Oh My Life! - Tales of My Life and Times - Birmingham German Christmas Market

Hi!!!

Good morning! For today's Blogmas post, I wanted to share what I got up to yesterday with you - expect plenty of festive photos to brighten up your Tuesday afternoon and fill you full of Christmas cheer.

My Auntie S and I went into Birmingham yesterday for a day of Christmas shopping and visiting the Christmas market. As someone who has always lived in Birmingham, the German Christmas Market will always have a special place in my heart as I've spent so many December days and evenings there. It does seem like there are less stalls than there usually are this year, but there are building works going on nearby which is probably why.

The first point of call was definitely to grab something to drink, especially since the cups that the drinks are served in are so photogenic - as are the tokens you are given to hand over when you give the cups back.

 

The German Market always look super festive with all of the fairy lights, Christmas trees, the carousel, the Santa Clause statuettes and Nutcracker dolls.

 

 

 

I also think that all of the stalls are super Christmassy, too. There's rows of colourful stalls selling everything from toys, tree ornaments and candles to jewellery and food. It's always a nice place to go for gift inspiration or just to look at all of the lovely things on offer.

 
 

My tips for visiting would be to go during the day if possible (as it will be a bit less crowded), to say yes to all of the food available (everything from pretzels to marshmallows to fried potatoes with garlic sauce and crêpes) and allow yourself to be present and take in all of the lovely Christmassy sights and sounds and smells.

Massive shout out to my Auntie S for letting me tag along on her Christmas shopping trip and for sharing fried potatoes and laughing at a singing moose with me.

Thanks so much for reading Blogmas Day Five.

Have you visited a Christmas Market yet? Do you have any other comments or suggestions for future posts? Leave a comment to let me know.

I hope you enjoyed this post. I'll see you tomorrow for Day Six.

I hope you have a great day!

GingerSnaps xxx

Oh My Life! - Tales of My Life and Times - Christmas at Chatsworth

Hi!!!

You guys, Christmas is well and truly on its way and I am so excited, not least because it brings so many fun opportunities to spend time with family and friends. This year, one of those things has been visiting Chatsworth at Christmas, and I wanted to share some snaps from the day and tell you what we got up to.

I'd been to Chatsworth once before, which was also a Christmas visit - it was in 2014, and the theme for the decorations was The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (one of my favourite stories). That was an amazing visit and so, upon finding out the theme was The Nutcracker, I suggested booking tickets for this year.

I adore the story of The Nutcracker and have been to see the ballet (one of the most wonderful things I've done) and so I was massively excited.

We set off early and made the drive from Birmingham to Derbyshire - Chatsworth is in a town called Bakewell, which I think is such a cute name. Anyway, we got there at about quater to ten and our slot for the house was 10:15am so we took a little early morning dander round the market beforehand.

Every room in the house was decorated beautifully with a different scene from the Nutcracker. The decorations followed the story from Clara's early encounters with her Nutcracker Doll to their journey into the Land of Sweets (aka where I would like to live, please and thanks).

There were also rooms decorated like the stage of the ballet and the dressing rooms of the dancers playing each character.  One of my favourite rooms was the Sugar Plum Fairy's dressing room - it features a Christmas tree made of tutus and a very magical bubble bath.

The staff are all dressed in themed costumes which was another really special touch, and the music from the ballet plays throughout the house.

We spent some time in the afternoon in the gardens exploring, looking round the Christmas market and getting carried away with the cheeses and game meat stalls and drinking hot chocolate, and we even took a short horse and carriage ride (which cost £2 each) which was lovely.

It was such an amazing day and it was a really lovely thing to experience with family, too. 

I'd highly recommend going this year if you can - I think the Christmas market might still be on but I know the decorations and gardens are definitely still there all the way till the big day.

Find out more here.

Thanks so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed seeing what I got up to on this very festive day out.

Have you been to Chatsworth House? Do you like The Nutcracker? Do you have any comments or suggestions for future posts, be sure to leave a comment.
Peace out, sugar plums.

I hope your day is delightful and magical!

GingerSnaps xxx