Christmas Caves

 On Sunday, before we went to Snow World, we stopped in Valkenburg in the Netherlands for their Christmas Caves.  Almost every town in Europe (at least in our area) has a Christmas market.  These are primarily located in the town squares.

In Valkenburg, the market is located in caves below the downtown.  The caves are decorated for Christmas with trees, lights, Santas, and manger scenes.  This was Flat Stanley 2's first time out, as you can see he is not as photogenic as Stanley 1.

Given the enclosed nature of the market, there is controlled access to the market.  Even so, we found it to be crowded and that we were constantly struggling to make our way through the caves.

On the plus side, it was far warmer than an outside market and there wasn't any wind.

I enjoyed the unique atmosphere of the Christmas Cave.  I was disappointed that the merchandise for sale was not very special. I had hoped to see hand-crafted goods, but the majority of the goods were things you could buy in a store.

Kyra found some of those bracelets that are popular among school kids these days.  Apparently the animal shapes are numerous and easy to find, but she found fruit shaped bracelets which she called "rare."  She was willing to pay a euro for the purchase.

Allen spent more - 10 euro.  He found a non-sport watch that he wanted.  It was a pretty good deal, as the seller removed the extra links so it fit him and threw in an extra watch battery.  Allen was pleased with his purchase.

I told the kids that we couldn't leave the caves until I took a photo of them.  Can you tell which kid was the least thrilled by the experience?