Waffle!

Waffle shop!

It's the 4th Sunday of Advent, another rainy day in Lübeck. Everyone was out in force regardless, enjoying the Christmas markets, and we joined them this afternoon. We found a new little Christmas market nook near our flat that features a kiddie skating rink, and a shop that sells what I've been looking for:  waffeln mit Vanillesoße (waffle with vanilla sauce)! At last!

Naturally, we ordered one. The girl behind the counter made a waffle and served it on a ceramic plate with a real fork. *sigh* I haven't seen a single piece of styrofoam or disposable cup at the Christmas markets. Gluhwein is always served in ceramic mugs. (You pay 2 euros extra when you order a gluhwein, and you get the euros back when you return the mug.)

Gary attempts to take the first bite, but I had to intervene because he was taking too long.

We ate our wonderful waffle watching the kinder skating, some of them pushing these cute little "ice chairs" (left of center, toward the back) around the rink. The chairs are resin, but they look just like animal chairs made of ice. Süß!

After the waffle, we strolled to the main part of town, where I insisted on visiting this shop at the Christmas market, which promised to make my every Christmas wish come true:

Christmas Dream Shop: Beware!!!

Gary decided to stay outside and stand in the rain while I shopped. I was annoyed because I wanted to experience this shop together, but I went in alone, giving him a disapproving frown as I entered. I realized, as soon as I stepped in the door, that I had made a terrible and irreversible mistake.

Inside the shop, a solid line of people snakes around the shop in a narrow aisle, shuffling sloooowly past displays of Christmas tree ornaments and nutcrackers and candles and more ornaments and nutcrackers and candles. There's no getting through it more quickly than anyone else. I was stuck in Christmas Hell for twenty minutes before I staggered out the exit door, all my Christmas dreams having come true over and over and over again. The only thing that would have made me overdose on Christmas any faster would have been a vanilla sauce IV, pumped directly into my veins.

Nevertheless, we still stopped at the nut shop on the way home, and bought candied macadamia nuts *and* candied pecans. I took this shot of bratwurst roasting on an open fire at one of the rost-fleisch stands as we walked past.

Fröhliche Weihnachten! May your every Christmas wish come true, with vanilla sauce!