December 6th
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| Nisse were to be found in all shapes and sizes |
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| Elk burgers for sale at the Scandinavian market |
Hamburg is the largest of the Norwegian Christmas markets around the world outside of Norway and over the course of it's few days has around 30 000 visitors. In comparison, the London market is quite a bit smaller but comprises of not just the Norwegian market but that of the Swedish, Danish and Finnish too. The Norwegian church and the Finnish church are only about 10 doors away from each other with the outdoor market running along Albion Road from one to the other.
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| Rye bread and smoked salmon smørgasborg |
Here at the market local London business with a strong Scandinavian heart come and show their wares and tempt us with food from the Nordic countries. Elk and reindeer feature heavily as the photo shows, elk burgers were on offer and a Scandinavian market would not be right without some smørgasbord. And the Swedes had boxes and boxes of sweets for pick and mix. Anytime we cross the border from Norway to Sweden, the first stop my children want to make is the enormous Swedish sweet shops. Really they are HUGE!
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| Swedish godteri (sweets) |
The Scandi Kitchen was also present which always pleases me, I try whenever I can to visit their cafe in London and have my 'fix' of Norwegian cafe culture here in our capital, I may also end up buying one or two food bits each time I visit to take home too.
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| The Scandi Kitchen selling their food wares |
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| Somewhere to sit and eat all the Scandinavian food |
We met up with our dear sailing friend Alasdair, owner of the only boat chandlers in central London, a treasure of a find if you are after an unusual shop with a very long historic story. Arthur Beale was established over 400 hundred years ago and supplied Shackleton with rope for his many adventurous endeavours, the shop still has the original receipt and a telegram asking for more rope to be sent out. You should follow them on Facebook or Instagram if you are interested in either boats and sailing or indeed if you enjoy seeing snippets of history, it's pure pleasure. Alasdair has a great affinity to Norway having sailed there many times in his beautiful wooden Vertue boat. Alasdair even spent a few years at evening school learning Norwegian just for the fun of it, not many can say they have done that!
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| Arthur Beale stand at the Scandinavian market |
The funniest moment of the day was after John had been fed, hangover required food and quick, when he suddenly realised where we were and what was on offer to buy, he said, "Why on earth are we here, it's like walking in to our own home the minute December 1st arrives." I did laugh out loud as I looked around at all the nisse for sale and the sea of red around us. There were too many people here at the market on a Saturday and spotting the queues to gain access to both the Norwegian and Finnish churches I turned to him and said it was time to leave. Coming on a Saturday was not the same as visiting on a Friday, I shall not make that mistake again.
But there was a buzz in the air and it was wonderful to hear the Scandinavian languages above the hustle and bustle of the day, I had my Scandi fix and I was happy that we had been. I may not have bought anything other than food, but that was not for me the point of the visit, I just love soaking up a bit of Scandinavia when I can ♥
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| A sea of red ay the Scandinavian Christmas market |
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| Nisses were to be found everywhere at the Scandinavian market |
♥ Have you been to any of the numerous
Christmas fayres around at this time of year?
No, I haven't. Salmon Arm is pretty small, but it may have something I haven't lived here for several decades). My cousins don't tend to do that sort of thing, although S may want to go with me to something; we went to two Fall Fairs in the summer. She is retiring just before Christmas, so may have both time and interest then. We'll see.
ReplyDeleteThere certainly won't be anything like your Scandi market, though. I am quite jealous! Thanks for sharing all the photos; I got a bit of a taste for how it must be. Love, ~ Linne from A Random Harvest
Fingers crossed you and S will get to something, it does help one get into the festive spirit Linne x
DeleteI haven't visited any Christmas markets this year but I wish I had known about this one!
ReplyDeleteOh sorry Gina. For next year mark it in your calendar, last weekend of November, so I'm assuming it will be from Friday 30th November 2018 until the Sunday
DeleteEuropean Christmas markets fascinate me so when I heard about one in Vancouver, Canada my daughter and I took a train from Seattle into Vancouver to check it out. It was not all my imagination had envisioned and was a bit too crowded to enjoy. Glad you made it in and that hubby survived. :)
ReplyDeleteOh how disappointing for you Ellen after the effort you went to, sorry to hear this x
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