Tuesday 15 December 2009

Xmas spirit in Bremen

Smitonius:

If anyone had told me that I would positively enjoy Christmas fairs on my birthday when I was younger, I would have looked horrified.... I used to refuse to do anything seasonal until the 14th of December. I appear to have mellowed, as Bremen is my fourth or fifth continental fair visited.

The destination was chosen because it meant that Smitonius and Sonata could meet up for a week-end (in person rather than virtually, for a change!), but we were all pleasently surprised by Bremen's Christmas fair. There are a few lovely quarters to visit, as well as two quite distinct fairs. One of them is a Medieval or folk inspired one, which is lit by flame light at night (admitedly, it is atmospheric but a lot easier to navigate through it by day).

The main square was full of seasonal goodies:

and lights and crowds drinking mulled wine and eating sausages (well, the most popular food item seemed to be Schweinebraten actually, cooked over logs).

Although Father Christmas and the entire cast and crew of the nativity are very evident, the real stars of the city in any season are the Bremen musicians: in ceramic, fluffy toys, t-shirts, postcards, and sculpted.
But the best souvenir of all had to be these huge loaves handmade in the Medieval market section (Sonata modelling her loaf straight from the oven):

Fortunately, we had had the foresight to pay for a bag to be checked in - that loaf alone would have tipped the scales!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh!! It looks fantastic!!
Thanks for sharing!! :o)

Rattling On said...

Very envious of all your visits to Christmas fairs...great pictures.

rachel said...

Yes, I definitely wish I'd gone with you.....

Tania said...

I swear you could build houses with loaves like that (and with my longheld theory that leftover sodden weetbix would do very well as mortar, thank you very much).