Once Sinterklaas has visited the Nederlands the Christmas trees and decorations come out with a vengeance!
So do the Christmas markets. We put ourselves out there this weekend and headed off to the market in Amsterdam’s Museum Square. In the shadow of the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, and Stedelijk Museum the pond has been frozen to become an ice skating rink. Chairs were available for those with stability issues!
This was surrounded by stalls selling all manner of wares!
But I was determined to be good and not have any gluhwein until after completing at least one circuit of the market to see what was available! Sometimes you need to get cold in order to appreciate getting warm again!
I was a little bit sad that we’ve already completed our Giftmas shopping and posted it already. There was so much amazing stuff that would have been perfect!
These were all knitted, and I’ve thought about making things like these myself. But I was never sure whether or not there was a market for them. I loved her work and she was charging really reasonable prices for what she sold, but I thought it would be the height of rudeness to ask her whether or not her things actually sell! Oh well. *files it away for later use*
There were so many beautiful fibre related wares! I loved these felt scarves! Some of them were just wearable art.
And for all the hipsters out there, this guy has made a business out of putting a bird on it for you!
You might have been able to tell from some of these photos that it’s finally beginning to get a little bit cold around here. Daily temperatures at the height of the day are averaging 9°C, and the sun sets at 4:30. So there’s lots of rugging up by everybody.
It was good to see that even the I amsterdam letters were getting into the spirit of the season!
As much as I love this season, and adored getting out in the cold and checking out all the beautiful hand-made creations, both Himself and I voted on NOT going ice-skating this early in the season, no matter how inviting the rink was looking.
It is still just a little bit too warm for ice, and the top of the rink was very wet. There was more than one person who had obviously had a mishap and their pants were no longer dry. As mild as the season is so far, neither of us liked the idea of walking around cold AND wet!
I’ll fill you in on the rest of the day’s adventure on Wednesday! See you then!
ghoti industries 
The chairs on the ice look pretty neat (though not as cool as those orange seals we’d seen at another rink). The market looks massive! And busy! Does it continue running through Christmas or was it only on last weekend?
Aesthetically I think I prefer the seals too, though this rink was set up to look like a canal (hence the bridge and a boat) so I think they were going for that “Dutch people skate on natural ice on canals like this” feeling.
It was quite a large market, though not as big as I was expecting, still had a LOT to see and take in! But it was a one off for Christmas 🙂 The rink is still there, the market isn’t. But next week there’s a whole NEW xmas market to go to!!! 😀
Yay for another market! The rink definitely looks like something set up to look unusual, traditional, special. It’s quite a contrast from the more common temporary rinks.
The rink set up is amazing! I’m really impressed that they have frozen over the pond that’s in front of the Rijksmuseum!
awesome woolies, lovelly to see the start of serious rugging up. i so want to go skating with a chair, (claps hands with glee)
I like the wooly things too. I could see them selling well up the Mountains, but I was surprised to see that style here.
Rugging up can be fun! 😀
There were many parents out there holding the chair steady for their young’uns! 😉
I got your amazing card yesterday! I can’t get over how big the boys are! So, when are you all coming to visit? 😉