On 25 November, a group of Lower 5 students travelled to Birmingham to visit the largest German Christmas market outside of Germany. We met at Watford Junction station, full of anticipation; we were so excited to be part of a traditional German Christmas market. It was amazing to see all of the stall owners, most of whom had travelled from Frankfurt, create an authentic German experience.
There was an incredible display of over eighty stalls selling pretzels, candles, gingerbread, soaps, ceramics, frankfurters and so much more. My favourite stall was the gingerbread stall, it was amazing to see all of the beautifully designed gingerbread with intricate patterns and German writing decorations. We enjoyed practising our German with some of the stall holders whilst interviewing them about the market. We spent the day learning about different aspects of Christmas in Germany such as the traditional Christmas food, Stollen. This is a fruit bread filled with nuts, spices and dried or candied fruit topped with icing sugar.
We finished the day with heiße Schokolade (hot chocolate) and went back to Watford Junction, eager to tell our families about the memorable day. We could all agree it was an amazing insight into German culture and got us into the Christmas spirit!
Molly L5
