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I was talking to two ladies in the Applegreen canteen yesterday and they told me they were heading to Germany to the Christmas Markets. Every German town has a Weihnachtsmarkt.

The market is like a little town square within the town square, made up of decorated and seasonally lit wooden houses. Generally they are manned by artisans selling everything from paintings, photographs, wooden toys, all forms of Christmas decorations for the house and tree, ceramics, pottery of all sorts, clothes, you name it they sell it. It's generally handmade and a little less factory-like than what's available in department stores.

However the best thing about Christmas markets is the atmosphere and the food. It's like walking into a different world. Like stepping back into a time when people had time to spare. Locals head there after work and hang out drinking gluehwein (mulled wine)and eating meter-long sausages and pork steaks, crepes or kartoffelpuffer (potato cakes). Choirs sing and for the kids there's always the carousel.

For the three weeks before Christmas the market provides a real alternative to the consumerism that prevails in the shopping areas and is a hell of a lot cheaper.

I told the girlfriend that instead of wasting money on a present this Christmas I intended to spend more time with her, funny thing is I haven't been able to contact her since.