Because Leanne asked what a Christmas market was ...

This week, I’ve been taking a class in Frankfurt. It’s cold in Frankfurt, although according to Weather.com, not really much colder than Istanbul. The difference is my walk to work has escalated from 15 minutes to an hour and 15 minutes. It seems colder because I’m in it more.

Dana would love his place.

Yeah, I know, that’s my option – Frankfurt has a bunch of public transport options, but I decided since I spend two hours in the gym anyway, I might as well spend that two hours walking to and from work. And oh, my, when you leave at 6:50 a.m.  and walk back starting at 5 p.m., it’s dark. And with darkness comes cold!

So here’s a hint, my Florida friends: always bring gloves! I brought my hat and a scarf but deliberately looked at the gloves and thought, nah. Well, I didn’t realize the Marriott I’d selected was so far from the building. For some reason, I was thinking it was maybe a 20-minute walk. That was wrong. I am cold.

I’m still happy with the Marriott, but if I had another opportunity to take another class, I’d opt for the much-closer Best Western. Or heavier gloves and more clothes.

Store of beeswax Christmas stuff.

The class was cool. It was HR-oriented, which is something that I’ve found that fascinates me. I also like learning, so it was up my alley. And it’s been a nice break from being in Istanbul. I love the city and my job, but this status we’re on is definitely grinding. Of course, even though I was away, I was still monitoring emails and trying to make small dents in the stuff I’ll have to do when I get back.

That starts tomorrow, too. It’ll be the sixth consecutive weekend I’ve worked since this status started. It’s kind of too bad I’m pretty low-maintenance as far as “stuff” goes, because I’m racking in the OT right now. It’s nice overall, but at some point, I’d just like a nap.

Frankfurt itself has been nice to visit. Despite working, I have gotten out and about, if just during the daily walks. I also saw a movie, and by my count, Germany is country N0. 10 or 11 in which I’ve seen a movie. I can’t remember if I ever saw one in Malaysia – I do know I tried.

Cute little standalone, temporary stores.

The thing to do in Frankfurt about now is hit the Christmas market, and I saved that for the final evening in town. By sheer coincidence, a friend who was posted here before came this weekend and we overlapped for a day and picked the same hotel to stay in, so she took me to the Christmas market.

Having spent two years in China, my definition of “market” is an area that’s blocks long crammed full of different people selling versions of the same thing. I envision lots of storefronts, one after another brimming with fun junk, whether it be tea, glasses frames, flowers or whatever.

Christmas!

And although I lived in Michigan for 11 years and had access to the Frankenmuth Christmas market thing, I never went, so I didn’t have anything other than China on which to base my expectations.

Frankfurt Christmas markets –and maybe all Christmas markets – are way different than I expected.  First, it’s not just people selling stuff. It’s more food, and A LOT more food. Well, more drink than food, but essentially, China markets have a restaurant-ish place here and there, but in this particular Christmas market, food and drink – mostly drink – were the things to do, and shopping came after that. There was a lot of shopping, but there was way more eating and drinking, and apparently, all German Christmas markets have their own mugs every year. Collecting is a thing. I saw lots of that, including from my traveling companion. (There are also several versions every year. She didn’t like her first one and traded for another, then traded back for the original again. So many options!)

I was imagining this left and right. 

Since we’d just eaten some massive schnitzel, I wasn’t hungry at all. (I hadn’t held back at dinner; the two people I was with knew what was coming so I think they paced themselves accordingly.) I was, however, deeply chilled because, although warmer than some days in the week, it’d been that damp overcasty type day – the kind I hate because it gets to my bones. But I soldiered on as much as possible because it was so cool.

There were crowds, but not Hong Kong-like crowds. Some of the crowdedness was what you can’t get from SE Asia – people walking like penguins because they’re wearing so many clothes! Fewer people, more clothes, I guess.

Sunset in Frankfurt

The area was a normal shopping area with temporary booths set up. Kind of like if you put Mule Day downtown, except the booths were pretty much free-standing buildings that had been brought in, with walls, roofs and all. They did have a few aisles of booths like Mule Day, but they were still walled and covered, though those were window-shopping ones – you didn’t walk into them.

Lots of decorations everywhere, from the design of the little freestanding shops to the trees and such. There was a life-size (but not live) Nativity scene, but it was up a little and behind sort of a picket fence; I couldn’t get a picture of the whole thing, just the holy parents’ and shepherds’ heads.

I bought a little wooden nativity set that is kind of a nesting one. It starts from baby Jesus, a tiny little piece, and the pieces stack together until they’re all in the stable-like setting, the largest piece, but then there is a star on top.

My newest nativity set.

And even though I know the stable scene is basically a pop culture myth – it was a cave, people! – I really like it. They had all sizes but I went with the little one. I’m a sucker for nativity sets and I’ve bought two since I arrived in Istanbul, plus I am pretty sure I already have 2-3 others.

I think that’s all I bought there, but I had already bought a Christmas ornament at the mall near my hotel. I was getting close to caving and going for hot chocolate, but I held out for that at the hotel. I’d paid for the executive lounge and wanted my money’s worth of tea and hot chocolate.

What I was really hoping to find was a tree topper – either a star or an angel – but I didn’t see anything that passed my test. I did see a snowflake that I liked, but it was a giant ornament and I’ve have to tie it to the top somehow. Figured I’d keep looking.

Reindeer in the vortex

So now I head on back. I’m currently sitting in the airport – but will post this when I get home; no fee wifi – and hope that I’m home before 10 p.m. tonight. I went ahead and checked my bag, which I rarely do but did since I had my huge class binder with me. I’m still planning on taking the metro but we’ll see how long it takes to get my bag. I cabbed it on the way in because the traffic was lighter and it was amazingly quick. I’m going to have to think about that, because I really would love to be home as early as possible. I’m working tomorrow so any down time will be welcome.

My next out-of-town trip is scheduled for Christmas weekend – no time off. I really am due for some time off, but I haven’t decided where and when. There are just way too many options.