Christmas markets

All of the squares around Prague have transformed into Christmas markets with booths selling various things -- some Christmas related, some not.
In addition to the items for sale there are food and beverage stands (Jason's favorite). The Trdlo stands, which we first saw at Easter last year, are back. These stands sell a pastry that's quite good and I enjoy watching them being made. The person takes the dough and rolls it into a snake. Then she wraps it around a metal tube and flattens the dough. A second person takes the tube and puts in on a rotating pole over a fire. The treat cooks for about a minute and then they serve it warm. Yum.
The squares are also decorated for the season, many of them with big, beautiful trees. I've included two pictures of the square at Namesti Miru (which is just down the street from us). One during the day and one at night.
The Christmas decorations around the city are a little different from what I'm used to -- mainly because people don't live in houses and so therefore don't hang Christmas lights. The city has put beautiful light displays on all the light posts along the busier streets. Many of the malls and large shops have hung lights on their facades. You see the occasional inflatable Santa, though since people don't have yards it's usually in front of a business.
Mistletoe is very popular here and I see many, many booths selling it by the branch. Some of the branches are fresh-picked and others are painted gold or silver. When I was at my class Thursday night (it's the one at my students' flat) they had two branches hanging from the ceiling. This family doesn't put up lights, but they have many other decorations around the flat -- candles, trinkets, a wreath. They didn't have a tree yet. They told me they usually put the tree up on the day before Christmas.
[SIDE NOTE: My Thursday night class is also the one where they make me dinner. They are often so excited about these traditional Czech dishes that I feel compelled to eat whatever they make. I have, therefore, eaten things at their house that I won't touch in any other circumstance. This week, my student made soup with liver dumplings and told me that it is her absolute favorite. The soup was quite good, but I had to force myself to swallow the liver dumplings. They looked something like a beef meatball, but they sure didn't taste like it. Actually, I think the texture was my biggest problem.]
The Christmas tree lots have just appeared in the last two or three days. I haven't actually seen anybody buying one yet, but I'm just waiting to see how they get them home. I imagine I'll soon be trying to cram onto a tram with some person and his Christmas tree -- I just hope I have my camera with me.
The Christmas season officially begins here with St. Nicholas' Day on Dec. 6. This is the Czech equivalent to the "have you been naughty or nice" test. On the eve of St. Nicholas' Day, trios of people (one angel, one devil and one St. Nicholas) wander the streets in search of children. The devil's job is to scare them and find out whether they've been good that year; the angel is supposed to protect them from the devil; St. Nicholas usually rewards the children with a small gift (usually a piece of chocolate). Jason and I had a class at the same building Wednesday night and we saw several trios walking about on our way home -- I'm mad that I didn't think to take my camera with me. This holiday is apparently quite terrifying for small children since the devils can be quite aggressive. In fact the husband at my Thursday night class reveled in telling me about how he used to play the devil and make children cry. They don't see it as mean, it's just part of the tradition.
We have been expecting the huge bins full of live carp to arrive at the markets soon, but we haven't seen them yet. Carp is the traditional Czech Christmas meal. I read somewhere this started because carp was something that everyone could afford. Apparently as Christmas draws closer people go to the market and get their dinner -- some choosing to have their fish killed right there and others choosing to take it home live. Those who choose to take it home live traditionally allow it to live in the bathtub for the week before Christmas. Jason is set on making carp, but I have set a firm rule that we will not have any carp in our bathtub.
There are more Christmas season pictures here.