After arriving in Düsseldorf this afternoon, the first thing Claire and Graham wanted to show us was one of the Christmas Markets here.  We bundled up and set off on a walk to see what we could see.  Oh, what fun we had wandering through crowds of people who were out celebrating this festive time of the year.

During the Christmas holidays the city centers and plazas are filled with kiosks and small portable shops and lots of food places.  These are some of the different kinds of shops we saw: chestnuts roasting in huge pans, cheeses, all sorts of roasted candied nuts, potato pancakes with applesauce, crepes with different toppings, paper star lights, mulled wine and beer everywhere, ornaments of every kind, woodworking, candles, glass work, scarves, churros, grilled mushrooms, ice rink and skaters, lots of Brats and Wursts, standing tables to eat at that were shaped like CMS Trees, Lebkuchen heart cookies, fried apple pancakes, pofertejes, potato spirals fried, donuts, Spaetzle with cheese, Swiss racklette and fondue, waffles and toppings, stolen and Christmas breads, pretzels, wreaths and ornaments with nice smells, lots of different kinds of toys, hot chocolate and more.

Oh, the Christmas tree ornaments!!

Graham met up with a group of his work associates.

It was a really fun evening and we stayed awake way longer than we expected, after missing a full night of sleep last night.  It’s good to be here, in the land of my fathers, celebrating this wonderful Christmas season.