My love of food...: Vancouver Christmas Market Take 3

Happy holidays everyone! I know it's been a while since my last post, but I figured that if your holidays were anything like mine, you'd be too busy eating to have the time to read about eating. Speaking of the holidays, this next post might be considered a bit behind the times since the last day the Vancouver Christmas Market was open was Christmas Eve, but I had so much fun my last time there I couldn't resist including a post on it. And, hopefully, it will help encourage everyone who didn't make it out this year to check it out next year!

My Aunt and Uncle were in town for a night last week, so I figured there was no better way to get in the Christmas spirit than for all of us to spend the evening at the Christmas Market. We stopped at the infocenter on Robson between Hornby and Howe on our way there and, for the cost of a $2.50 Ritter Sport we received two free entry passes, two free carousel rides, and three $1 off coupons for a bratwurst...total value of $19! I love that infocenter. Then we were off to the market for some Christmas fun! The pictures tell the rest of the story.

The last time I was at the market, the German beer complained that I was playing favourites with the Gluwhein, so I thought it was only fair to pay full attention to the German beer on this evening. Me and my light German beer ($7). Utterly delicious!

My Aunt's smokie complete with grilled onions and sauerkraut, mustard and ketchup. ($7 with the $1 coupon).

My Uncle's bratwurst on a bun complete with grilled onions, sauerkraut, mustard and ketchup. ($7 with the $1 coupon). They both agreed that the bratwurst wasn't quite as flavourful as they had expected, so they liked the smokie better.

For dinner, I opted for a dish of Schupfnoodle from Das Deutsche Nudle Has. This is a traditional German noodle, hand-shaped like worms and mixed with double-smoked prosciutto and sauerkraut. This dish was like nothing I had ever tasted and I loved it!!! I'd definitely recommend trying it. It came to $8.50, tax in and it was the perfect amount for dinner.

My Uncle's hot apple cider and the classic baked apple from Das Apfelhaus that we shared for dessert. The classic baked apple came stuffed with walnuts, raisins, brown sugar and cinnamon and was topped with hot vanilla sauce. This was yummy and a good way to round off dinner, but it was a shame that it was so chilly that night because the apple cooled off so quickly. ($5.75, tax in).

Next, my Aunt and I fulfilled my Christmas market dream and headed for the carousel! We were a little nervous that going post food and beer might not be a good idea, but we had a blast and my Uncle confirmed that my horse beat hers by the hair of a nose! I didn't tell her, but I may have been wearing illegal spurs.

The perfect conclusion to my last Christmas Market experience was a maple taffy for $3. It's made by cooking maple syrup until it's taffy consistency, wrapping it around a tongue depressor, and putting it on ice to keep its shape. It was heaven on earth!!! I can't even explain how happy it made me. I know it's pure sugar, but when it's pure maple syrup it tastes so much better and for some reason there's absolutely no guilt factor. I hope they have this again next year, because I'm already craving another one.