Cancelled: Christmas Market

We were looking forward to celebrating Advent and Christmas this year, especially for the Christmas markets. We were all very excited, because maybe, it would be a different Christmas this year despite the pandemic. But authorities cancelled the Christmas Markets in Ludwigsburg, Stuttgart and Esslingen at the last minute. Today, the Baroque Christmas Market in Ludwigsburg was supposed to open, but they decided to cancel it yesterday evening. They knew that the situation is bad, and yet they didn't do anything for weeks. And just when the preparations were almost finished and the opening ist just a day away, BAM! Abgesagt! Cancelled! I understand that because of the very high number of positive cases and the critical situation in the ICUs in the hospitals, a drastic move has to be made. But they should have foreseen this situation, as this was also the case last year, that the numbers would rise especially in the autumn / winter season. But no, they didn't seem to have learned something from last year. And that is what makes me sad...

But still, without the Christmas market, we can still make the Christmas season a memorable one. We can still celebrate in our small and intimate family circle and warm up Kinderpunsch and Glühwein. We can bake Christmas cookies with our loved ones and consume them while watching family movies in the comfort and warmth of our homes. We can create wonderful memories and sing Christmas carols. Create wonderful handmade Christmas decorations and give them out to friends. Yes, we can still all do this despite the pandemic. And the money that we are supposed to have spent on rides and shops at the Christmas market, we can save them up donate to a charity that needs it the most.

The Christmas markets may have been cancelled but the true spirit of Christmas, of family, of thanksgiving, of gifting, of hope and of love will remain.

  

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The Wilhelma Christmas Garden

Winter is slowly making it's way in this part of the world. Days are getting shorter and shorter, and the wind is chilly and icy. But despite the cold, I always find joy and wonder in this season, for winter is after all "the most wonderful time of the year".

Why? Well, because of this of course:

And these mammut trees that seem to be dancing in a play of lights or these angels, playing the hymns of Christmas:

Or enjoy the lotus pond illuminated with lights:

Should you ever get hungry or want to grab something warm to drink, a small Christmas market is available at your disposal:

Yes, everything lights up, making the sleeping botanical garden alive and awake:

Where is this, you ask? The lighted elephant gives it away.

Yup, you got it right! It is in the Wilhelma Zoo! Visit the Christmas Garden at Wilhelma in Stuttgart between 17.00 - 22.00 PM. They opened the Christmas garden last 14th November 2019 and will be available until the 6th of January 2020.

Don't miss the Christmas Garden at the Wilhelm Zoo in Stuttgart, now on its second year! Tickets are available online at www.christmas-garden.de/stuttgart or at the selling booths outside the main gate.

Photos were taken last year and are the blogger's own.

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Bringing Home the Christmas Spirit

Last year we didn't spend Christmas Day or the winter holidays here in Stuttgart. We spent it at my brother-in-law's in England. Although it was a nice idea to spend Christmas with relatives, a part of me was wishing that we could spend it at home. There really is just no place at home, you know.

This year, I want to spend it here in the real sense of the word. I want to bring home the Christmas spirit and decorate the house with Christmas ornaments and erect a tall Christmas tree that is bedecked with all nice things Christmassy and softly ligted up with led xmas lights. I want to buy little girl an Adventskalendar and tell her the story of the Advent, why we make preparations for Christmas and of the birth of Jesus. I want to visit the Christmas Markets in Heidelberg and Nürnberg. I want to try ice skating with my little girl and perhaps, go sledding or skiing in the mountains too. I want to sip hot chocolate in our living room while listening to Christmas carols or watching a Christmas movie. I want us to exchange gifts, just the three of us and start a family tradition that will continue in the years and generations to come. I want to begin this Christmas and I hope that the heavens will will for it to happen.

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The Stuttgart Christmas Market: No High Tech Cell Phone Plan for Sale Here!

Christmas is a magical time no matter where you live, but in Stuttgart it is especially beautiful and the Stuttgart Christmas Market is one of the things that make it so magical. First established in 1692, the Stuttgart Christmas market is one of the largest, most beautiful and oldest of its kind in Europe. Christmas can become quite commercialized, but visiting the Christmas market in Stuttgart is like stepping back in time.

Not only are there around 250 stalls with vendors offering everything from tree decorations, toys, carvings, arts, crafts, candles, leather goods and more, there is also a huge variety of culinary treats to indulge in. Hot chestnuts, mulled wine, grilled sausages; so much to choose from! The one thing you won’t find at the Christmas market is annoying hawkers selling the latest cell phone plan!

In addition to the usual Christmas gifts and tasty treats being sold, the Christmas Market is a fabulous place to bring the kids. With a giant Ferris wheel, a mini-steam train, fairytale figures and more, the children’s area is built on the Palace Square. Don’t forget the outdoor skating area that is great fun for the whole family. The skating area is also open on New Year’s Eve for a different but memorable way to bring in the New Year.

Each evening explodes into harmonious sound as music groups and adult and children’s choirs perform on the City Hall steps and around the market.

The Stuttgart Christmas Market usually runs from the last Thursday in November to the 23rd of December. The market opens with a concert in the courtyard of the Old Palace that is not to be missed, and the entire market stretches from the northern section of Stuttgart’s central square through to the old alleyways and squares of town. So, come enjoy the market this holiday season and make it a Christmas unlike any other!

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The Christmas Market in Stuttgart

A booth selling typical German food and warm drinks.

Christmas is always special here in Germany because they always have the Christmas Market each year. Almost all cities put up their Christmas Market at the city center, which is usually called the Marktplatz. The most popular is the one in Nürnberg while the biggest ones can be found in Munich and Stuttgart.

The booth "roofs": elaborately and beautifully decorated with the nativity scene.

I think it was two Sundays ago when we went to visit the Christmas Market (Weihnachtsmarkt) in Stuttgart. It was a cool Sunday afternoon and a nice day for sightseeing. It was cold of course, but it's not the kind that will chill you to the bones.

A section of the Christmas Market in Schillerplatz.

While waiting for a blogger friend, we decided to have a look around. The place was packed. There were lots of people shopping at the beautifully decorated Christmas booths, eating Christmas delicacies and drinking Glühwein, or just looking around just like us.

Just some of the items sold at the Christmas market:
the herz kuchen, ceramic figurines, handpainted
Christmas scene figurines, wooden toy soldiers, bags, stars.

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Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

We had our first snowfall last Saturday. But it was just a very soft snow fall, too soft to blanket even a branch of a tree, and lasted for only a few hours. Yesterday, it was a bit different because the snowflakes were bigger.

We went to church and then visited the Christmas Market again and Sam rode the carousel for children. We then stopped for some refreshments: glühwein and Nutella crepes. Then it happened: snow fall! It was soooo cold out! I didn't bring my gloves and bonnet so I really felt chilled to the bones. I wasn't able to take photos though because I forgot to put back the SD card of our camera. So no captured moments of our first day out in the snow here! Hehe! Next time, I'll make sure to insert it back after every photo upload.

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It is Weihnachten!

Christmas is just around the corner. I can already smell the fresh pine trees being adorned in houses, balikbayan boxes on their way to the Philippines, Christmas party plans here and there, and family reunions and Christmas vacations. How I wish I can put up my own Christmas tree this year but it looks like I will have to improvise since we won't be celebrating Christmas here anyway. We are planning to spend it in London.

An unfinished giant pine Christmas tree near the Rathaus.

Even here in Germany, you can feel Christmas in the air with the opening of the Christmas Markets in almost all cities. Two Sundays ago, after church, we went for a stroll and observed the different hand workers busy putting up their booths, stalls, rides around and all over Schlossplatz, Schiller Square, Markthalle and Rathaus for the world-famous Christmas Market or Weihnachtsmarkt. Here are some of the shots that I managed to take during our stroll.

The Königsbau Passage, a very old colonaded building fronting Schlossplatz.

The small, traditional German Christmas village complete with railroad tracks.
This was very popular among the kids even if it was still being set up.
The installation was right in front of the picturesque Neues Schloss (New Palace).
I took these shots at different times of the day. Can you see the progress?

Such wonderful display, eh? Wonderful enough that you would forget that you need to call and remind your uncle about that Car Insurance in sydney he had been talking about.

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