Our 1st Christmas Market: Esslingen

We went to our first Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market) over Thanksgiving weekend in the city of Esslingen.  Christmas markets are unique to Germany.  They are held in various cities during the month of December and are so popular that people will often come on buses from neighboring countries just to visit them.  Some markets, like Esslingen and Stuttgart, are open every day for weeks, whereas those in smaller cities may only be held for a day or two.  (Click HERE to learn more about Christmas markets.)

Click on any of the photos below to enlarge.

Each stand/booth was decorated so festively.  

Sina and Drew were excited to get "Frohes Fest" cookies.  They also sell these cookie necklaces during Oktoberfest (with different sayings written on them, of course.)

The pyramid behind us is a traditional German Christmas decoration.

Drew always wants to have a few fahrts.  He picked his favorite color truck.

Drinking kinderpunsch out of a boot and chowing down on bratwurst

Esslingen is a medieval city and looked especially beautiful decorated for Christmas.

There was a section of the market that was specifically for kids; there were medieval games like shooting arrows, throwing a heavy ball to try to crack an egg on a log, and using a catapult like you see in the photos below.

The highlight for the adults was the delicious food--my favorite were fried apple rings--and the gluhwein (hot, mulled wine).  They also have hot kinderpunsch so I was happy I could partake in that. :)  One pays about 5-6 Euros for a mug of gluhwein, but part of that is the "pfand," or deposit.  If you like the mug, you keep it.  If you don't, you return the mug and get your 2-3 Euro deposit back.  We kept 2 of the mugs.

The Weihnachtsmarkt was truly beautiful and special and we are hoping to get to a few more in different cities before Christmas.  The majority of them close on December 23.  We hope to get a babysitter for the next markets we go to though.  Drew just did not enjoy walking around for hours there.  It gets very crowded after 5pm and on weekends so strollers are not practical.  You live, you learn--and such is life with a 3 year old!  We do what we can.  :)