently wasn’t the only one surprised by the 2G+ rule. In Germany, you can use an App on your phone at testing centers. Your individual QR code is scanned and then the result is automatically uploaded into the app. Germany actually has a few Apps it uses. There is one for checking in at restaurants and such by scanning a QR code so that you don’t have to fill out the contact tracing paperwork. Another App verifies your vaccination status and one even alerts you if you have been in the vicinity of a person who recently tested positive. All pretty nifty.
Mission accomplished
Since it was going to take about 15 minutes for my test result to be ready, I headed to the grocery store to grab a few items. When the test result was on my phone, I finally headed to the Christmas market. All in all, about an hour after I originally arrived.
It was a bit depressing to see how empty the Christmas market was. This was likely due to all the people still standing in line to get their Covid test. There were a lot of vendors with handmade crafts as well as several food and beverage vendors. I walked around a bit looking to see if they had potatoes pancakes (one of my favorite Christmas market foods) but unfortunately, they didn’t. Nonetheless, I wanted to support the vendors, so I found one selling deep-fried apple rings. At this point, baby was over being in the carrier, so I decided to head back to the car and head home. Again, the real feeling of Christmas market was lacking a bit unfortunately.
The church in Himmelpforten (Heaven’s Gate) 
Christkindmarkt Himmelpforten 
The calorie bomb in Himmelpforten 
Christkindmarkt HImmelpforten
Practicing gratefulness
I really am grateful that I’ve had the few Christmas market visits so far. There are a few more on my radar I’d like to visit in the near future. I’m even willing to take on some of the increased security measures to do so. But I also fear many will shut down or not even open because there won’t be enough visitors. It’s a bit sad because if it weren’t for Covid, I’d visit the markets in Hamburg, Hannover, Kassel and so on. They would be filled with people, laughter, food, drinks, snacks, lights, decorations and fun. It would be a time to spend with family and friends and make memories. Maybe I’m idealizing the experience a bit because it’s been so long since its been that way for me. The first few years after graduating medical school because I wasn’t in Germany and the last two years because of Covid.
If pandemics of the past are any indication however, this time of restriction too shall pass. I guess I’m also grateful that my baby is just that, a baby and won’t remember this time anyways. Hopefully, by the time long-term memory kicks in, Christmas markets will be back to their old glory and we can eat, laugh, drink, play and make memories together then.
mfg
