We have had a bit of a strange run up to Christmas this year. It has consisted of snatching moments of Christmas joy whenever we can. This is the first Christmas where one of us will be working throughout the festive period and we're hoping it doesn't happen again!
Fortunately, working as a doctor seems like a very worthwhile pursuit even when everyone else in the world seems to be on their leisure time. It's reminded us of the Master Healer and Teacher who never takes the day off from us, and who is constantly on-call to listen to our needs. Focusing on Him puts everything in perspective during this Christmas season and always.
Luckily we have managed to find some "down-time" and decided to take the train into Birmingham (a 40 minute ride away from where we live) to sample the delights of the German Christmas Market that's around Victoria Square each year.
Birmingham has recently been voted among the top ten most exciting destinations for 2015. Please bear in mind that this is a list put together by "Rough Guides" and we're not entirely sure that this isn't just a list of "Rough" places. However, Harriet loves Birmingham (Ben likes the middle bit but thinks the rest of it is... not great) and would be very happy to take you on a tour of the dark and dismal areas. Just kidding, we'd show you the nice bits... or bit. Either way, they have a bostin' (see translation) German Christmas Market every year which could compete with any in the country. Or in Germany, we reckon.
Admittedly, we only spent about an hour wandering around the market because it was "Baltic" (Ben's favourite word to denote a mildly chilly temperature) even though we were wrapped up like Michelin men. See the picture below for reference - particularly appreciate the way the beautiful Christmas lights are reflected in the Tesco Express windows. Classy. Come visit Birmingham.
In retrospect, though, we probably should have foregone the over-priced hot-dogs of the German stands and purchased cold pasta salads in a plastic dish from Tesco itself. We could even have got a meal-deal. Twice. Each. However, we can thoroughly recommend the chocolaty-marshmellowy-things that were a bargain 50p each. Yes, we mostly paid for air but that air tasted particularly sugary. Which we like. As you can tell by the expression on Ben's face:
But the most important thing about the Christmas Market in our eyes (most people would probably say the beer) is the wonderful way in which they try and extract money from unsuspecting parents as they round the corner and get hit by the lights and sound of a carousel. Nothing in Harriet's mind could be more exciting.
Look, have you ever seen someone so happy?
And here's Ben enjoying it too:
Admittedly, he was less impressed with this:
Overall, our hour spent in the freezing cold looking at over-priced stuff sold by Polish people masquerading as Germans turned out to be surprisingly Christmassy.
And despite our need to make a joke out of it, it was lovely to spend time together and remember the love that is what Christmas is all about; whether that's love for Birmingham, marshmallows, carousels or family.
Whatever you're doing this Christmas, we hope you find time to spend reflecting on happy moments spent with those that you love. Enjoy making memories!
Here's something we'll be reflecting on this Christmas, we'd love you to watch it:
Merry Christmas!!!
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