Stuttgart Weinachtsmarkt

Translation: Stuttgart Christmas Market.  Although I think "market" does not do this annual holiday event justice.  It is definitely an experience and one pictures cannot completely capture but I will try.  It is mind-numbingly enormous with hundreds of booths and thousands of people!  The booths are wood and each have brilliantly decorated rooftops.  I believe there is a competition for best decorated stall.  But I could be wrong as everything was laid out almost exactly as it was last year, decorations and all.  I briefly explained the Weinachtsmarkt in my last post so I won't rehash the explanation and let you check out Christmas in Stuttgart!  (Sorry I didn't take any picts of the wood ornaments.  They are amazing.  Next year.)  We went several times as it's just a short u-bahn ride away and a fun and easy thing to do.  I went with Marky a couple of times while Peter was in school which is so much nicer as it is like a cattle call on the weekends and has very little traffic during the weekday mornings.  One more thing... most of these picts are in the main square downtown... the Schlossplatz (Castle Square).  Keep in mind, as with most everything around here, all was heavily bombed and most everything has been rebuilt (restored if anything was left).  It is our favorite area and the prettiest.  Come visit and we'll show you (hint hint)!
As always, click on photos below for larger images.  (Do I need to keep saying this?)
But you might want to do that after you scroll down as I type in info under many of the picts.  (I need my cousin Breanne to give me a blogging tutorial when we see each other... she and her hubby Dave have recently moved to the UK... a cheap 1-hour plane ride away!)  

The U-Bahn (pronounced Oooh Bahn) - commuter/subway trains.  Nicest and cleanest

mode of transportation you could ask for!  Our preferred choice of getting to downtown

Stuttgart as driving takes longer and it's very hard to find parking not to mention expensive.

The ice skating rinks have little penguin and elf characters with handles that the kids

hang on to and push around for balance.  Brilliant!  I don't know why we don't have these.

Weekend.  Weekday.  Same area, BIG difference!

Some of the stall rooftop decorations.  These are giant versions of the

wood ornaments you can buy for home decor in many different sizes.

 

Pretty scenery on a beautiful day.

One of the highlights of a good Weinachtsmarkt is the food!  Here are some of my faves.

 

Chocolate dipped fruit kabobs.  And for the first time I saw hot peppers.

 

Crepes are big here and come with many kinds of fillings from fruit to ham, cheese and

my favorite... Nutella.  A hot gooey delectable mess!  Especially when Marky eats one.

Peter's favorite (and I'll admit I love it too)... Zuckerwatte (zoo-ker-vah-teh -

the "z" is almost like "ts" as in pizza) - fresh cotton candy.  YUM!

 

At almost every German festival you will see heart-shaped gingerbread cookies you can wear around

your neck.  They all have different sayings written in frosting, most of them to do with the season.  I

see people eating them but to me I think they're more decorative as they are hard and not very tasty.

Most festivals also have a variety of warm sugar-coated nuts.  I love the almonds.

The mini steam locomotive at the Schlossplatz.  My train nuts

(and I) rode this many times.  Many, many, many times.

Peter actually asked to go on the ferris wheel!  He was so excited!

More food!  Sauteed mushrooms, potatoes with peppers and my favorite

kurbis soup (pumpkin).  Germany is not all sausage and kraut!  And it is all so good!

Well, that's it for now.  Stay tuned!  More about our holidays in Germany coming very soon!