December 5th, Lincoln Christmas Market, Lincoln
Its soon going to be the season to be jolly and to get in the mood we went to the Christmas Market in Lincoln. We had been before so knew all about using the park and ride to get there and the rigorously enforced one way system taking you round the market.
The first Lincoln Christmas Market was held in 1982 and probably wasn't very good as it only had 14 stalls. Now there are over 300 and it attracts 150,000 visitors over the four days it runs.
The market is in Lincolns Cathedral Quarter. It starts off outside the Castle walls, winds its way through the old streets, goes past the Cathedral and then inside the Castle before finishing back where you started.
This year they had concentrated more on traditional, mainly German, Christmas stalls selling Gluwein, Bratwursts, hand made decorations and so on, rather than on fast food stalls and fair ground rides like they had in the past.
The result is the whole thing is pretty magical. The combination of the markets setting, the cold (and it was very cold) and the lit up stalls is pretty…well…Christmassy!
As with most places we visit most our time was spent trying out the free samples of dipping oils, cheeses, curry’s and wines.
Of course you cant really try stuff without buying so we did end up heading home with mostly edible items, and we can proudly add two more commemorative wine glasses to our extensive collection (Of two glasses from a previous year)
All in all it was pretty good practice for going round the real markets when we go to spend Christmas in Germany with the Kings.