The German market is taking shape on the plainstones beside the National Gallery. As I passed through tonight the place was a bustle of activity ahead of Thursday's switching on of Edinburgh's Christmas lights and the market opening. Much unpacking of boxes, tapping of hammers, fixing up lightbulbs, and animated chat in German.
It all reminded me of the chapter in The Wind in the Willows where the Rat encounters animals and birds making ready to hibernate or migrate - except in reverse. "Many were digging and tunnelling busily; others, gathered together in small groups, examined plans and drawings of small flats...Some were hauling out dusty trunks and dress-baskets, others were already elbow-deep packing their belongings; while everywhere piles and bundles of wheat, oats, barley, beechmast and nuts, lay about ready for transport."
I always wonder - what do German Christmas markets do for the rest of the year?
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