The Denver Christkindlmarket

I visited the Denver Christkindlmarket yesterday afternoon. This German-style holiday market is located in Civic Center Park, and sponsored by the Colorado Chapter of the German American Chamber of Commerce. It hosts local and European craft and food vendors, as well as a Festival Hall serving traditional German beverages. I suppose the best time to take photographs would be when it is very cold and there is snow on the ground, but yesterday was sunny and in the low 70s, which works for me. I am not crazy about cold and snow, no matter how much more Christmassy it makes the photographs look.

Wednesday was St. Nikolaus Day, and old St. Nick himself can be seen in the photograph on the right, schmoozing with patrons at the Festival Hall. I actually had no idea who he was while I was there, but took photographs of him anyway, in case he might be somehow connected with the market, and not just a patron wearing his usual street clothes. Years ago, when I first moved to Denver, there was a man dressed as a priest who could be seen all over the city asking for donations ("Would you like to contribute?"). It was kind of sad, actually. Eventually, Westword, the local free newspaper, did a story about him, following him back to a motel on East Colfax and demanding to know where the contributions were going. Eventually, he disappeared from view, and I don't know what ever happened to him. This guy, however, did not ask for money, and so I instantly knew he was the real deal. Pretty damn old by now, but still the real deal.

There were all kinds of food available at the market, including at the S'mores Haus, seen in the photograph on the left, with Denver's State Capitol in the background. Which of course begs the question: what the hell are S'mores? Which I also had to look up on the internet. It turns out they are a "dessert consisting of toasted marshmallow and chocolate and sandwiched between two graham crackers." Ick - sounds pretty disgusting to me. They are allegedly "a campfire classic in the United States and Canada," which I find hard to believe. I am also, by the way, not fond of camping, either. That is why they invented Motel 6.