To market, to market:An increasingly popular pre-Christmas treat is to take a trip to one of the many festive markets in big European cities.
Most of these start in the last week of November and run through until Christmas Eve or a day or two before. Conveniently located hotels (two- to five-star) can be found at www.1800hotels.ie. Here are 10 of the best destinations:
Cologne:hotels from €25. Book flights with Germanwings, or Aer Lingus to nearby Düsseldorf. Cologne has four big Christmas markets: at the imposing Cologne Cathedral, on the Alter Markt, on the Neumarkt and on the Rudolfplatz. Every year these four attract almost two million visitors.
Prague:hotels from €18. Book flights with Czech Airlines, Aer Lingus, or Ryanair. The main markets are at the Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square.
Munich:hotels from €34. Book flights with Aer Lingus. Munich's traditional Christmas market is held on Marienplatz in the heart of the city centre. The popular Kripperlmarkt is a short walk away on Rindermarkt. Christmas music plays from the town hall balcony every day and the "heaven workshop" offers free activities for children. Snowfall is expected at this time of year, for that special Christmas feeling.
Stockholm:hotels from €49. Book flights with SAS Scandinavian or Ryanair. The most popular traditional market is held in the large plaza, Gamla Stan. Here you can find Swedish sweets, smoked sausages, reindeer meat, Glögg (mulled wine) and a range of handicrafts and decorative arts. Stockholm comes alive at Christmas, with Advent candles in windows.
Salzburg:hotels from €47. Book flights with Ryanair. Held in the picturesque cathedral and the surrounding squares, the annual market is a great place to pick up presents from the many stalls. Just book a room in the Old Town and enjoy the city and the nearby Alps region.
Budapest:hotels from €21. Flights with Malév Hungarian Airlines, Aer Lingus or Ryanair. The Christmas market on Vörösmarty Square is considered one of the best in Europe. This is one of the city's most beautiful squares, where you can buy high-quality folk art and craft products. During the fair there are also puppet theatres, folk bands and folk dance groups.
Copenhagen:Hotels from €50. Book flights with Aer Lingus or SAS Scandinavian Airlines. Ryanair flies to nearby Malmö. Tivoli, in the heart of Copenhagen, has become a firm Christmas favourite, with hundreds of trees, presents, elves and stalls. The enchanting Tivoli Lights, invented by Tiffany head designer John Loring, are an attraction in their own right. The main lake is transformed into an outdoor ice skating rink.
Vienna:hotels from €29. Book flights with Aer Lingus. Small huts on nearly every corner of the city provide you with potential Christmas presents, food, hot punch and Glühwein - heated sweetened wine. The biggest market is the Christkindlmarkt at the Vienna City Hall. See also page 17.
Krakow:hotels from €21. Book flights with Aer Lingus, Ryanair, or Skyeurope. The Yuletide lasts longer in Krakow - Christmas trees glitter and carols resound here until the end of January. The city's Christmas market takes place in the huge Rynek Glówny central square, in the historic Old Town. Wooden stands sell a wide range of Christmas decorations and sweets as well as other goods. And open-air eateries offer hearty meals and mulled wine. Additional attractions include shows, folk dances and carol concerts.
Baden Baden:hotels from €55. Book flights with Ryanair. For something a little different, visit this acclaimed spa and festival city. There's a very special atmosphere at Christkindelsmarkt, with the picturesque backdrop of the Kurhaus and the city colonnades lit up by thousands of lights in the heart of old town.
To book hotels in these cities, call 1800-468357, quoting "Christmas shopping", or see www.1800hotels.ie
Baroque stars:The Irish Baroque Orchestra (IBO) under artistic director Monica Huggett is the backbone of next weekend's fourth annual Ardee Baroque Festival, where they will play concerti from Vivaldi's L'Estro Armonico ahead of a US tour. The orchestra performs using period instruments from the 17th and 18th centuries - including less well known instruments such as the lute and viola d'amore - and this ensures the music sounds exactly as the composer intended. "Vivaldi would have composed the pieces for these instruments so we are interpreting the music along historical lines. As a result the music speaks more immediately," says IBO leader Claire Duff (right).
This evening, Duff (who is the first person from the Republic of Ireland to become a member of the European Union Baroque Orchestra) will perform a programme of 17th-century Italian and English chamber music with a subset of IBO, the Irish Baroque Orchestra Chamber Soloists, at the Tipperary Excel in Tipperary town (062-80520). The Ardee Baroque Festival takes place at St Mary's Church of Ireland, Ardee, Co Louth from November 16th to 18th. See www.createlouth.ie/ardeebaroque. IBO tours Vivaldi's L'Estro Armonico to UCC's Aula Maxima on November 20th and to St Ann's Church, Dawson Street, Dublin, on November 22nd. www.ticketmaster.ie Michael Kelly
Get your rocks on:If you like the idea of wearing portable works of art, check out Tygerglyn's forthcoming high-end jewellery event, which takes place on November 22nd in Dublin's city centre. Tygerglyn ( www.tygerglyn.com) is a gallery space curated by Miranda Rhys Williams, great grand-daughter of novelist Eleanor Glynn, the grandmother of chick lit. Gyln is taking her show on the road and will be showcasing a small community of goldsmiths and artist-jewellers that offers individualists a fresh, edgy, intellectual glamour that's very fashion forward. The artists include Andrew Logan, Rina Tairo, Francesca Bristol, Catherine Martin and Georgina Quinn. This is perfect present territory for costume lovers with prices from €150 upwards. Admission is by invitation only. Readers can request invites from Dublin-based co-curator Ruth Hussey. She's contactable on 086-8137825 or ruthhussey@gmail.com Alanna Gallagher
Art house:On the outside it looks like a quaint old boozer, but on the inside there's no mistaking the Bernard Shaw pub at 11-12 South Richmond Street in Portobello, Dublin 6 for a traditional drinking house. Since it was reopened last year by the Bodytonic crew, previously best-known as club promoters, it has been transformed into a relaxed bar with one of the best beer gardens in the city and an ever-changing array of art on the walls. This Thursday the Bernard Shaw unveils a collaborative exhibition from 24 of the city's best new artists, including Chris Judge, Maser, Asbestos, Will St Leger and Renate Henschke. The format for the piece, titled 24on1 in an uncharacteristic moment of Bodytonic minimalism, is perfect for the venue - Chris Judge drew a black line illustration on a 24ft piece of MDF. The MDF was then divided into 24 squares (including the four pictured here), with each artist separately working on their own square, without having seen the overall image. At 8pm on Thursday, the whole thing will be reassembled and revealed. No matter how chaotic the result, it's sure to fit right in with the Bernard Shaw's eclectic aesthetic. Check out the forum on www.bodytonicmusic.comfor more details. Davin Dwyer.
On the button:The old Temple Bar Music Centre is now in the hands of Eoin Foyle, who has given the place a new name - The Button Factory, an ode to the building's previous life in the 1930s. It's still a music venue, but Foyle brought in interior designer Brian MacDonald to do a renovation. Although wall-to-wall carpet and comfortable seating might not sound very rock 'n' roll, thankfully, it hasn't been made too plush or sanitised: the atmosphere is still nicely dark. It's just a little more comfortable now, with new booths and moody lighting. The best part is that the bar area has been opened up to the actual venue and the old balcony has been doubled in size so there's more seating with a view of the stage. New sound technology has also been added and the result is a great venue that will make old regulars feel at home and attract a new crowd too. Upcoming gigs include LA band Cowboy Robot next Wednesday and Republic of Loose on Friday 23rd November. Tel: 01-6709202; www.buttonfactory.ie Eoin Lyons
French flavours:Départ is an exhibition of works on paper by Róisín de Buitléar and Maree Hensey. Contemporary glass artist De Buitléar left her pensionable job to spend time in the Languedoc in the south of France. Visual artist Maree Hensey is a close friend, and working together on a project was something they had been promising to do for years. Départ describes their collaborative journey, through the colour and nuances of this part of rural France. Hensey's drawings are suffused with the light of the region, while De Buitléar takes the charm of functional objects as a starting point. Départ is at Chris Ryan Architects, 70 Upper Leeson St Dublin 4, today and tomorrow 11am-4pm, and Mon-Wed: 9am-1pm.
Red hot:Elemental, as ancient as man himself, pottery is a rare thing, useful and invariably beautiful. Through the ages practicality has dictated the craft of the potter. Bowls, pots, jugs, even the most humble cup has helped the archaeologist tracing the history of settlement. The potter's craft has not only been acknowledged as an art, it is also a major industry. Dingle-based potter Louis Mulcahy has established a remarkable rural enterprise. His stoneware which ranges from mustard pots and candlesticks to mighty Japanese-like tall urns and jars, is immediately identifiable, bold and sophisticated. A new range, Dearg, is celebrating a good experiment finally accomplished - the search for a vibrant red glaze. Having already created strong blues and dark browns, Mulcahy wanted an exciting red. It was not easy. It took 21 years to perfect and now it is just that - perfect. The bold russet tall pots have been slab built, not thrown, while the new range of table ware and lamp bases in a white glaze with red fuchsia design brings new life to classic Mulcahy. Eileen Battersby
Short order:John Short's watercolour portraits graced the pages of this newspaper for many years, and devotees of Dublin's Forty Foot will be drawn to his forthcoming exhibition at the Dalkey Arts Gallery, which is devoted to seascapes from Seapoint to Bray, with studies of swimmers of all shapes and sizes. He also works to commission, of course, and he has a particular gift for painting groups of people and capturing their quirks. His portraits of families have an endearing quality about them, as he manages to capture not only individual characters, but also the helter skelter of family life, somehow making them much more vibrant than a still photograph can manage. His latest show runs from November 15-30. Tel: 01-2849663 or see www.dalkeyarts.com Patsey Murphy