Nürnberg Christkindlemarkt on Instagram

Finally, sharing pictures from the world famous Nürnberg Christkindlesmarkt. 

Having lived three whole years, we never ever visited the major christmas markets of Germany. December generally is a stressful month for the family even during the weekends. Hence with the time available we were content visiting the smaller markets around Lohr. And after the visit to Nürnberg, I think we are kind of done with a major market. The crowds during the weekend are terrible. You have to be on a constant lookout for your kids, be alert that nobody shoves your piping hot glühwein into you, the best stalls are always packed. To me, the crowd kind of killed the moment. Pretty soon, the kids were begging to go back home. So, it's back to the little charming ones for us. 

Enjoy the lighter moments that I managed to capture..

160 stalls are spread around the market square of Nürnberg.

The markets are also spread around the walls and towers of the city where handicraftsmen display their crafts.

As we walked along, to warm ourselves we had to continually sip on hot glühwein and the kids on kinderpunsch.

Nürnberg christmas market is famous for its lebkuchen, the traditional gingerbread. It was fun watching the woman below decorate the bread and place it into the earthen oven behind her.

Roasted chestnuts, a must try at the christmas markets. Not my favourite though. They taste just like roasted jackfruit seeds.

Trinkets, snowmen, snowglobes, wooden cribs, figurines, singing angels.....makes you want to have all the money in the world to buy it all. It does look pretty!!

Pretty tins with freshly baked lebkuchen inside. Must buy and try!!

A christmas market especially for the little ones with lots of activities and treats.

 Information about the entire event is explained in detail both in german and english at this website.

Nürnberg Zoo.

I have mentioned many times before as to how in Germany we plan our outings and excursions depending on the weather. At first this methodology seemed very strange to me, but now I must admit that when it comes to weather forecast and planning I am half german...:D Last weekend was one of such days plus the added advantage of a long weekend meant a day out at the zoo in Nürnberg. When you have kids you have to expect umpteen visits to say hello to the animals. While each one seems different to them, to us adults they are all the same!! This is our third visit to a zoo in Deutschland, and personally till date I feel the Stuttgart zoo numbers one. 

Nürnberg Tiergarten boasts of a dolphin show, something different from the other tiergarten's. I must say that it indeed was very impressive and delightful especially for the little children to watch. For us, it was our first time with dolphins. Having read quite a few articles on them, they are know to be very friendly creatures.

I loved the way the trainers communicated with them. It must be a pretty interesting job to work with animals and be able to understand and talk to them.

All along they obeyed and performed marvelously. The actual thrill was when they began these leaps and somersaults in the water. The gasps of delight from the children in the crowd was equally pleasing to hear.

The dolphin show is worth the visit . You will not be left disappointed. It helps to go early and take the best seats for an enjoyable show cause it can get pretty crowded!!

(waiting for their treats after the performance)

Do not forget to visit and say hello to Unknown Mami and all my other bloggy friends.
HAPPY SUNDAY!!!

Farmer's markets in Germany.

Germany is known for its farmer's markets. Every little village, town or city have these markets where farmers bring their fresh produce of fruits and veggies to be sold. You also find fresh eggs, cheese and other dairy products, meat and fish also sold at these markets during fixed days every week. The bigger the town, the larger the market. Lohr am Main has its weekly markets every wednesday and saturday. As our's is a little village, there are barely 3 to 4 farmers coming over very week.

     On Saturday we were at Nürnberg. The large open air market with the colorful produce and bright red striped umbrellas made for a very pretty sight. It also was surprising  to hear the vendors call out to you loudly, inviting you to taste their fresh fruit!!!

Pretty soon I was tempted not to taste but buy the papaya, a fruit which grows in abundance in our backyards back home in India. Fruits which are a staple diet for us back home is considered to be exotic in European countries, hence they are also expensive to buy.

Apart from all things bright and beautiful like above, you also find pretty hand crafts made of wood, glass, cane or ceramic, wines, liquors, conserves, fresh flowers for your loved ones, ornaments etc. I pretty soon realized that we needed an entire day just to explore Nürnberg's market. I do plan to return there soon..:)

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The Monk

Germany has a long weekend(thanks to the extra holiday on Monday). Also the weather forecast was to be a gorgeous Saturday which plenty of sunshine which is unusual for this time of the year. It would definitely be a pity to let such a beautiful day go a waste!! So, we headed to Nürnberg to meet our good old friends from back home and also to sightsee. Though I am very tired I had to share this picture before I retired to bed. Check out this floating monk we found right outside St. Lorenz Kirche.

At least this brilliant idea of his should be able to fetch hime some money...:D

And yes, he is very much real.