Another Christmas-filled weekend

After my German class on Saturday morning, I took the train to Ulm to visit....the Christmas market!!!!! It was everything I had hoped it would be, and more. Well, except for the weather, which wasn't ideal, but at least it didn't rain much. Get ready for a picture, because here it comes:

As you can see, the booths are adorable! The Christmas market is held on the big plaza in front of the Münster (the huge cathedral in Ulm). It's a pretty big square, but it felt really cramped on Saturday--which could be because it was insanely crowded. I could barely make my way through the crowd. The little alleyways that the booths made weren't very wide, so it wasn't easy navigating down those. And forget about trying to turn around if you changed your mind. There was also, of course, lots of stuff to eat. I ate Schupfnudeln, which I found out (after I ate them) are noodles made out of potatoes. Whatever they are, they're good. Also, all the booths that serve Glühwein serve it out in special "Ulm Christmas market" mugs which are really nice. The way they try to get them back is by charging you €1 extra for it and then giving you the extra Euro back when you return it. Well, I didn't really want any Glühwein but I did want a mug, so I asked how much they cost alone. Turns out, only €1! So I naturally bought three--one for me and one for each of my parents for Christmas. It was probably the cheapest thing in the whole Christmas market.

OK, here's the stuff I bought: two ball ornaments, a regular ornament, an ornament with the Ulm Münster on it, three stars made out of something I didn't recognize, and two Ulm coasters. I know, I know, I went a little overboard, but I couldn't resist! And honestly, when am I ever gonna be back in Germany to buy stuff at a Christmas market? I can't wait until next weekend when I'm at the Christmas market in Nuremberg!!!

That's right, another Christmas market. The one in Nuremberg is apparently the most famous one in Germany. I'm leaving Saturday morning, meeting up with Jonathan on Sunday morning, then staying through til early Tuesday morning, when I'll take the train to get back in time to work. Yesterday I went to some kind of church thing (I'm still not exactly sure what it is--what's a Bezirkstreffung?) with some people from Gegenwind (the youth group). I was talking to Judith afterwards, and she happened to mention that she'd always wanted to go to the Christmas market in Nuremberg, so now we're gonna take the train together on Saturday. She'll be going back Saturday night, but that actually works out really well. That way I won't have to walk around alone all day Saturday, but I'll still be able to spend time with Jonathan.

Oh yeah, here's a few pictures from the Christmas market in Heideneheim, which I went to very shortly again on Saturday before my train left.

Here's a picture of the actual Christmas market. As you can see, not nearly as big as the one in Ulm, but still nice.

Here's a picture of the brass-instrument-wielding Santas that have been shaking up the streets of Heidenheim. They're good, but....they need to expand their repertoire.