Weekend of the Xmas markets

On Thursday, Xmas market in Stuttgart was opened - I missed it, cos I had to go from one doctor to the other to find out my shoulder bone is slightly cracked. I will for sure go there next week, especially since they offer a finnish market this year! :)
And this weekend, all over Germany there's more Xmas markets everywhere. Even in Vaihingen center, just round the corner from where we live. It's getting more commercial by the year, but there still are those volunteers and kids baking and knitting and helping do great Xmas presents and decorations for free which are sold to get some money for people and projects needing it badly. Pics of the last years you'll find here.
At Fanny-Leicht-Gymnasium, the secondary school my kids visited a long time ago, the 14 years olds set up those stands. I remember the cold winter when we had six children in our kitchen baking and filling up bags with Xmas cookies for days and nights on end, with friends coming ever so often to bring more goodies.
All in all we had three huge baskets full of cookies, more than 12 different kinds of them, plus gingerbread men and women. They were sold on the very first day, and we had to bake all thru the night to have one more huge basket full for sunday.
We used to buy all our Xmas decorations on the Vaihingen market, wreaths and mistle toes and lots of Xmas presents as well. This year all we got was some cookies from the "Katzenhilfe Stuttgart", volunteers helping stray cats to find new homes. Of course Anna's cats Felix and Emily are from there. And of course the cookies were so great, they were eaten up the same afternoon.
Today Alex went to help his friend Annelie and her family at the Xmas market in Münchingen, and Anna is off to the Tierheim Stuttgart where she volunteers every first sunday in a month to sell cookies and cakes. The one she baked yesterday smells yummy! Pity I can't go and have some. ;)