Trento, Italy Christmas Market

There’s nothing quite like going to an authentic European Christmas market to get you in the holiday spirit.

Welcome to the Mercatino di Natale - Trento!

This weekend, my expert and I were in Trento, Italia, a lovely 8-hour bus ride from Rome, north to the Alps.  This city has a lot of history, particularly that of the Catholic religion.  Many meetings were held here in the 1500s.  Originally, the plans were to reconcile the relationship between Catholics and Protestants but in a nutshell, the Protestants respectfully declined this offer.  And so the Catholic leaders made their meetings about fixing the internal problems of the Catholic Church at the time.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to see the historical sites in Trento.  Instead, we made this quick trip about the Christmas market and it turned out to be well worth it!

As this mountainous area of Italy used to be part of Austrian territory, many customs and influences have remained over the centuries… including culinary creations!

Like Vin Brulee!  This enormous pot full of purple, foamy liquid is actually warm red wine with spices synonymous with the holidays, such as clove, cinnamon, nutmeg... you get the picture.

They even had raclette!  What's raclette?  Well it's a melty cheese that's heated in a few ways, one of which is above, and the melted part is scraped off to be eaten.  It is a dish with Swiss and French origins according to wikipedia.

This isn't raclette, but it's possibly the largest wheel of cheese I've ever seen! And yes, the samples tasted delicious.

And like yesterday's posted video, many vendors offered polenta made the authentic way.  No instant stuff here!  This vendor offered it with that bubbly dark brown stuff in the farthest vat from this view?  That is indeed tender deer meat in its gravy.  Really wish I would have tried it!

So many hand-made goods, and not enough money in my checking account!

 This absolutely turned into a day of wishing we could buy so much.

 Jams, jellies and preserves!  Yes please.

 I'm pretty sure these aren't commercially made!

Being around so many people while looking through all the hand-made crafts, foods and more, we both felt the buzz of excitement through the crowd.

Christmas markets are wonderful things to attend while in EUROPE, not just Rome.  The influences from city histories are felt through each one we go to this holiday season and those differences are what I look forward to sharing with you all!