At the end of part one, I left you with on the door step of the christmas market ( and after spinning about on the UFO thing ). After a much needed lunch break, I’m firmly back in my blogging chair to resume part two of this series. Funfairs are great for the puke inducing rides and all, but it wouldnt be much of a fun fair if the air was not filled with aromas of all kinds of grilled meat now would it?

The story of a german grill

So I alluded to those german long things in part one, and here we jump straight into it. Legend has it the wurst is long, bouncy and full of flavour. Ok, well that’s depending on which kind of wurst you’re having that is. The last time I check, currywurst (literally sausages with curry) was Germany’s most favorite dish (bit like our chippie I suppose) and are basically grilled pork sausages, diced and then smothered with smooth curry sauce. Yowza.

Personally, I prefer my seasoned minces between nice warm bread, but the German eat it sans flour. I should know, I was in Hamburg when I was introduced to it. Anyway, they sell these things out of carts in Hamburg and serve them with a choice of baguette. You can actually catch a pretty authentic cart ( I think they brand themselves as dutch/german though I could be wrong) which is a permanent feature at portobello market – unmissable because you can see the queue from a mile away and you can hear the sizzles of the grill and smell the meat. Yummy. Otherwise, the christmas market at hyde park has about five or six of the sausage grill stalls. Take your pick, they are all good.

German sweet things

Gummies, liquorice, dried sweet stuff and other rubbery sweets ( sour apple? perhaps ) and a stall featuring the whole lot of them. Interestingly enough, the gummy bear originates from Germany and the most famously consumed staple among german little ones ( and probably the main source of income for German dentists ) are the products from Haribo. I’m certain they sell them at Sainsbury’s or Waitrose… but the imported crap just doesnt rate when compared to the ones they sell in Germany… ah, maybe it’s just all in my head.

A tip that may come in handy for the boys: learn how to stick a gummy bear to a tree and you’re half-way to getting that first date with the lovely german mate of yours whom you’ve had a secret crush on for years and years now.

( I still don’t know how to do it and as a result she dumped me… take it from one who’s been there.)

Give a Lebkuchen heart before they go back to germany

If you love me, fraulein, you can buy me one of these Lebkuchen hearts (with an extra special message scrawled over it with icing) that could say “I love you, Kang.” or “You’re special, Kang”, perhaps “You are the only one… I keep in my heart, Kang.” but what I really want is “I want to hug you…. tight, Kang.”

Or maybe you don’t want to give me a cookie with a special (if abit creepy) message.

These German Christmas cookies tastes rather like gingerbread cookies , dry and crunchy, they are sometimes also known as Honigkuchen, or honey cakes and are sold wrapped in cling film. They are perhaps mostly infamously prominent in the raunchy tale of Hansel and Gretel, and makes for a nice winter stocking filler. There you go – that’s one less christmas present idea to worry about, only another 350 odd days left (early bird, always catches …something.)

Ok so that’s what’s hanging above, below we have….

… even more sweet things! More liquorice and honey cakes and also chocolate coated fruits. Hang on, let’s get the next picture out:

Look! Chocolate coated apples. They also do the apples in a candy (sugar?) coated variety , but the really good stuff are these giant chocolate coated strawberries. Super yummy. Oh, almost forgot to mention my favorite – the chocolate coated banana.

Yeah, get the white chocolate one girls, and oh whoops, I think you have abit of white chocolate hanging off your lips. Tissue?

(sorry, being cheeky there.)

Europe representatives of sweetness

More french than german this one – complete with nutella, not that I have anything against the crepes at wonderland, but if it’s london crepes you’re after, then you need to head to south kensington, just outside the station there’s a small french creperie (next to oriental canteen and their roast duck which is lip-smacking too) that does fillings such as eggs & spinach & cheese, ratatouille and my favorite white belgian chocolate with banana.

Since we’re going around the continent then I may as well throw this one in..

….. come on England! Yup, thats aberdeen angus burger baps with fried onions. I’d like mine with cheddar please.

While we’re on the topic of pancakes and europe, these dutch mini pancakes are like mini pockets of joy. Sorry I didnt get a shot up close…. I gobbled them up as soon as I ordered them.

Before the final act befalls

I am assured that this is a bavarian style food market and is complete with a bavarian style hog roast on the spit. Poor thing, it really tastes great, especially with those german style pan fried potatoes ( think fat thick cut and juicy crisps ) . Now, what are they called again, ah yes that’s it – bratkartoffeln, lovely stuff they are.

You know what, all this snapping is making me thirsty, time for a break and one of these:

Coming in part three…

So there are large pieces of machinery throwing people around in all ways to turn stomach (at extortionately high prices) and you have also set up dozens of ‘authentic’ food stalls ( also, at extortionately high prices ) .

However, all this means nothing if you don’t have these guys:

Yup, that’s right, in part three it’s all about the people who make the magic believable….

You, and you and you and you too.

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Ok, so here’s the situation. It’s new year’s eve, it’s freezing cold at 3 C, you’re in London and you happen to walk past hyde park corner and wonder what the lights and fuss are all about. There’s far too many people around you, you hear the cheesy winter 80′s wham blaring from the hot dog stands, you see the children laughing with their parents and beautiful strangers walk up to you asking you to help them freeze their experience in time…. what do you do?

Too late, that was last year. It is now 2009, the winter wonderland in Hyde Park continues but it’s only staying till sunday (4th January 2009) and you can either go there NOW…. or you can keep on reading and I’ll show you the sprinkles of magic those Germans have brought to our park. ( and then you can go there tonight )

Remember this guy?

I always wondered what happens after christmas, where do all the lights go? What do you do with the tree, how about the decorations…. left over turkey – hey what if I’m still feeling those wintery feelings? But it’s like sombre and it’s already the 1st of Jan, yet I still don’t want to go back to work … can I please, please , please just have one more night to make those holiday blues go away?

Yes. You. Can.

What is this German sausage business?

The german sausage is a beauty, it’s really, really long, chock full of flavour, bouncier as oppose to our chunky and chewy sausages here… and it tastes great! Anyway, the winter wonderland is packed full of all manner of fun ( and it’s free ) , it’s got an ice rink, small but real ice. It has a mini london eye (weee..) , it has a roller-coaster ( it really does ) , a giant 40 feet slide ( I have photos to prove it ) and it has an ‘authentic’ german market featuring more wurst, baguettes, crepes and beer than you can shake a stick at. Wunderbar.

Take a walk with me why don’t you?

For it may be a dark and cold winter night, but behind it lies truly wondrous things of luminosity and fervent fan fare.

London is a truly atmospheric place. With every season, the city seems to morph itself to suit the occasion. January is traditionally the coldest month of the year and it looks like this year ( wow, it really is 2009 already ) is shaping up to be the same. But it’s not a bad thing that it’s cold, because that means that everybody wraps up warm, german christmas markets get setup and you get surrounded by the bright flourescent lights and the sound of warm laughter. The energy of happy people is really an experience on to itself, naturally I had to capture this on camera, to try and freeze the moments and encapsulate that energy.

Are you feeling the buzz yet?

Let’s jump into the ice rink

It was such a beautiful new year’s eve when I took this picture. Everything was perfect ( including the freezing cold ) and the ice rink really came alive with abit of sparkle and magic. I mean just look at it. The lights coming off the monuments of fun, erected in the distance – almost like flares stuck onto the structures, the moody blue spotlights shine a kind of neon cool to the icy surface and finally, the people bringing the whole experience to life.

….. and you even have a maintenence guy trying to fix a chink in the rink armour. It’s winter wonderland indeed.

Cycle Carousel

Or the merry go round as some people call it. I just had to do this one, it’s like one of the reasons why people invest in dSLRs: the long exposure. Actually this one was only a second long but gosh look at the lights coming off of that thing, it really was beautiful. I liked the fact that people actually stopped and just stared at it going round and round… ahh, why can’t it be like this everyday?

When I looked to my right, I saw this…

There’s the 40 foot slide! And to the left -though not very clear- are the lights coming off of the rollercoaster, let’s get abit closer…

….and there you have it, the glorious, glorious slide. Toward the left, you can actually see the people going up the thing. I think ‘Munchner Rutschh’ roughly translates to monster slide? I could be wrong, of course.

As I tilt the camera to the left, we have the BIG roller coaster. The lights, just look at the lights on that thing.

UFO lights

I almost forgot to mention this UFO spinner thing. I wouldn’t have thought that you needed me to fill in the words with this one, it spins and people stop and stare and marvel at the lights. Wooo…

Intermission, waiting for part two

I’ll have you know, I’m a very organised sort of guy. You’ve come to the end of the first act, think of it as the big opening with the car chase scene, the explosions and the excitement (anybody saw quantum of solace? ) , not much dialogue just plenty of action to numb your senses. In part two, things get abit intimate, we’ll step into the christmas market, we’ll have a look at the food on offer and we’ll have abit of conversation…

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