Last week when there was a heat wave (it was like 35 F in Chicago), I met up with
H after work at Daley Plaza for the annual
Christkindlmarket they have set up there. I'm guessing it's supposed to be like the Christmas markets they
have in Germany. Here are a few of the less-shaky shots I took:
The Daley Plaza tree is pretty huge. One of those golden snowflake ornaments is twice the size of my head. Or more. 
There is a cute display with smaller trees, a train (which wasn't running) and some horses and caroler figures. You can kind of see the skyscrapers in the background.
There are a ton of little kiosks with red-and-white awnings that sell curios, lacework, steins, sweaters and all sorts of trinkets from places as far away as Germany and Nepal. And there were a few "indoor" tented shops like this one, which was filled to the gills with "handmade" ornaments. I felt a little silly taking this shot, which I'm sure shows in the quality. The ornaments, by the way, are hella expensive. But hey, if you want craftsmanship, you've gotta pay. We didn't buy any. Mostly because we're lucky and often get handcrafted gifts.
Of course there was food, too. And it smelled DELICIOUS. H was more practical and said we should probably pass and eat at home, but I was dying to have something, anything I could say was "authentically" German-ish. We decided to share some spiced apple cider wine, which came in a commemorative cup. That stuff was pretty rough going down, but I have to say it left me with a very warm belly. And a buzz. In shocking news, H didn't like it. But I can see why. I don't know if I'd be rushing to get another cup, either, unless I was stranded in a snowy barn in Switzerland and needed to stay warm all night.
The Daley Plaza tree is pretty huge. One of those golden snowflake ornaments is twice the size of my head. Or more. 
There is a cute display with smaller trees, a train (which wasn't running) and some horses and caroler figures. You can kind of see the skyscrapers in the background.
There are a ton of little kiosks with red-and-white awnings that sell curios, lacework, steins, sweaters and all sorts of trinkets from places as far away as Germany and Nepal. And there were a few "indoor" tented shops like this one, which was filled to the gills with "handmade" ornaments. I felt a little silly taking this shot, which I'm sure shows in the quality. The ornaments, by the way, are hella expensive. But hey, if you want craftsmanship, you've gotta pay. We didn't buy any. Mostly because we're lucky and often get handcrafted gifts.
Of course there was food, too. And it smelled DELICIOUS. H was more practical and said we should probably pass and eat at home, but I was dying to have something, anything I could say was "authentically" German-ish. We decided to share some spiced apple cider wine, which came in a commemorative cup. That stuff was pretty rough going down, but I have to say it left me with a very warm belly. And a buzz. In shocking news, H didn't like it. But I can see why. I don't know if I'd be rushing to get another cup, either, unless I was stranded in a snowy barn in Switzerland and needed to stay warm all night.
4 comments:
One of my ambitions is to be in Germany for the Weihnachtsmärchen!
Here is the one in Bremen:
https://www.bremen-tourism.de/k3-gruppen-programme-details.cfm?ID=501&bremenDE=false
Its really all about the food...
Ah, lovely! They always do it up right in Daley Plaza.
This sort of thing makes me wish I lived in (near) a bigger city.
So then I read your posts labeled "parking," and that feeling passes.
Wow, great pics! It looks pretty authentic. I think I am becoming a bit of a German Christmas market expert, and have had more mulled wine than I probably should admit. But ours is actually TASTY.
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