Christmas Bazaar

I was lucky enough to be going on an outing this morning with some colleagues/friends...to a Christmas Bazaar.  We had some trouble finding each other initially because it was a huge space and it was crowded....or so we thought, until an hour or so later, when we were all separated and lost in the crowd.  As soon as we got there, the music started with Feliz Navidad, and I found some festive bell earrings, and the next thing I knew I was singing and jingling alone, but happy!  There is a large German community here because there is a huge Bosch plant, so the pastries were very much in the German tradition.  Our school provided a choir and a recorder group, and there were some Chinese elements as well, like the incredible drum ensemble that opened the live music.  I met several pastries that sang my name, and passed the eye test.  I must say I do have a talent for spotting good pastries, and knowing the difference between a yummy treat and an imposter.  This is a skill honed from many many painstaking years of trying just about everything my eyes saw, but it's gotten me to where I am today.  I met my Waterloo at the Danish chef table, because he had some great treats, and was there in person to entice me with his accent and cheer, but I simply had no more room.  He had some cinnamon rolls on offer, not something that usually tempts me, but when he tried to tell me what a cinnamon roll was, I had to stop him and tell him where I was from.  "Of course," he replied, "We Danish settled heavily in the Midwest, so you must have good cinnamon rolls."  He was right, and I took his card and will be visiting him soon.  There was a woman from Norway who had out of sight marzipan cakes, and she's a parent at our school, so I'll be seeking her out for a recipe.  I saw those wonderful pretzels the Germans make and started my day with one, then another, then bought a mini loaf of the same dough, which I consumed even before I left the premises.  I needed something to compliment the huge piece of Christmas ham a local German restaurant was serving (yummy) and it was there, what can I say?
My only miss was the mulled wine (they put rum in it, too, and I didn't think that sounded digestible) and a divine Belgian Waffle, which I saw a kid carry away and was sorely tempted to nab and run.  He told me he waited 55 minutes in the line, and while that seemed an exaggeration, the line was too long for me.  There is another bazaar next week in a famous German hotel that might be serving those waffles, though, and I might just happen to be in the neighborhood.  Happy Christimasing to all!  Some pictures of the international flavors of the bazaar here:  https://flic.kr/s/aHsk2Yq4Ji