A taste of Germany in Toronto: Christmas market at the Distillery

Nothing will get you in the Christmas mood more than crisp, cold air, the smell of pine trees and firewood burning, and a visit to the Toronto Christmas market at the Distillery District. It brought back wonderful memories of my visit to actual Christmas markets at Heidelberg and Frankfurt in Germany. Yes, the Toronto Christmas market came with goods from the Black Forest, Glühwein (mulled wine, warmed and spiced), sausages, schnitzels and pretzels! The only thing missing was a cuckoo clock kiosk!

The first thing we did when we arrived at the Christmas market was ogle at the 45-ft Christmas tree. It was beautiful! I don’t think I’ve ever seen one so large! And it was real!

After some photos, we went to visit Santa. This would now be our second visit with Santa so the girls were quite optimistic they would indeed get what they had asked for! After posing with Santa, the girls played for a bit in the Forest Maze and the Gingerbread house.  While both were cute, these were on the smallish side and the girls got tired of them quickly. Next, we went to warm ourselves up at the Santa’s Elves’ workshop where they did some crafts.

 The girls also participated in Story time at the main stage while the adults took turns checking out the booths. I got some chocolate-covered bacon (talk about best of both worlds!) to go and Grandma got some very yummy Apple Fritters!

Bacon covered in Belgian chocolate

The apple fritters were freshly cooked and were a delight to eat! They were light and the apple was warm. The sugar cinnamon dusting was perfect for this snack. DD#1 even asked to eat half of mine!

Yummy Apple Fritter

Lunch was a schnitzel (but of course!) sandwich. The Vienna-style veal schnitzel was a bit on the bland side. But it was crunchy, tender and moist. The sautéed peppers and mayo brought out the taste a notch. I loved the warm pretzel bun, though! It was soft, chewy and absolutely delicious!

Vienna-style schintzel in warm pretzel bun

I liked it so much, we got more pretzels for dessert!

More pretzel!

We strolled for as long as we could without freezing. It was a really cold day! Good thing there were fire pits and tower heaters everywhere. The many interesting stores were great for checking out as well as warming ourselves. I have already made a mental list of things I want to get in the future!

Kiddie rides at the South Pole

Reviewing my mental “to-do” list to get into the holiday spirit, I realized that Christmas is really just around the corner! Let’s see what I’ve got covered: Christmas market—check. Lights, carols, Christmas  trees—check, check, check. Shopping—check. Eating—check and check. Well, what do you know? I am ready for Christmas! Have a happy one!

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