A nice day

[sally_maria]

I'm a big fan of the German Christmas market in Birmingham - I'm sure the German ones are even better, but there's no hope of someone in my job getting enough time off to visit one.

This year I decided to drag some of the rest of the family along, to share the fun. Carer had been visiting the new house for a week, and could stop off on the way back to Leicester, as he has to change in Brum anyway.

So Mum, Carer and I caught the train to New St and emerged amid the stalls lining an even longer stretch than the last time I visited. We enjoyed looking at craft stalls and the smells of delicious looking German foods. Eventually, after buying Mum a trendy new woolly hat and enjoying Bratwurst for lunch, we headed for the merry-go-round, which is always fun.

Then I was surprised to see some familiar faces, the_marquis and na_quis on the ride. :-) I left the rest of family with a wall to rest their weary legs on and went to attract their attention - fortunately the family bellow was enough to attract the_marquis's attention and we waved as they went round (and round ;-D).

We were able to meet when they finally finished rotating, and to go and catch up with na_lon, who was patiently waiting on the other side. :-) It was lovely to see them, and na_quis claimed she remembered me, though I wouldn't blame her if she didn't - it must be six months since I saw her and that's a long time at that age.

We went our own way after a few minutes more chatting and introducing n_q to the rest of the family, to take Carer back to the station and get him on his train. Then we did a little bit more shopping, and caught the train back ourselves.

I had a great day and I think the rest of the family enjoyed themselves as well - a nice break from the standard Christmas rushing around.

Comments

[jane-somebody.livejournal.com]

That sounds great, and it wouldn't be too difficult for us to get to, so I'll try to remember it for mext year. Maybe we could even try to be organised enough to make some kind of deliberate get-together over it!

I thought chainmailmaiden's trip up the Rhine with stops at Christmas Markets sounded fun, and they packed a lot into a very short break, but I suppose getting even 2 or 3 days off over a weekend might not be possible for you.

[sally_maria]

It's a fun experience, I certainly recommend it, and getting together to go sounds like a nice idea. I'll try and remember to post about it next year.

I did have some 2 day weekends, but I think if I spent all of one on one of these trips I'd need a couple more days to recover - work is hectic enough that I really need my days off.