Hi everyone, this past Saturday, I had the opportunity to go to my local Christmas market. In Chicago, we welcome our German heritage and endure blistering winds and scorching deserts… pardon my Shrek reference. Anyway, we endure the cold and drive the 15 minutes to the Christkindlmarket to drink hot wine, buy German candy, and look at overpriced, handcrafted ornaments.
Typically, going to the Christkindlmarket is a huge event, beginning with breakfast for 15 at Heaven on 7th, followed by a half an hour bathroom break, and finally making our way to the market.
This year, however, there was a scheduling conflict, resulting with solely my mother and I attending. Due to this, we were able to have brunch at a phenomenal vegetarian diner. I had the most amazing vegan milkshake, TOPPED WITH VEGAN WHIPPED CREAM. For food, I had scrambled tofu and potatoes, and vegan bacon, despite looking like a strip of fruit leather, tasted divine. I didn’t take a single picture of my food because it was in my mouth the second the plate touched the table. My mother, however, took a picture of me at the booth, awaiting our food, but the poor lighting and eyebags resulted in me looking like a baby naked mole rat fresh out of the womb, so I will not make you see that.
After our bomb vegan meal in that cozy Boystown diner, we made our way towards the Christkindlmarket market. Being a Saturday morning in Chicago, the place was packed. We crept through crowds of people, elbowing when necessary, finally making our way to the wine tent. My mother is a huge fan of the Gluewhein (hot German wine), I, however, think it tastes like trash in a cup. This year, they decided to serve an apple flavor, to which I assumed would taste better…. It didn’t. After getting our wine and me taking a few sips to make the $8 my mom paid for worth it (she drank the rest in the end) we got in line for the sweet castle.
We became close friends with the people in front of us and behind us in line mainly because we waited half an hour to get into said castle. Also, we were the hot spot for squeezing through to the other side of the line, to which we decided was because we looked the least menacing. By the time we finally reached the entry way of the sweet castle, a group of about 10 people decided to ignore the gargantuan line before them and stepped right into the castle. Once we all yelled “there’s a line for a reason, get in it” we were back on track for getting our sweets.
I was able to find a small assortment, when I say small I mean small, or vegan treats, but still some nonetheless. By the time we were done in the sweet castle, we were completely finished with lines for the day. My mom and I decided to do a bit of holiday sightseeing, meaning seeing the Macy’s windows, Millenium park, and things of that nature, before finally returning home to indulge on our sweet treats.
Until tomorrow
Alicia
Living off Leesh 