Christmas market at the book shop…

To finish off our series of visiting Christmas markets in the area, we went to two smaller ones.

The first one was in front of our local supermarket and organised by the book shop there.  There were stands selling waffles, mulled wine, crêpes, and of course books.  But there were also stands from local organisations such as our Kindergarten selling home-made decorations and biscuits.

A local Nikolaus appeared at one point and took the children into the shop for a story.

… and at the animals’ home

Our second visit was to the local Tierheim (animal home).  This was a good chance to see inside the home, and although the market itself was somewhat spread out and not that big, we did partake of coffee and mulled wine, as well as buying a Christmas pyramid at the flea market.

To find out more, listen to the podcast:

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The ice rink in Bad Homburg

This week the Monday Podcast visited the Christmas Market in Bad Homburg, well at least part of it.

The market has been split into two parts this year, with the main market being at the castle, whilst there is a smaller set of stalls in front of the Kurhaus.  At the smaller market, however, there is also an ice rink and this was our main destination.

I’m not sure why the market has been split in this way.  It is a shame for the parents of children who want to go on the ice, as they only have a limited selection of stalls that they can visit.  It would have been much nicer to have had everyone on one site.

To find out more, listen to the podcast:

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The Christmas Market on the bank of the Rhine

This week the Monday Podcast visited the Christmas Market in Rüdesheim – also known as the “Christmas Market of Nations“.

Having visited Rüdesheim previously, I drove to a car park near the centre of the town, rather than using the signed car parks for the Christmas Market, which turned out to be futher away.

The market itself is located in the streets of the town centre and along the bank of the Rhine.  There are stalls with food and drink, but also handicraft stalls selling Christmas decorations and household goods.

The Obergasse in Rüdesheim

Two particular highlights are the nativity scene in the market square and the Christkind who opens a door on the advent calendar each evening at 6pm.

The market has an international theme, so that many of the stalls sell traditional goods and dishes from their own countries.

Eating Churros – a Spanish speciality

Unfortunately it rained on and off throughout the day, but even so there were large numbers of people there – especially after it got dark.

To find out more, listen to the podcast:

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