Kaiserslautern Christmas Market 6 Dec 08, HUGE entry!

Saturday morning we had an errand to run so we headed out to get that accomplished. Afterwards we went to Miesau. This is the small town that Cory's little post is in. Yesterday was their Christmas market and the goal was a mug. ;) We got there and they weren't even set up yet. So, we left and went to Kaiserslautern's Christmas market. The market is set up in the walking/shopping area of downtown Kaiserslautern. Of course you know the goal. :) A mug. And lunch. Here are Cory and the boys with their lunch...the boys had pizza and Cory and I had french bread w/ a garlic spread (Cory's topping was salami and I had tomato and feta cheese):

Here are other pics of the market:

I did manage to get my Kaiserslautern 2008 mug. Actually, I came home w/ a bunch. The first "gluhwein" (pronounced glue-vine) stand I went to I got 3 mugs, one with gluhwein. ;) When we noticed that 2 of them did not say Kaiserslautern I went back to exchange them. Only to find out that they weren't even selling the 2008 mugs b/c they had run out. I had ended up w/ one from 2003. Well, damn. I HAD to get the correct mug, so we HAD to go to another stand and get another mug of gluhwein. ;) From our post newspaper, the Kaiserslautern American, writer Kerry Solan, "Gluhwein, or 'Glow Wine', dates back as far as 500 BC, long before spiffy plastic stoppers were able to keep wine fresh. Spices and herbs were added to wine for healthy reasons and to make the wine drinkable again."




Next we headed across the street to the old Barbarossa castle. Its remains are dated from the 1200's. It was set up as a medieval Christmas market. The "band" also played and walked around the other market heralding St. Nicholas.













For your viewing pleasure I took a short video of the band:


By that time we knew the Miesau market would be open. And in search of a mug from every Christmas market, we headed back. This is b/c I have a wonderful husband. We had to drive 25 min back there and he offered it and never complained. ;) Here's my mug. Even though it didn't say "Miesau" or "2008" I thought it was an interesting color and got it anyway.