I rode in with Jeff to work, went to a cafe to have a cup of coffee, muffin, and catch up on some articles for my online coursework. It was a lot cheaper to ride from Derby than Nottingham. I waited to meet up with some friends to head on the train to go to Birmingham, which is less than an hour away. We enjoyed some quality time on the train, catching up, and swapping stories.
This area in Birmingham is known as the Bullring
The Christmas Market filled multiple streets in Birmingham! It reminded me a lot of Oktoberfest because there were many German individuals running the stands, all the structures looked similar, and of course all of the yummy German food! We made our way around the entire market, taking one side at a time. Most of the structures had Christmas decor, hand-carved items, ornaments, beer/wine, and other souvenirs.
Lots of homemade, hand-carved toys. You can see the stand to the right
I wasn't really looking for anything in particular, although I found a couple cute wallets. But then, after opening them up, I realized they were not going to be able to fit American money into this wallet. So unfortunately, no purchase there. Sidenote: If you are intrigued about the money differences, I found a blog post written by an American about the money difference & his experience in the UK as well.
So no wallet, but then I started realizing how many wonderful cakes, candies, nuts, etc. that were available. I stopped at a homemade candy shop, and got Jeff about 6-7 pieces to enjoy later that night. Anywhere from a vanilla donut inspired chocolate to amaretto or even chili flavored. I think we picked some good ones. Only one left...
We then enjoyed a wonderful lunch sitting outside (non-rainy, might I add). We all got sausages, and a few of us got some mulled wine. It was first of all...amazing! Second, I loved it so much that I think I am going to start serving it for Thanksgiving/Christmas celebrations next year. Such a warm and holiday-type drink! Look for that, Christmas 2015! Plus, we got to keep the little souvenir cups! #score
The area at the top is where all the food vendors were located.
We continued around the market-filled streets. I was disappointed about the lack of samples at this market. I'm sure it has to do with the amount of people walking the streets. I was able to sample a few different warm almond flavors. I was deciding between the Amaretto or Bailey's flavored. I went away with with Amaretto one, as it wasn't as sweet as the Bailey's. I was hoping to enjoy it on the train ride home, although the train was so packed I kept it in my purse.
Birmingham has a great shopping centre. Many different stores, and I especially enjoyed Selfridges, a high-end department store. They had all designer brands, but I really enjoyed the lowest level which was Christmas decor, LOTS of different foods, gifts, and American food products. Although the American products were EXPENSIVE! I mean, would you pay six pounds (roughly $9.60) for a small container of Hershey's cocoa? I was laughing as there was a whole section dedicated to Hershey's kisses and Reese cups. Yum! I resisted.
Reeses. Reeses. Kisses. Kisses.
Another bull, only this one is made out of JellyBellies!
Jeff met up with me, we played some squash, and enjoyed a few of the treats I purchased earlier in the day on our way home. All-in-all, a great experience at the Birmingham Christmas Market.
*This post has been done for a while, but I was waiting on a few pictures a friend took during the day. Hoping to update the post soon with some of those pictures, as I know she has some great ones. Check back in a week or two if you'd like to see some more pictures of our Birmingham trip.
Onto the next adventure...
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