Fish and Chips: Fröhliche Weihnachten (Merry Christmas)

Hallo! Grüß Gott! As you've probably already deduced, my latest adventure is centered around Christmas! I'd like to say it even took place in Germany, but alas, it did not. However, a great time was had and that's all that matters!

Originally the plan was to cross over to mainland Europe and check out a Christmas market in France; however, with recent events happening in France, it was decided to stay closer to home. Several friends and I drove to Birmingham to enjoy it's Frankfurt (German) Christmas market, Frankfurter Weihnachtsmarkt. To get the most out of our trip, we opted to spend the night and check out Stafford-Upon-Avon the following day.

We made it to Birmingham in good time and with only minor detours due to construction or a tricky roundabout, ate lunch, checked into our hotel, and then the fun began! We decided to take the public bus transport to the city center. It was our first time navigating the bus system, and I for one think we did amazing! I mean, we did successfully make it to the city center and get off the bus. From the bus stop, it was a short walk to the Christmas market.

In addition to the various market stalls, there were also several street performers. One in particular was quite entertaining, a man dressed (and painted) in all white with wings and blacked out eyes. He was quite creepy and stared after one of our group members albeit, she was completely freaking over him which only encouraged the performer. Shortly after the creepy angel, we toasted with a rather belligerent man enjoying the abundance of bier (beer) offered. It was a fun start to our afternoon/evening of fun!

There were many stalls of food, drinks, Christmas items, and other items. Since it was a German market, I was hoping to find a Weihnachtspyramide (Christmas Pyramid). Not only did I get the pyramid, I also bought a Nutcracker too! As for the food and drink stalls, well, I was like a kid in a candy store! There was the traditional German Stollen, red and white sausages, speculaas, and so much more! I was ecstatic to find poppy seed roll! My friends didn't seem to quite enjoy it as much as I did, but that just meant more for me! I also had some apfelwein (apple wine) which was nice and warm and tasted just yummy!

And what would a Christmas market trip be without some outdoor ice skating and a ride on the Big Wheel?! One of my friends hadn't been ice skating before, and it's been a while since the few times I have been. While ice skating could have just been a disaster (especially since it was a warm-ish day and the ice was slightly melted, leaving a thin layer of water on top), it was so much fun! Luckily, I did not fall once while trying to avoid the little kiddos that were going around with their helper penguins..

The next morning, after a very slow start (maybe due to a little too much fun the night before), we set off for Stafford-Upon-Avon. We found a small market that we browsed, then had lunch, and just walked around the city centre. The plan was to visit Shakespeare's home, but we decided there was just too much to see in a day and we needed to come back when we had more time. You can bet there will be a trip back in the near future, but for now, I'll leave you with a teaser..