Frankfurt Christmas Market

As a German I cannot believe that our British friends are happy to pay 50 %

Premium to the real thing in Franfurt.

Why on earth was the mulled wine first reduced from 225 ml to 200 ml in 2012 and this year 2015 to 175 ml.

How much further can you go?

100 ml

1 nl?

A price increase is ok.

The market is perfect

My 3rd visit to Frankfurt for the Christmas Market - and sadly the most disappointing. The market which on my previous visits in 2002 and 2004 ran from the Main river up through R Merberg and Paulsplatz and winding up the walk to the Zeil before spreading down the Zeil shopping area for 1/2 mile and more, this time stopped about 20 yards short of the Zeil and didn't appear to have any of the stalls on the famous shopping street.This may have been due to the new mega-store being constructed, but that didn't take up a huge chunk of the space, so we had no real indication as to what removed a good third of the shopping experience this year.The stalls were as bright and attractive as usual, but even allowing for the exchange rate being worse this year, there was a lack of perceived value for money to be found. Our normally spend-happy teenagers picked up some of the German gingerbreads and sausage for friends and a couple of trinkets for girlfriends - but even they kept back some of their Euros as they said they couldn't justify spending it on items they liked at the prices being charged. Amazing since they usually are coming asking for loans within a day or so of arriving.This year there also seemed to be more food stalls and slightly less crafts and trinkets on offer.And the crowds.... Saturday was the first human gridlock I have ever been in when trying to walk from Paulsplatz up to the Zeil. Across the width of the main passage several hundred people including baby buggies and the elderly literally deadlocked with those travelling in one direction pushing against those going in the other. This was across the entire 8 or so metres width of the path. No-one got overly 'nasty' although one guy started berating a 20-something who tried to push past his wife's buggy and in the crush ended up pushing it sideways as she went.After 2-3 minutes the forces moved each direction to opposite sides of the pavement and everyone started moving again. Not a great experience though, and probably a little terrifying for children and shorter adults hemmed in amongst the throng.But on the positive side - the market was it's usual amazing colours and lights cheerful with the sights and smells that made it so attractive to me on the first two trips. The gluhwein was as warming as always and kudos to the few stalls who placed seats and benches under cover to sit and enjoy it - a very welcome couple of minutes off your feet before moving on with the warm glow inside. The chocolate covered fruits and iced messages on big gingerbread shapes, the amazing types of coatings on all kinds of nuts, the huge fires with all sorts of wursts cooking on them, all add that extra glitz to the usual spin on Christmas offerings.Public transport is certainly an example of how it can work - we used the U-bahn and trams to get around on a Frankfurt Card which for 24 Euros covered all 5 of us for 2 days and for another 15 Euros covered the hours of our final days stay.It was also heartening to see the road works we passed on the Autobahns with crews labouring along most of the length of the coned/barriered off areas - a real change from the English miles and miles of cones on the M1 with Specs cameras overseeing them and no-one working (or even someone who isn't) in sight.

So will we go back to Frankfurt? Probably - there's a lot of the city we haven't seen. The Christmas Market is a spectacle, but the increased expense of the offerings and reduced size of the market itself means it's unlikely to be the reason that we return though.