Chicago’s Christkindlmarket

Flat Stanlina and I headed to the very middle of downtown. Daley Plaza is a large open space in the middle of downtown, named for one of Chicago’s long time mayors, Richard J. Daley. A statue by the famous Spanish artist Pablo Picasso stands in the middle. Flat Stanlina asked me what the statue was. I told her I think Mr. Picasso wanted each person to decide because named his statue “Untitled.”

But at this time of year the Picasso statue has a lot of company. (There’s the statue on the left in the picture below.) We were going to Daley Plaza to see the Christkindlmarket! (It’s pronounced like Chris-kindle-market. That’s the German spelling.)

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The great thing about Chicago is the many different groups of immigrants who have made Chicago their home over the years. Each group brings their own traditions, food, religions, languages and customs.

One group that immigrated to Chicago was the Germans. The Germans brought their tradition of an outdoor Christmas Market to Chicago. It is called the Chriskindlmarket, and it is run by the city. Continue reading “Chicago’s Christkindlmarket”