Die lange Nacht!

Friday night was Bonn's long night. The market was open until midnight, and a lot of shops near the market stayed open until 10:00 pm, which never happens in Germany. Germany is the land of conservative store hours. If you run out of anything food-wise on Sunday, you are out of luck. You will not be able to buy it until Monday morning. But Friday was all about celebrating and eating! I was accompanied by two friends, an American and a German, who I've met since living in Bonn. I was extremely happy that I had people with whom to experience the market. Both of them actually had not been to the Weihnachtsmarkt yet, so we got to spend a good time taking in all the stands.

I love these strands of lights! I don't think I've posted a nighttime shot of them yet. I saw this style of light first in Toulouse. This is the view from Marktplatz towards the Muensterplatz.

Now we are among the strands!

My friend J and I! Friday was the first night that temperatures dipped to 0 degrees Celsius. Perfect Gluehwein weather!

 Friday I had two of the same type of Gluehwein. I liked this traditional version a lot better than the Gluehwein from the other night. My German friend said that the stand we went to allegedly has the best Gluehwein. The red version was also served with a slice of lemon.

J and her Dampfnudel. I still haven't tried this fan favorite. But it is on my list! It is smothered in vanilla sauce and hot cherries.

My new experience was Poffertjes, or Dutch mini pancakes. Now, I enjoy pancakes as much as the next girl, but I am not obsessed with them. These little guys, however, were amazing! I got eight mini cakes, with Eierlikoer and whipped cream on top. And, to make it even better, all was served in an edible waffle bowl! So tasty, so good! How am I going to survive life once the Weihnachtsmarkt is gone!

Poffertjes, aka Dutch mini pancakes. Yum!

We stopped by the department store window. Check out the child-like wonder in J and J's eyes! Gotta love the reflection in the window too!

I also got a sausage! Krakauer, to be exact. Sorry about the angle; I can't rotate images once they get to Blogger!

Saturday I took a quiet trip into town to run some errands, and I picked up another one of the bread-pizza things, but this time I got it with onions and cheese. Also good! Next time I need to try the bread, which is baked in a stone oven. So delicious!

Today I had waffles with one of my choir friends and his family. Also good times, even if there was no Christmas market visit today. In other news, it snowed in Bonn last night, and a bit this morning! I think winter is almost here!