I love heading down to Chicago around Christmas time to see the decorations and absorb the atmosphere. For several years now our family has tried to get down to Chicago in December, stay over night and see sights. (The downtown Embassy Suites is our current favorite place to stay).
2008 was the first time my family and I went to the Christkindlmarket in Chicago. We took a taxi ride from our hotel to the market and back, and we went at night to see lots of lights. (The taxi ride was also a thrill for my children.)
The Christkindlmarket is a popular winter attraction in Chicago at the Daley Plaza - a large German market place inspired by the Christkindlmarkt
in Germany. Many of the vendors at the Chicago market are from Germany, selling crafts, candies and food at mostly outdoor booths. Other vendors from Poland, Russia, the Holy land, South America, and Nepal (as well as a handful from the USA) make the event feel truly international.
You want to lean into the tiny booths crammed with ornaments and treasures to purchase - each open air booth usually has a heater, and the temperature outside was COLD. Numbing the toes cold.Fortunately, the candy vendor was in a heated temporary building. Inside they were roasting nuts and making something with melted chocolate, and the interior smelled heavenly.
Anthony is posing outside of his favorite vendor - the one that sold candy, of course.
I have many more outdoor Christmas photos from Chicago, enough for many more blogs. But I'll leave you with one more treasure - one of the display windows from the Tiffany store on Michigan Avenue's Magnificent Mile.
Pure magic, of a kind you can only see in a large city like Chicago, at Christmas time.
If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy...
CBG Christmas lights
I love heading down to Chicago around Christmas time to see the decorations and absorb the atmosphere. For several years now our family has tried to get down to Chicago in December, stay over night and see sights. (The downtown Embassy Suites is our current favorite place to stay). 
in Germany. Many of the vendors at the Chicago market are from Germany, selling crafts, candies and food at mostly outdoor booths. Other vendors from Poland, Russia, the Holy land, South America, and Nepal (as well as a handful from the USA) make the event feel truly international.
You want to lean into the tiny booths crammed with ornaments and treasures to purchase - each open air booth usually has a heater, and the temperature outside was COLD. Numbing the toes cold.Fortunately, the candy vendor was in a heated temporary building. Inside they were roasting nuts and making something with melted chocolate, and the interior smelled heavenly.
