A Castle and a Christmas Market

Saturday we went to the Heidelberg Christmas market. We could have gone to the one in Frankfurt but we wanted to go someplace new. We didn't actually know where the market is held but we knew it was set up near Heidelberg Castle and we were pretty sure we could find a castle.

I don't know if you are aware, but castles are big. Really really big. From a distance they look impressive in a pretty fairy tale sort of way but up close they are just huge. We didn't see the market so we decided to explore the castle first then go looking for the market later in the day.  After all we had the whole day with out the kids.  We could do what ever we wanted.  From one of the terraces in the castle we could see the Christmas market set up in the town below.

The market was fun, if a bit touristy and crowded.  We wandered around looking at the stuff for sale.  Lots of Christmas decorations, knitted hats and scarves, candles, and of course lots of food and drink. I drank some gluhwein (traditional mulled wine, warm and yummy) and shared a pastry with Dave.

I am glad we didn't take the kids with the crowds it would have been hard to handle. There were some things for the kids to do though. There was ice skating, don't you love the little penguins for the tiny ones to hold on to so they don't fall? A little train named  Rio Grande, we thought this was funny since we are from Texas where the Rio Grande is located. There was also a merry-go-round. And of course there was food and kinderpunsch for kids to enjoy. 

After we had our fill of crowds and Christmas cheer we set off to explore the shopping scene. There were lots of fun shops to explore. It made for a relaxing afternoon. We ended the day with a visit to a bookstore, an English language used book store, my very favorite kind. I found a new used book to read and we headed home. We will be back to explore the castle with the kids another day.