Us Seniors

Elder et Soeur Arn & Jody

Thursday, December 25

CHRISTMAS MARCHÉ

There was a Christmas Marché in the Grand Place, about 4 blocks from our apartment. The Archives closed early on Christmas Eve, so we walked over to the Grand Place to check it out.Arnold at the entrance to the marché standing in front of this great eagle.The marché consists of these little "log cabins" decorated with limbs from Christmas trees and sell a variety of items.Arnold enjoying people watching and dog watching. This cute little dog with a jacket was so excited to be out in the marché. They sell a ll kinds of items at the marché, things that you usually cannot get anywhere else. This one was selling bowls (baskets) made of pieces of wood fitted together in different shapes. They were really pretty cool.Throughout the marché were these "sculptures" made from evergreen branches and various wood products. We'd hate to run into this guy in a dark alley.In the center of the marché they erected a skating rink for the children. Everyone seemed to have a great time on the ice. We thought about giving it a try but decided the last thing we needed was a trip to the emergency room.Nearly half of the shops sold food items. This one sold a variety of sausages and meat products. The long coils in the glass case are sausages. They had all colors from yellow to almost black. We guess that each color has its own unique flavor. We didn't try any though.Another sculpture of what we believe is a pelican.This owl was rather regal and extremely well done. Notice the detail in the feet.There also was this little merry-go-round which the kids seemed to enjoy.One of the more colorful shops. These were all knitted items to help keep out the cold. Arnold couldn't help but barter with the shopkeeper and scored this warm chapeau for half price.With Arnold's new "missionary/military" haircut, this really was great to keep his head warm.This is possibly the most unusual creche we have ever seen. If we read the signs right it was created by children for some art project.This machine has a sign on it which translated says Papa's beard. We think that must be what they call cotton candy here.Another sculpture. This one seems to be some sort of Big Foot stirring a cauldron of something or other. Very cool.

Christmas Marches are very common in Europe. Some are so elaborate that people come from miles and countries away to shop. This was much smaller but perfect for us to experience the tradition and especially fun on a cold Christmas Eve.

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