Advent in Dresden

My favorite part of the parade

The Giant Christstollen!!!! 

We thoroughly enjoyed our Advent season here in Germany - somehow the fact that the Christmas decorations are different makes them seem more festive, I think.  Halfway through November Adventskalendars made their appearances in stores everywhere. With the reasoning that chocolate improves concentration, we bought one with various chocolate confections and read our Advent verses each night while sampling the chocolate.  Dividing one chocolate among 4 people just adds to the Christmas spirit of sharing...or so I maintained to the kids.  Vicente objected slightly to the fact that the Adventskalendar goes from Dec 1 to Dec 24 and this year Advent technically began on Dec 2, but you can't have everything and it's not as if he wanted to give up his taste of chocolate on Dec 1.

Right before Advent, Dresden center fills up with the Weihnachtsmarkt. It was really quite something to see:  any available open space it seemed, was full of small huts vending Christmas wares such as Gluhwein or Gluhbier, gingerbread, sausages (okay that's year round, not just for Christmas!), Nutcrackers, large stars that remind me of porcupines (Herrnhuter Sterne), Christmas tree ornaments, handcarved Nativity sets, etc.  We tried going in the first weekend it opened, but turned back after venturing past 3 huts.  When it is so crowded that even I feel claustrophobic, you know it must be packed!  Pablo & I did go in again one weekend morning while Vicente & Miguel were making Christmas cookies at Pfadfinders (German Co-ed scouts, although there seems to be only 1 girl that ever comes).  However, we were able to see the Giant Stollen Fest Parade which was a lot of fun.  We did not actually participate in eating any of the special Christstollen - it's extraordinarily heavy white bread chock full of alcohol soaked dried fruits.  It's baked in a form that's supposedly reminiscent of the swaddled Christchild, which didn't make it anymore appealing in my eyes.

A not-so-crowded morning!!

Porcupine stars in the mall

These aren't just any old fair booths, but substantial huts topped with decorations that are tourist worthy even without the contents...

....though the contents of the booths weren't bad. Gluhwein is hot, spiced wine and is great on a cold night.  We weren't adventurous enough to try Gluhbier though.

These apparently double as Christmas tree ornaments AND doughnuts.  I don't think they'd last very long on our tree.