Manchester Markets
A few years ago, Manchester started doing Continental Christmas markets in December and for the first couple of years, I went on a regular basis. Although I wasn't interested in any of the Christmas stuff, I very much enjoyed looking at the traditional wooden toys and glass ornaments and partaking of traditional food and drink. Initially the markets were more German than anything and so it was very nostalgic for me. I haven't been for a while because I didn't have anyone to go with and it wouldn't be the same on my own. However, this year I found someone who was interested in going along with me which was very much yay. It was actually yay on two counts because I'd never actually met sullenhearts before, despite the fact that we've known each other online for several years.
Unfortunately Yorkshire wasn't overly happy on having one of its own come across to Lancashire and cancelled all the trains which I personally think was a bit over-dramatic. Thankfully Rebecca finally made it across the border and we proceeded to work our way round every single one of the eight markets available. I didn't think we'd have the time to do them all but other than Albert Square, they weren't too busy so that helped a lot. Some of the stalls were very interesting, although a large proportion seemed to be selling cheese for some bizarre reason. Albert Square was horrendously busy, it got to be a bit too much really. I think part of the issue was that there were a lot of stalls selling food which lead to long queues taking up space, plus every third stall seemed to be selling glühwein so people hovered around them drinking and making sure they got back their £2 deposit on the mugs.
There wasn't anything in particular that I wanted to get and somehow I ended up buying nothing but food! We each got a Schokoküsse (chocolate covered marshmallow sort of like a Tunnocks teacake on steroids); mine was marzipan flavoured which wasn't quite as yummy as I hoped it would be. Before we braved Albert Square, we had a pit-stop in Brazennose Street's World Market where I had some very yummy Kartoffeln (German fried potatoes). Once inside Albert Square we each got a mug of glühwein which seemed to be mostly wein and very little glüh. I kind of wished I'd held off and had a hot chocolate instead as their mugs were much nicer. And bigger too, for the same price. I was very tempted by the stall selling various kinds of strudel with custard because I do like strudel, especially the cherry kind, but £3.50 seemed rather extortionate. Especially when I can get strudel at Sainsbury's or Aldi. Rebecca said she'd rather have a crêpe but then we found a stall selling Dutch mini pancakes so we each got some of those instead and they were very yummy indeed! Before we left, I couldn't resist getting a bag of sugar coated peanuts which was mine and my sister's favourite treat when we lived in Germany. Earlier on while I was waiting for Rebecca to arrive, I found a stall selling Italian biscuits which had some gluten-free ones so I got half a dozen for my mother which cost an eye-watering £5 because they were so heavy. I was very good and managed to get both the peanuts and biscuits home without eating them.
After several hours of walking from one end of the city centre to the other and fighting our way through Albert Square, we decided we'd done everything. I think we were both pretty knackered by that point anyway. Rebecca went off to see if Yorkshire was willing to have her back and I went off to catch my train. I had to walk past Albert Square and somehow managed to see a large stall selling Dutch bulbs which we'd apparently missed before so I had a quick look. The bulbs were just £2 a bag which I thought was very bargainous and ended up spending quite a bit of time deliberating over what to get because there was just so much choice! I narrowed it down to three and finally went off to catch my train.
I'm very glad that Rebecca was agreeable to going because it was such a good day. I think we were lucky with the weather - although it was bloody cold! - and that we were there early enough in the day and in the month before it really got busy (ha!). I was seriously worn out when I got home, although it wouldn't have been so bad if I didn't have to stand up on the train all the way home :-/
Unfortunately Yorkshire wasn't overly happy on having one of its own come across to Lancashire and cancelled all the trains which I personally think was a bit over-dramatic. Thankfully Rebecca finally made it across the border and we proceeded to work our way round every single one of the eight markets available. I didn't think we'd have the time to do them all but other than Albert Square, they weren't too busy so that helped a lot. Some of the stalls were very interesting, although a large proportion seemed to be selling cheese for some bizarre reason. Albert Square was horrendously busy, it got to be a bit too much really. I think part of the issue was that there were a lot of stalls selling food which lead to long queues taking up space, plus every third stall seemed to be selling glühwein so people hovered around them drinking and making sure they got back their £2 deposit on the mugs.
There wasn't anything in particular that I wanted to get and somehow I ended up buying nothing but food! We each got a Schokoküsse (chocolate covered marshmallow sort of like a Tunnocks teacake on steroids); mine was marzipan flavoured which wasn't quite as yummy as I hoped it would be. Before we braved Albert Square, we had a pit-stop in Brazennose Street's World Market where I had some very yummy Kartoffeln (German fried potatoes). Once inside Albert Square we each got a mug of glühwein which seemed to be mostly wein and very little glüh. I kind of wished I'd held off and had a hot chocolate instead as their mugs were much nicer. And bigger too, for the same price. I was very tempted by the stall selling various kinds of strudel with custard because I do like strudel, especially the cherry kind, but £3.50 seemed rather extortionate. Especially when I can get strudel at Sainsbury's or Aldi. Rebecca said she'd rather have a crêpe but then we found a stall selling Dutch mini pancakes so we each got some of those instead and they were very yummy indeed! Before we left, I couldn't resist getting a bag of sugar coated peanuts which was mine and my sister's favourite treat when we lived in Germany. Earlier on while I was waiting for Rebecca to arrive, I found a stall selling Italian biscuits which had some gluten-free ones so I got half a dozen for my mother which cost an eye-watering £5 because they were so heavy. I was very good and managed to get both the peanuts and biscuits home without eating them.
After several hours of walking from one end of the city centre to the other and fighting our way through Albert Square, we decided we'd done everything. I think we were both pretty knackered by that point anyway. Rebecca went off to see if Yorkshire was willing to have her back and I went off to catch my train. I had to walk past Albert Square and somehow managed to see a large stall selling Dutch bulbs which we'd apparently missed before so I had a quick look. The bulbs were just £2 a bag which I thought was very bargainous and ended up spending quite a bit of time deliberating over what to get because there was just so much choice! I narrowed it down to three and finally went off to catch my train.
I'm very glad that Rebecca was agreeable to going because it was such a good day. I think we were lucky with the weather - although it was bloody cold! - and that we were there early enough in the day and in the month before it really got busy (ha!). I was seriously worn out when I got home, although it wouldn't have been so bad if I didn't have to stand up on the train all the way home :-/