Christmas Market

without seeing halloween decorations and candy in stores by september i began to wonder what the christmas season would be like in estonia. would there be decorations in department stores? christmas trees in living room windows? lights hung up in the town square? my worries came to an end when i saw the christmas market in raekoja plats (old town square). it's like a fairytale christmas village! small wooden houses with thatched roofs are scattered around the square with every imaginable hand-made item pouring from the windows, there are vendors selling gingerbread and hoogvein (warm mulled wine) and honey in the comb (yum!). the best part by far is the huge, 30-40 foot, christmas tree right in the center of the square. this is the very spot where they say the first christmas tree stood in 1442, as in the first christmas tree ever. it's so lovely i've been back twice and will go again tomorrow which means that everyone on my christmas list is getting hand-made estonian gifts. i'm so excited that christmas is almost here! i'm going home to spend the holiday with my family and i'm no longer embarrassed to be listening to my holiday classics playlist (which has been in heavy rotation since october).

okay, okay, after looking at my pictures of the christmas market i realized that the little houses don't actually have thatched roofs. apparently my excitement led me to fabricate a few details. i apologize.