Christmas Markets!!!

.

Valkenburg

Such a cute cute village. Loved everything about it (except possibly all of the rain). The cute buildings, the little alleyways, the churches, the castle on the hill, the tunnels that ran throughout the city. And of course, the Christmas Markets underground!!! Although the stuff being sold was pretty tacky, we were in caves, with Christmas trees, and Christmas lights. Exciting!
.

.

.

Carved into the wall in the cave (in 3D) ... soooo random

These murals were done goodness-knows how long ago & were like etched into the stone & coloured with charcoal (at least that's how it looked like they did them!)

.

Maastricht
The Maastricht Christmas Markets was more like a Christmas fair.

There was a carousel...

.

and a (50m high!) ferris wheel....
.

...from which you got awesome views of the city & the markets

There was heeeeeaps of food (all bad for you!) - pretty much every person I saw was eating! .

There were also carollers on the streets in Maastricht (they were amazing!) and skinny young santas running around with bells giving lollies out to the kids. Loved sitting in the bar with my Gluhwein watching the people pass by and deciding what style of boots I should buy...

Liege
This was our Belgium Christmas Market and it was how I expected Christmas markets to be. Little wooden huts selling local food and wine, and crafty bits & pieces (though I found zero decorations *tear*). Plus it didn't rain when we were in Liege - definite bonus!!! Oh... & did I mention the waffles???

I kinda wanted this purple house....
(just to end on a random note!)
.