Christmas markets popping up everywhere

Christmas markets are popping up everywhere! In Schwabisch Gmund and Stuttgart people are readying the stands. They officially open this weekend.

Christmas is a big thing here. The stores have had decorations up for two months. There has also been Christmas stuff for sale for at least that long. The closer it is to Christmas the larger the displays. There's one store on Stuttgart's Konigstrasse, the main shopping street, that has a huge Lego display for instance which they seem to change weekly. There are always store employees in the early morning holding up a huge black cloth curtain around the diplay windows so that another employee can take a photograph of the contents.

There are also signs and ads up for many charities particularly those that work overseas. They hope to also capture some of the Euros people speand as they go about their holiday shopping.