For 500 years, Germans have done their holiday shopping at open-air Christmas markets in town squares. Named for the Christ Child, the markets start on the first Sunday of Advent, with shoppers warming up with hot spiced Glühwein while browsing at garland-draped timber kiosks.

It's a tradition worth importing, and that's what Chicago did in 1996 with its Christkindlmarket. It's become more popular every year, and now people in many towns have markets of their own. Here are five.

When it comes to curing the midwinter blahs, no one does it better than a group of girlfriends.

When women get together, they talk, they laugh, they eat a lot of chocolate. They also like to try new things. Below are five getaways that appeal especially to women.

For more ideas, see 12 months of girlfriend getaways. For tips on planning a getaway, see Where the girls are.

Valentine's Day will be here soon, and it's time for sweethearts to step up to the plate.

It has to be somewhere romantic. But what's romantic?

To some, it's a cabin in a state park, rustic but with loads of privacy and atmosphere. To others, it's an inn where owners will take care of guests' every need.

So you don’t want to jump off a 40-story platform with boards on your feet. Or ski nonstop for 32 miles. Or spend four days racing through the woods with a dozen dogs.

That’s for crazy folk — crazy folk who are really fun to watch.

Some of the coolest spectator events happen in winter, as anyone who’s watched the Winter Olympics knows. And some of the best in the world are held right around here.

Got snow? Then it's time to seize the moment and plan a cross-country ski vacation. Below are five of the resorts with the best and most reliable grooming:

Maplelag Resort, Callaway, Minn.: This resort, in a pocket of hardwood forest north of Detroit Lakes, is one of the first spots to catch snow off the Rockies. And once it's there, the Richards family keeps it in impeccable condition. There are 60 kilometers of trails outside the comfortable lodgings, which vary from rustic pioneer cabins to Great Northern cabooses.

Everyone likes to snowshoe. It's cheap, easy and you can do it anywhere. Or can you?

Often, I've wound up ditching my snowshoes when I'm in a state park, because the trail to wherever I'm going is so packed I don't need them. Yet trails are laid to take in the best scenery, so it's hard to ignore them.

In winter, ice comes with the territory. You can curse it — or you can play with it.

Once, I considered ice the mere byproduct of conditions too poor to produce snow. That was before I really looked at it.

Ice is alive. A whisper of wind or droplet of mist is all it needs to shift shapes — and, like snowflakes, it never takes on the same shape twice.