Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Café assortments are quite fantastic at the Haga Christmas market, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Photo for CMC © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro Nilsson 2009

We were much earlier this year to the Haga Christmas market than previous years, where it seems too, that I favour strolling the old streets of Haga in the same furry hat!

I believe most Christmas markets begin in western Sweden thereabouts on the 28th of November, and I generally appreciated just a smidgen more daylight time than if we were to go Christmas marketing just three weeks on in December.

Handmade chocolates and liquour chocolate balls.

Walking down the street, it became apparent that this year at Haga was mostly about café treats! Even before the extensive renovations to this area during the 1970s, Haga was known for its restaurants. Today, the entire street is punctuated with good coffee places, where I personally bear one or two cafés in mind when headed this way.

Guests are invited to have coffee with buns both indoors and outdoors.

Even though winter, some guests still prefer sitting outside, the chairs covered in fleece to make for warmer sitting. The green blankets at Café Kringlan were certainly eyecatching, where I believe their saffron Lussekatter or St. Lucia buns were big sellers.

Hearts on cushion covers for café guests sitting outdoors.

At another café, cross-stitched hearts on cushions line their outdoor benches. The red heart motif is associated in Sweden not only with St. Valentine’s Day, but with Christmas. Hearts in all variations, thick, thin, stuffed, paper cut and more, are hung on Christmas trees as part of the festive decor.

A street candle.

While thick candles and flames do little to stave off the winter cold, candles are lit and placed usually outside of the shop front doors, to keep the 1600s cobbled streets cozy and inviting for visitors.

Fruit pastries with fruits of autumn.

Christmas fruit bread in a basket.

If not to get your stomach full, the café treats at Haga were definitely a feed for hungry eyes too, because I don’t think I could’ve done more eating with my eyes than I did this day, strolling past the line of stalls offering Danish pastries, chocolate coated muffins, cinnamon rolls and gingerbread cookies.

One of my absolute favourites on this trip… the fruit pastries, together with the perfect gift idea – string wrapped fruit bread in a basket!