Holiday Fun in Chicago

There is so much fun stuff to do in this city! When we first moved here, I discovered that my favorite singer, Sarah Brightman, was going to be having a concert in December. Sean and I went on December 4th, and it was fantastic - the best concert that I have ever been to (and I have even been to two other ones of hers)! Sean was even quite impressed. Here is a picture of her.

Later in the month, we decided that we wanted to go to a Christmas play. We found this little theater on the North Side that was in their last year of a production called The Christmas Schooner. It was a musical made about the true story of a group of men in the late 1800's who sailed down Lake Michigan to Chicago to bring Christmas trees to the people living in the city. This went on for a few years before the original schooner went down in a storm on the way to deliver the trees. Other captains rallied to the cause, and this tradition continued for about 25 years. The theater was tiny, so we were right up there in the action. It was wonderful.

We also went to the Christkindlmarket, which is a German tradition here. German vendors come from all over, even Germany, and sell ornaments, food, drinks, and various trinkets in outdoor tents in a plaza near downtown. It was warm enough to be raining, so we bundled up and tried to stay under the shelters. We listened to some German music for a while and drank hot spiced wine, while we wandered the festival. Here is a picture of us posing by the giant Christmas tree set up near the festivities.