Leeds Christmas Market: the Christkindelmarkt.

Having been invited to a Christmas ugly jumper party by Constantine House (the home of mad American archaeologists and medievalists), I managed to persuade Roger on the day of the event to make the trip to Leeds to hunt out a jumper. But before we left the flat that morning, the doorbell rang and the postman held out a giant parcel- for me! I had no idea what it was, with a London postmark, but eagerly unwrapped it to find A FOX ONESIE! Alright, so I may have been reluctant to join the animal onesie craze but being given something is different from actually buying the thing. Turns out I won a Christmas competition that Yo!Sushi had posted on their Facebook page! Feeling a little bad that I’d slammed them in a review, we nonetheless had at least half an hour of excitement trying it on. Cosy.

Flush with that success, we made our way to rainy Leeds. It seems strange, but even though York’s such a major rail hub, I don’t seem to have as much time as I’d like to visit nearby towns and cities. I just always seem to catch the train home, or travel up to Edinburgh on my yearly pilgrimage with Roger. One day we’ll get to Durham.

It wasn’t the best day to visit Leeds, to be fair. The whole city was a sleety grey, filled with Christmas shoppers and dripping umbrellas. And now here’s the secret: we hadn’t really come for a jumper. We’d come for the Christmas market. For years, our family has come to Leeds to Christmas shop. For our actual tastes, it’s not actually the best place to shop, as we’re not into brands, or clothes. But when Amy came to Leeds for her foundation year, we always made sure to visit the German market when it came to the city from the beginning of November to the end of December.

Right in the heart of Leeds in the Millennium Square and despite the rain that was pouring down, the oom-pa-pa of ze German bands beckoned us to join in the festivities. There was a carousel and dodgems but I was far more interested in the food, eagerly sniffing the giant roasting sausages and eyeing the beer hut, despite the fact that I’m not a fan of beer. That oom-pa-pa certainly makes one feel alive with Christmas spirit- and hunger.

I commandeered Roger into a big wooden building called the Alp Chalet Bavarian eatery, something that our family had never gone inside before- and what a surprise! It was a genuine little beer house! Stuffed animal heads plastered the walls, waitresses straight out of Oktoberfest shimmied around the room with giant tankards of beer (Roger grabbed my arm), and a band had set up in one corner, dishing out jaunty Bavarian ballads. Fab! What I really loved about the place, in addition to the atmosphere, was the amount of suited up men and women who were eating there. This was just a great place to turn up to with a few friends from work on your lunch break. Everyone was enjoying themselves. Next time you go to a restaurant, take a look around the place and see how many people look genuinely happy; we’re talking ear-to-ear smiles and big belly laughs here.

The place was buzzing but we were served our drinks pretty quickly and then our meals; as I can never resist it when I see it on the menu, I ordered a schnitzel, which came with chive and parsley scattered potatoes and redcurrant sauce. In the middle of Leeds, in the rain, in a Bavarian chalet, the food was really good. Schnitzels are always a bit tough but this one wasn’t bad at all, nice and crispy and well-seasoned. Roger went for the “two hamburger” option, as he’s a glutton but instead of meat between two buns, what he got was two very soft, delicate rissoles, piled high with fried onions and sitting in a pool of rich, creamy gravy. It was a meal to make anyone jealous, and I made a mental note to order that next time. The prices were really reasonable, from about £7-£12 per head. Even on a student budget that was actually manageable.

We braved the rain to browse the rest of the market but comfortably full, there wasn’t much that took our fancy. However, I didn’t hesitate to drag Roger over to one of our all-time favourite stalls. Fruit kebabs dipped in chocolate. I know that lots of people come across fruit kebabs far more regularly than I do but as one of the few people out there who DOESN’T own a chocolate fountain of some sort, this stall is one I look forward to every year. I recommended the white grapes in white chocolate skewer for Roger, whilst ordering a strawberry and banana one for myself. They weren’t cheap, at around £4 each but we ate them in ecstasies on the train home, so definitely worth it. There’s something about the rich chocolate that makes them extra special, I think. Those Germans have it all at Christmas.