Santa Croce Christmas Markets 2013
This time last year I was really looking forward to a wintery Christmas in Florence and although we have wandered around town with the beautiful fairy lights twinkling at dusk and the massive Christmas tree in front of the Duomo I still have to remind myself it is Christmas.
Part of the problem is I don’t venture down town all that often, we don’t have a Christmas tree up and, lastly, we forgot to bring our Christmas music. Tomorrow we leave for a Christmas holiday in Torino (hence the lack of Christmas tree) which we are all really looking forward to. Unfortunately rain has been predicted instead of snow so perhaps a quick train ride into the Alps might have to be on top of our ‘Things to do’ list. Anyway I am wandering in my thoughts, I decided to take the boys down to the Christmas market on Friday to get us into the spirit of Christmas and stare at the Christmas tree again. I am not sure if it is a sign but the rain decided to join us which meant the crowds were non existent!
Light stall
There were a hand full of beautiful stalls brightening this dreary day and the smells of German sausage cooking along side suckling pig rotating on the spit did in fact put the boys and I into a festive state. To amplify the mood the boys spotted giant pretzels as big as their heads so they opted for a sugar cinnamon one for Alex and a dark chocolate, nut and apple one for Max (we had just finished lunch 30 min before so I wasn’t the least bit hungry!).
Alex in pretzel heaven
Max and his giant chocolate pretzel
Blissfully stuffing their faces the boys walked the booths with me and admired all the handy work that was on display. I loved the bright table cloths, pottery reindeer ornaments and English cheese vendors the most. However, the boys jaw dropped when they saw the sausage van and said with their mouths full of pretzel ‘Oh mum sausage!!!!’
The German sausage tent….smelt delicious!
As you can see (but sadly can’t smell the sausage aroma) the customers were a bit light on, however, I wasn’t about to let the boys go on a food binge. So as I agreed that, in fact, yes, the sausages did smell fantastic, alas it was time for us to head over to the leather markets and see what we could find. I actually loved being at the Christmas market on this rainy day because I was able to look at my leisure and sample a few yummy delights. The Stilton was to-die-for. The last time we popped over to the Christmas market it was heaving with customers, so much so we left after 5 minutes because we couldn’t even walk up the paths let alone see what vendors were selling.
The Christmas spirit revived me and we are ready for our week in the North of Italy. I shall be taking a short break from blogging. However, I will be back with vengeance with tales of the North in the new year.
Happy Holidays to you all!
Italy Take Two 