It is Weihnachten!

Christmas is just around the corner. I can already smell the fresh pine trees being adorned in houses, balikbayan boxes on their way to the Philippines, Christmas party plans here and there, and family reunions and Christmas vacations. How I wish I can put up my own Christmas tree this year but it looks like I will have to improvise since we won't be celebrating Christmas here anyway. We are planning to spend it in London.

An unfinished giant pine Christmas tree near the Rathaus.

Even here in Germany, you can feel Christmas in the air with the opening of the Christmas Markets in almost all cities. Two Sundays ago, after church, we went for a stroll and observed the different hand workers busy putting up their booths, stalls, rides around and all over Schlossplatz, Schiller Square, Markthalle and Rathaus for the world-famous Christmas Market or Weihnachtsmarkt. Here are some of the shots that I managed to take during our stroll.

The Königsbau Passage, a very old colonaded building fronting Schlossplatz.

The small, traditional German Christmas village complete with railroad tracks.
This was very popular among the kids even if it was still being set up.
The installation was right in front of the picturesque Neues Schloss (New Palace).
I took these shots at different times of the day. Can you see the progress?

Such wonderful display, eh? Wonderful enough that you would forget that you need to call and remind your uncle about that Car Insurance in sydney he had been talking about.