On the Third day of Christmas...

I visited the Alicante "Christmas Market" and remembered the THREE much nicer ones I visited in Belgium and France.

Alicante:

 

This is a new thing for Alicante, not quite a success... too small, not much of interest to see and not much ambiance, in spite of these pleasant people wandering around playing Spanish carols:

The Christmas market in Nancy (where I stopped to visit my friend on my way down through France) wasn't much bigger (ok, maybe 3-4 times the size, but still small), but it felt much more "Christmassy" and there were some much nicer things to look at and consider as potential presents:

Then there's the one in Liège, it's divided in two parts, the Patinoire de Noël (all delicious food and drinks stands around the ice skating rink in front of the Cathedral):

and the Village de Noël where all the arts and craft stalls are:

It's spread over a couple of Plazas and is about 60% crafts (with some very nice things) and 40% food (in Liège any "event" like this it's usually mostly food and drink, the Liègeois are big food lovers!).

And there's Brussels. It starts off with a light show at the Grande Place:

 

Then you go for a long walk towards the Place de la Bourse and the Place Sainte Catherine lined by stalls with the usual. At the Place Ste Catherine there's a huge ice skating rink. It's much bigger than Liège, but the ambiance is nicer in Liège and there are more interesting things to look at.

It's a pity I missed my favourites, the ones closest to me in Germany.

Aachen:

and Köln (Cologne):