It’s December (or Christember, does that work?) and everything we do has to be related to Christmas – the Christmas hats, jumpers, socks, films all come out to play for this month of festivities. As do the markets, all German of course because no other country knows what a Christmas market is. The Germans don’t say ‘Lets go to the English Christmas market this weekend’ because we don’t have English Christmas markets and that’s probably good a thing.
Birmingham is one of my favourite cities and it looks adorable all made up in its Christmas glory. I’ve heard the market in Birmingham is one of the best, not only in the UK but also in Europe (don’t hold me to this fact, I’ve heard it on the grape vine) and therefore had to go.
I told myself I would wear my glitter leggings and my Christmas jumper, you know, to be the epitome of Christmas fashion but I soon realised I would look ridiculous so my all black outfit had to do. Once I had arrived, I soon realised that my glitter leggings and jumper would have look very normal in comparison to what some people were wearing. An awful lot of people had fully embraced the idea of Christmas, and that was lovely to see when walking through with the Christmas stalls shining bright. Some, who I guess call themselves ‘lads’ embraced the ‘lad’ culture being rowdy and drinking their umpteenth Stein. Lads. Lads. Lads. Beer. Lads… Debatable.
Glühwein was drunk like there was no tomorrow as we wondered through the busy, very busy, streets of Brum. And, unlike Winter Wonderland in London, the glühwein came in a mug, not a paper cup. A MUG! A HEART SHAPED MUG. Simple pleasures for me.
And do not even get me started on the food! Unfortunately, I did not eat any as we headed off to a Thai restaurant for dinner (one of the nicest Thai restaurants I’ve been too, but then again, I have only been to two, so who am I to judge). My. Oh. My. The smells that were surrounding me made me want to try everything. Every unique flavour combination and dish smelt incredible. I would have been rolling home if I had the chance to eat it all.
Nutella was everywhere, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Nutella pancakes, waffles, doughnuts, and then the sweet stalls – one even had had the sweet craftsman up in a room and the crowds could watch him create the sweet masterpieces. How adorable is that?! And for all you meat lovers out there, Bratwurst was everywhere, with every topping you could possibly imagine. I’m sure many market goers were way into the meat sweats. The only food stall I found a little odd was the garlic bread stall. Now, do not get me wrong, I, and I’m sure you do too, love garlic bread but in a German market?
Christmas is a time of joy, love, and happiness, and we share all the joy and happiness with everyone we love. But proposing in front of the entire Christmas market is not my idea of romance. PDA is no go. Even over the festive period. Is it bad that I was kind of hoping she would say no? Luckily for the guy, who had a lot of balls to do such a public proposal, she said yes and I’m pretty sure my mother shed a tear of happiness for them – cringe!
Worst of all, I was there a day and I managed to pick up the accent. I sounded ridiculous.
Until next time,
P x
pop 