It’s been a few years since we’ve had a chance to visit any of the Christmas markets in the larger cities. This year, though, we decided to take the ICE (the German fast train) to Nürnberg to walk around the market.

Traveling at speeds around 175 miles per hour, we quickly passed the motorists stalled in the usual morning traffic jam. In a little over two hours, we found ourselves in Nürnberg. After a bit of lunch (what’s a trip to Nürnberg without sampling their bratwurst?), we walked the ten minutes to the market.

It was wet, cold and a very dreary day, but we nevertheless enjoyed it. There were signs of the weakening economy: prices were, in some booths outrageous, and people didn’t seem to be buying much. But the attitudes of the visitors were cheerful – maybe a combination of wanting to forget their woes for the day and the hot Glühwein.

We watched lebkuchen being made in the Lebkuchen Schmidt shop:

As we visited one of the churches to light a candle for loved ones no longer with us, I couldn’t help but notice two little girls lighting one:

Sometimes, no words are needed:

We spent a few hours walking up and down the isles.

As the time came to walk back to the train station, we visited the booth of the U.S. partner city, Atlanta. Tiny stuffed mascots of Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia were front and center, along with tee shirts and statues.

We had enough time left for a nice hot Glühwein, then back in time to catch our train.