Since the weather here has finally turned colder, we took the opportunity to finally go to the Christmas market in Frankfurt. We thought Mackenzie would enjoy the sights and sounds. But we didn’t count on the ENTIRE city of Frankfurt being down there at the same time.

The Christmas market in Frankfurt is a pretty big event and one of the largest and prettiest in the area. Nestled right in the heart of the city and surrounded by old timber frame houses, it’s certainly picturesque. But it had been going on for a couple weeks already and I guess we just figured that a lot of people had already gotten their Christmas market fix. Apparently they were also waiting for the colder weather like us.

©Tourismus+Congress GmbH Frankfurt am Main

As we were getting out of the car, I realized I’d forgotten my camera. But once we got closer to the Christmas market, it was clear that there was hardly enough room for me to lift my hands to take a photo with all the people running around. The camera just would have been one more thing to worry about getting broken or stolen.  Why everyone decided 4pm was the best time to hit up the market, I just do not know. Perhaps they’d all been out Christmas shopping and just stopped in for a hot punsch and some sausages.

©Tourismus+Congress GmbH Frankfurt am Main

The plan was to meet up with a friend of Stefan’s from high school by the Christmas tree in the Römerplatz. We parked near Stefan’s office and the opera which is further away from all the commotion but still only a few minutes walk. After seeing the very long line of cars waiting to get into the parking lots nearest to the market, we knew that was the wise choice. There is no telling how long people must have been waiting to get into that parking garage. We’ve been there in that line before!

Unfortunately, we had to first cross Paulsplatz before getting to Römerplatz (where the tree and friend awaited) and that was a bit of a nightmare. I have visions of cattle and sheep being herded in my head from that moment. It was a bit crazy, I have to say. Many people turned off into various rows of the market as we went along. They were probably in search of roasted chestnuts and almonds, or cookies and candies, or maybe gifts for loved ones. But it seems like the majority of the people were just strolling along, with no real purpose in mind. Just a nice stroll in freezing temperatures. Fun!

©Tourismus+Congress GmbH Frankfurt am Main

Because it was so cold, we decided to take Mackenzie in the stroller with lamb’s wool liner. It’s big and bulky which isn’t fun, but better to have her toastie and warm than turning blue in the Deuter. Driving a stroller through huge crowds of people is not so enjoyable, though. I think some people crave that power you can have with a stroller: running people off the road, rolling up on their heels, crashing into them. I am not one of those people.

Thankfully the friend found us as we were wading through the people and we agreed to hit the very last row of market stands, closest to the river. There were still tons of people and the route there was long, but we were rewarded with hot food and eventually something to drink as well. Mackenzie thought the pork steak on a roll that I shared with her was fabulous. She would have liked to try my kirschgluhwein (cherry punch) too but I had to put my foot down. Trust me, it sounded better than it was. In fact, I only drank a few sips before it started to make me nauseous…or maybe it was the combo of that with the rather fatty pork steak. 🙂

I’m afraid I can’t tell you anything about how the market looked this year, where the good stands were or anything else…because my main focus was on not running people over. I could have been anywhere in the world other than the Christmas market and probably wouldn’t have noticed. We didn’t even look for an ornament for our tree. Guess we’ll have to visit the smaller market in Hanau before it closes on the 22nd to really be able to enjoy the Christmas market experience this year!