Christmas Markets

The big celebration point during the holidays in Germany is the Christmas Markets. These are temporary structures set up to sell gifts and food and drinks to shoppers intoxicated by the season.(The first picture is out of a window in my building)

What we didn't know is that it is really a huge outdoor cocktail party where people agree to meet and socialize.


A couple of days ago they started building the market outside of my office in central Munich at the Wittelsbacherplatz. Each market has a theme in Munchen - ours is medieval times. They started building last week (when I took these pictures).
When I spoke to the people in my office, they asked, "Surely you have these markets in NYC?" After a short discussion about how these markets are really a venue for people to meet and socialize more than shop, I had to tell them that we really don't have anything like these in NYC.

These pictures also show that our weather has been dynamite. We have had sunshine and 60 degrees for many days of the past two weeks. Today I had coffee outside in the sun with a friend with no coat.
I took this picture tonight while leaving the office. They do install a Christmas tree in the center of the market - which in our case is lit by Siemens bulbs.