December 2025

It is Advent time in Germany when people rejoice in anticipation of Christmas. Streets and houses are decorated with lights, Christmas trees, and various other decorations. Some are traditional wooden ornaments or handmade Advent wreaths on which a candle is lit each Sunday until all four are burning. And then,
there are inflated plastic snowmen, reindeer, and sleighs, with an occasional Santa Claus hanging out of a window as if he had just robbed the place and is
hurrying to escape. The good thing about Germany, however, is that there are no homeowner associations here, and nobody cares what you put on your house in terms of decoration, as long as it’s not them paying the electricity bill.

This year, since I will be traveling over the holidays to visit family, I didn’t want to overdo it and have chosen white stars, which I had to attach high enough so that my cat can’t reach them. The little guy has already proven to be a good, though pretty reckless, climber. Just ask my curtains, and his paw, which he managed to break this summer. But that’s another story.

If I ignore the cold and the fact that it’s mostly dark and I haven’t seen any sun for the past couple of weeks, and won’t see any until March, this is a beautiful
time of the year. Christmas markets are all the rage. Almost every village here has a Christmas or Advent market on one of the weekends, some in the middle
of a forest or at other unusual places. Christmas markets in the cities are mostly open throughout the week. If you ever plan to visit Germany around this time of the year, then be sure to drink a cup of mulled wine at one of the markets, like the famous Nürnberger Christkindlesmarkt or Dresdner Striezelmarkt or the one in Hamburg, called “White Magic”.

But, my secret tip for you would be the Christmas Market in the Ravenna Gorge. Why? It’s beautiful – the stone viaduct above the market, the little huts, the trees, and the snow (if you’re lucky) … everything looks like it’s a part of a fairytale. No wonder – Ravenna Gorge is in the magical Black Forest, where two of my books, “Forest Magic” and “Hunter’s Fortune”, take place. And I put them there for a reason.

If traveling is difficult for you this year, you can always read my books (or gift them to someone), or my free Christmas story “The Night Sky over Berlin”. I am currently working on a new Christmas romance story, which I hope to present to you next year. I wish you wonderful holidays and plenty of time to relax, enjoy good food, and hopefully, some romance.