Christmas Market, Snow and Dead Animals

Three new things happened in Erfurt yesterday the 126th of November. One: the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market, with tons of stands selling everything from crafts, to spiced wine, to candy) opened. Two: I started a seminar on game (rabbits, pheasants, wild pigs etc) and got to watch a lovely video about how to cut up a recently shot animal. Three: it started to snow (had happened on and off most days) and actually stayed on the ground. The photo above shows two of the things, snow and the Weihnachtsmarkt, and if there was a dead animals carcass on the street, then I would be able to show all 3 things.

So the Weihnachtsmarkt, which is something typical of most German cities is awesome. Big festival, that goes on up until a few days before Christmas. Well known markets include, Erfurt, Nuremburg, Dresden and Berlin. This is the 157th annual market in Erfurt, and it has taken over the whole city. There are stands all over the city, giving the place a Christmas atmosphere. People come out of the woodwork for the market. The city expects almost 2 million people to attend this years market.

“Wednesday will not be pretty and it’s going to be bloody, but so is having a baby” said our head chef today describing how on Wednesday during the Game Seminar, we will get nice and bloody cutting up rabbits. Nice warning. He also said that if heard a cell phone go off, he would be happy to put it under water so it wouldn’t be so loud and disturbing. Quite a character.

Cobblestones get mighty slippery with snow. Something I figured out last night as the snow stuck. The snow is awesome, and it fit great with the start of our Christmas season. Lots of people out and about, drinking Gluhwein (spiced wine) and browsing the many shops. A great atmosphere, although a little on the cold side.