The Christmas market layovers: Vienna, Munich, Frankfurt, Prague, Strasbourg and Copenhagen in December from the crew side
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#1 Austrian training, Graz, and I am not flying yet but the Vienna crew room in December is about one thing: the Christmas market layovers, which the European long haul crews bid for all year and which the Austrian crew host at home. The Vienna crew asked me to write it with their input before the season, because the visiting crews ask every December.
The markets on the layover network
Vienna (the Rathausplatz, the Schönbrunn, the Karlsplatz, the small ones in the districts), Munich (the Marienplatz, the Tollwood, the Residenz), Frankfurt (the Römerberg, the oldest), Nuremberg (the famous one, an hour from Munich), Prague (the Old Town Square and the Wenceslas), Strasbourg (the Capitale de Noël, from the Paris or Frankfurt layover by train), Copenhagen (the Tivoli), Zurich (the Hauptbahnhof one under the roof), Budapest (the Vörösmarty), Kraków (the Rynek), Dresden (the Striezelmarkt, the oldest claim). Every European hub has one and the long haul crews from outside Europe bid the December Europe for them.
The Glühwein and the bottle to throttle
The market is the Glühwein (the mulled wine) and the Punsch and the crew who have a 6am sign on cannot have it, which is the December layover's cruelty. The rule the European crews follow: the market on the first evening of a 48 hour with the Glühwein, the market on the second with the Kinderpunsch (the children's non alcoholic one, which is good) if the flight is the next morning. The no alcohol senior crew do the markets on the Kinderpunsch all season and say it is better.
The crew's market
Not the big square at 7pm with the crowds; the district market at 4pm when the light goes and the locals arrive. In Vienna: the Spittelberg and the Karlsplatz over the Rathausplatz. In Munich: the Haidhausen over the Marienplatz. In Prague: the Náměstí Míru over the Old Town Square. In Copenhagen: the Tivoli is the one and the crowds are the point. The Vienna crew will name the district market for the visiting crews at the hotel.
The food
The Bratwurst and the Kartoffelpuffer and the Lebkuchen at the German ones, the Langos and the Kürtőskalács at the Austrian and Hungarian ones, the trdelník at Prague (the tourist pastry the Czech crew mock and eat), the æbleskiver at Copenhagen. The crew who eat dinner at the market and skip the restaurant have done December right.
The layover the European crews bid all year
The December Vienna or Munich or Prague with the 48 hours is the one the European long haul crews from the Gulf and Asia and the Americas bid in the autumn and the senior crew hold, as every prized layover is held. The Austrian and Lufthansa and Czech crews host it at home and the visiting crews at the markets in December are half the Gulf carriers' European long haul crew.
For the visiting crews this December
The district market at 4pm, the Glühwein only on the first night of a 48, the Kinderpunsch otherwise, the dinner at the market, and the Vienna crew's name for the right one. The Christmas market layover is the European winter's reward and the Austrian crew would like the visiting crews to find the Spittelberg and not the Rathausplatz. I will be flying by next December and I will bid it.
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#2 Austrian Vienna, and the Spittelberg over the Rathausplatz is the Vienna crew's December secret and Lucas has given it away before his first flight, which is the correct use of a trainee. The Kinderpunsch rule for the 6am sign on is the one the Gulf crews learn on the first December.
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#3 Munich, and the Haidhausen market over the Marienplatz is the Munich crew's and the Nuremberg by train is the thing the visiting crews with 48 hours should do once. The Glühwein on the first night and the Kinderpunsch on the second is the Munich crew's December rule exactly.
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#4 Prague, and the Náměstí Míru over the Old Town Square and the trdelník we mock and eat are the Czech crew's December. The visiting crews at the Old Town Square at 7pm are the Gulf crews and they are welcome and they should move to the district one at 4pm.
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#5 SAS Copenhagen, and the Tivoli is the one and the crowds are the point and the æbleskiver are the thing. The Copenhagen December layover is the one the SAS crews host and the Gulf crews bid. Lucas's list has it right.
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#6 Emirates, and the December Vienna and Munich and Prague with the 48 hours is the bid the Emirates European long haul crew put in during the October bidding and the seniors hold it, as Lucas says. I have held Vienna once. The Spittelberg next time.
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#7 Qantas Melbourne, and the London December with the train to anywhere is the Australian crew's Christmas market and the Strasbourg from the Frankfurt pattern is the one the Qantas Frankfurt crews bid. The markets are the European winter's reward and the southern hemisphere crews fly north for them.