Christmas is here again

One of the coolest parts of being over in Europe this time of year is the Christmas Markets. I mentioned these last year, but essentially they are just tons of little booths with lots of Christmas-y/gifty things (most of which fall on the wrong side of tacky), laced with almost as many booths serving gluwein (hot mulled wine) to keep you warm and various winter treats to keep you full.

Well the booths do get old quick but the wine and food do not, and this year as a special treat to spice things up we made the 2.5 hour trek to Strasbourg in France to spend a weekend and see what they have to offer in Christmas Market fare.

Now I am sure I do not have to remind anyone that the main part of Strasbourg is its cathedral:

which of course was the tallest building in the world from 1625-1874, or that Strasbourg was a stronghold of growing Lutheranism in the 1500’s. And despite its location between two neighboring countries that have had a few differences over the years, it is certainly has remained quite a picturesque city (and one of the 4 great European canal cities, to which I have now been to 3! oh boy):

And while it is hard to tell, it was a bit nippy standing outside, so I took to the traditional methods to stay warm:

(yes that is basically a pint of wine), and to nourish myself with light snacks:

And in the end, the ratio of glasses of gluwein drank to presents purchased was somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 to 0, and a wonderful time was had by all! Not only that, but it did a perfect job of getting us in the Christmas spirit in time to head back to Seattle!

Joyeux Noel!