Adventures in Deutschland: 'Tis the Season

On the first weekend of December, I went to one of the nicest (as I'm told) Christmas Markets in Germany in a city called Erfurt.

Fun Facts: Erfurt is the capital city of the German state of Thuringia, has a population of 200,000, and is basically the big city closest to the Middle of Germany. It's also really old, with evidence of settlement from 480.

More Fun Facts: Famous people lived here. Johann Pachelbel, as in Pachelbel's Canon lived and composed like a bajillion (Ok, 70 per Wikipedia) organ songs here. Also, Martin Luther, who seems to keep popping up everywhere I go, graduated from the university here.

Now, as I was travelling with some friends to Erfurt for the Weihnachsmarkt (Christmas Market), I didn't explore the city as much as I normally would have... But no worries, because I had a great day with some pretty awesome friends enjoying the Christmas Market like a real German (or any tourist).

However, I can tell you that the City Center in Erfurt is really beautiful, the Erfurt Cathedral or Mariendom is gorgeous, and the City Hall is definitely worth a visit. I am still totally awed by the old architecture all over the country. Seriously, I am a total geek for hundreds of years old buildings, especially churches and castles.

Ok, I digress. The Erfurt Weihnachsmarkt was pretty cool. I wasn't totally sure what to expect as I have never been to a Christmas Market before, not even Christkindlmarkt in Bethlehem (which I'm sure is completely different than the markets here). Now, having been to a few Christmas Markets, I can tell you the basic setup is the same everywhere. They build wooden huts in the main public squares of all the cities and towns (always outdoors - No Christkindlmarkt tents here!) and vendors set up shop to sell food, drinks and crafts. Seriously, they sell everything from glühwein to christmas decorations to gingerbread hearts to cotton candy to jewelry and lovely wooden crafts and decorations.

It was pretty cold, so I really appreciated the glühwein and the eierpunsch and the cappuccinos. Definitely going to be making some homemade glühwein back in the US though. So, if you're lucky, you'll get the invite to try some :). It was an awesome day, I learned a lot of fun new German words and taugh my friends some new, non-business English. And the best part was, instead of shitty Deutsche Bahn, we took the bus. So, no delays or waiting outside in the freezing cold forever!

Anyways, onto the important part, Pictures!