In which Hamburg gets glammed on Glühwein.

 
Oh, dearest friends and relations. Living in the Real World taught me too late that I should have started working on my holiday cards and packages back in July in order to have them all ready to go by the holiday season. The up side to this, however, is that you still have plenty of time to send me woolly socks, pure vanilla extract, and/or Trader Joe's Organic Mint Melange tea in exchange for extra delicious German goodies!

This year's Christmases were/are being spent with newly-met American relations in the Deutschland, with my German go-to family of Weihnachtens Gone By, and most dramatically, with the stomach flu. In bed. Alas, 'tis again the season of "How the Surprise Grinch Bug Stole Christmas". But before we dwell too long on that less-than-appetizing thought, how about a little Hamburger Weihnachtsmärkte distraction?

I didn't actually get to any Christmas markets outside the city center this year, but amongst those, this was my favorite. Gerhart-Hauptmann-Platz. Candles in the trees, descending, tree-spotted steps, and a secret forest with functional water wheel woodchipped into the heart of it all. Particularly snazzy mid-snowfall.

Note the sleeping headless ducks bottom center. They are precious.

 

One night leaving work it was so cold that the roasted almond stand was steaming brightly.

The Christmas Spider (cousin of the Easter Spider) leaves its mark.

 

 

Sending all love, sending all light, wishing you all the joy I can wish.