I'm sure we all have a pretty good idea about what a German Christmas Market has to offer now that they also seem to pop up around the UK. So, whilst it's probably not radically different, I thought some of you might like to see a traditional Swedish Christmas market.
This one was held in the Medieval town of Sigtuna. This lovely town is on the shores of a big lake and is the oldest town in Sweden. Narrow shopping streets are filled with welcoming cafes and shops and the main street leading up to the town square is where the market was held. A very popular event, the town was rammed full of people. On the whole the market was predominantly hand made goodies mixed with food stalls, the cake stall drew our attention and I do believe we 'had' to buy one of each type of cake, just to sample them all.
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| a huge variety of different types of wreaths |
The little gnome figure can be seen a lot. He is called Tomte and is a mythological figure from Scandinavian folklore associated with the winter solstice. He is three foot tall and is a gift bearer, rather like Father Christmas. |
| yes, we will have one of each please. |
Apologies to this handsome chap for an unflattering photo, he became known as "my future husband" for the times when I dream of marrying a Swedish Viking and run off to live in the mountains.
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| these hand felted boots are very similar to the Russian Valenki boot. |
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| Knitwear aplenty, and so lovingly made. |
straw ornaments are a very popular feature, either these hanging ones or a horse figure.
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| hot nuts anyone? |
And then to round off the bright cold day, a sunset to be proud of.
So as they say in Sweden, God Jul to you all, lots of love to everyone who found my blog which I started this year, hope to see you again soon.
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