I’ll be the first to admit it: I’m a bit of a Christmas Grinch. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

When holiday movies start flooding the airwaves, Mariah Carey is belting from store speakers and the inevitable push to “get in the spirit” begins, my inner curmudgeon can’t help but mutter, ‘Bah humbug.’

But even my cold heart thawed the moment I found myself in the middle of my first European Christmas market in Cologne, Germany. The festive lights combined with the heady aroma of roasted chestnuts, sizzling bratwurst and mulled Glühwein spiced with cinnamon and cloves was impossible to resist.

Whether you’re a holiday devotee or a reluctant participant, Europe’s famed Christmas markets are not to be missed. And with thousands of markets scattered

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