The Trier Christmas Market

Mary and Joseph,with their baby in the stable. Santa and the reindeer on the roof. With a snowman. At the Trier Christmas Market.

And so the trip ends with a couple of visits to the Trier Christmas Market.

The Christmas Market was just a block from my hotel.  Downtown Trier is not really that large, so that's not surprising,

On a cold wet Sunday, the place was quite crowded.

The stalls were all decorated with evergreen branches thick on the roofs, which made for a nice Christmas look.

Christmas churros!  And a long line to get them.  Santa loves him some churros.  De claro.

 Reindeer on the roofs, too.

And evergreen boughs on the Christmas merry-go-round.

It was the usual mix of food selling (and hot booze selling) stalls and those selling Christmas tchotchkes of various kinds, mostly ornaments, candle holders, or Christmas houses.

And, of course, Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Santa and the reindeer.  All together.

I guess that's a Christmas windmill.

Why not?

This place was selling chocolate covered fruits, mostly bananas.

Even the trash cans were decked out in holiday cheer.

Yes,  Seriously.  That is a trash can.

The Zamboni was out at the Christmas ice skating rink.

And right on the main square of the Christmas Market was one of the most beautiful McDonald's I have ever seen.

Yes.  That is a McDonald's.  You can see the golden arches.

There was an organ grinder.

No monkey.  But "What Child Is This," which is generally not one of my favorite Christmas songs, really sounded good on the hand-cranked organ.

I tipped a euro coin.

One of the purpose of this trip was to explore the Christmas markets of Germany.  (That, and like the McDonald's we just saw, I deserved a break today and needed the de-stressing trip.)

I would not want to do this every year, but this was a great treat.

And of course I returned after dark to get some supper.

And this was dinner:

Chiliwurst!  This was the hottest, spiciest bratwurst I've ever had.  Quite good.

The Christmas carousel was well-lit, as were some of the attendees, I presume.

The crowds were starting to thin out.

I'm not sure if the Christmas windmill was generating sufficient power to keep the lights on.

Last chance for Christmas tchotchkes.

Or Christmas crepes and waffles.

Apparently they go through a lot of nutella at these booths, since that seems to be what people nowadays want on the Christmas crepes and waffles.

O Tannenbaum!  Let's get in the mood with the song sung in German:  click.

Or do you prefer your "O Tannenbaum" by Andrea Bocelli?

And with that my first winter trip to Europe comes to an end.