Christmas Markets started in Central Europe, Austria and Southern Germany, and have moved up and down the Danube and spread out from that waterway across the continent. London has always had great Christmas decorations and shopping, but the European style Christmas Market crossed the Channel only in the 1980s. Today there are Christmas Markets, Fairs and Faires, throughout England, with the big one in Hyde Park. We were only in London for 24 hours and had a lot of friends to see so Suzi and I didn’t get to any of the new markets but we did get to an old friend, Covent Garden, and enjoyed, perhaps, the best Gluhwein of the season, in England. Who could believe that! The covered market space is a year around market but has special decorations and products for the Christmas Season, which here starts before it does in the US. There is no Thanksgiving as a buffer. We enjoyed the stalls selling goods and a magician performing under the covered market.
Here are some pictures from Covent Garden this year. I have an earlier post from Covent Garden on this blog and you can see it by clicking here. I love the first picture, Covent Garden market reflected on a rain beaded Christmas ball hanging from a nearby tree.
