Bratwurst und Glühwein

Up, and to the Christkindlmarkt in Bath at lunchtime.

It was certainly cold enough to merit a Glühwein, but I declined the added Schuss on the grounds that I wasn't about to take to the Piste (and find myself completely sozzled in charge of two skis and two hundred pounds of charging skier; SOP for alpine skiing in Germany and Austria as I recall it).

The Bratwurst und Glühwein I found at one of the market stalls, disparaged by some critics of the Bath Christmas Market as 'garden sheds', tucked away at the south eastern corner of the magnificent Bath Abbey.

The Abbey is out of shot to the right; the little Church of the Seventh Day Adventists - a sort of religious garden shed in terms of comparative size of building - is off to the left.

The mustard was served in the standard yellow catering squeezee bottle but proved a welcome surprise as it was proper sweet deutschen Senf; the perfect complement (and compliment) to Bratwurst.

On the lamp-standard in the background is a sign worded to prohibit consuming alcohol in public but as the accompanying symbol illustrated a pint of the black and white I assumed it applied only to porter drinkers.

The two blurred ladies - boy is that Glühwein strong, even unadulterated mit Schuß, were from Exeter. They were up for the day and had just stepped off the coach. Eventually they decided on a slice of Mandelstollen to get the shopping juices working...