But there weren't that many and the things for sale were all of crappy to worse quality. What this Christmas Markt had that set it apart though were rides:
It may be hard to tell in that second shot, but way in the back, just in front of the basilica is one of those giant slides. In the foreground, with the fake sparkly tree in the middle, is an ice skating rink. The tree, and even the slide, stood out at night:
All in all the markt wasn't anything special. From what I was told a lot of people here travel to the Aachen, Cologne, or Dusseldorf Christmas Markts as they are bigger and not terribly far away.
Besides the markt, Maastricht had many more Christmas decorations up throughout the city. In fact, city workers were busy putting up lights beginning around Halloween.
Like most European cities during Christmas, the combination of the crisp winter air, the decorations, and the sweets being sold by numerous vendors made Maastricht a very nice place to be leading up to Christmas.
That being said, I was excited about spending the actual holidays in Connecticut with my family. I departed Maastricht on the 19th of December and visited family and friends in Connecticut until the 8th of January, at which time I flew to Kansas. Just over a month later, I was able to welcome Penny back from deployment with four days to spend with her before returning to Maastricht.
While our time together before my return was short, Penny is coming to visit and will arrive here in just over a week. We have plans to travel to Stuttgart to see some friends, London, and Turkey. I'll be sure to post about our trips in a more timely manner than I have been. Before she arrives though I have a post about the normal market that takes place here every Wednesday and Friday that I'll get to in the next few days.
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