The Toronto Distillery District Christmas Market

This post is lovingly dedicated to my Gluhwein gang. Guys, seriously consider Toronto as next years destination.

I had great expectations for this Christmas Market and I was not disappointed. The Distillery District in Toronto is iconic on a normal day, but add in fairy lights and greenery juxtaposed to the old factory brick and its game has been up'd. This market was magical and definitely brought the spirit of the season out. The wooden huts decorated with lights and garland, a fully trimmed tree, schnitzel, and mulled wine (and no beer garden!!!) reminded me of my beloved European markets but the poutine stall, curling, Canada winter gear, and cold beer on tap, were the Canadian touches that made my heart sing. 

The plan for this particular visit was to arrive just before dusk to grab an late lunch, a warming drink (or two), and enjoy the twinkling lights after the sun set. However, it was a very cold day and we didn't quite make it to darkness. Checkout #tcm2014 on instagram to see those twinkling lights. This is not a 'best kept secret' and was crowded, even on a Sunday afternoon. (so that's my excuse for not having great photos).

Schnitzel selfie!

I don't know this girl, but she posed so nicely for the picture.

These port-a-potties that look like UK phone boxes are my favourite.

Some people came super prepared for market day and I do love a guy with fun socks.

The market runs for almost a month leading up to Christmas (unless most other markets in Ontario which usually are for a weekend or week tops) and although it's closed for the season now, it's definitely a market I have on my list to revisit next year. Maybe actually making it into the evening next time.

Christmas Market: Food and Drink

As I talked about in an earlier post, I recently visited the Christmas Markets of Cologne, Bonn, and Dusseldorf and had a great time. The markets really got me into the Christmas spirit this year, only way it could have been better would have been with a bit of snow. Despite that, we muddled through, eating and drinking anything festive we could get our hands on.

On the first day of our trip as we waited for the whole group to arrive a friend and I went exploring and came across the Imhoff-Schokoladenmuseum (Imhoff Chocolate Museum) and although we didn't actually go into the museum, we had a great time in the gift shop. Can you say Lindt partnership? YUM!

These are made of chocolate

Eating at the market stalls is half the fun of visiting the Christmas Markets, from currywurst, and bratwurst, to reibekuchen (potato pancake) with applesauce (pictured below) and many sweet treats.

So much meat! I thought this was such a great invention, the grill could be lifted to stoke the coals

We made sure that even after sit down meals we kept room for dessert. Chimney cake, was our treat of choice on one particular evening. The Chimney cake originates from Hungary, but there are many similar products found around Europe. Generally, it is a thin pastry wound around a wooden cylindar and cooked in an oven. It is then sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, almonds, coconut, or chocolate. Cinnamon sugar is my personal favourite.

sorry for the blur

 Oh and the drink! So tasty. The Gluhwein, which is mulled wine usually made of red wine but some places also offered a white wine option. Based on someone's suggestion I tried apfel (apple cider), and after so much Gluhwein, it was a great change up.

We also had to try Feuerzangenbowle (trans: fire-tongs punch) was not only fun to drink, but also fun to watch being made. A 7" sugar cone is soaked in rum, set on fire and dripped into the mulled wine.


Lastly and probably my favourite of all was the Eierpunsch. Don't think you could drink too many of these due to the sugar and the potency, but dang were they good. Think warm eggnog. Which makes sense that I would love it, I can't get enough eggnog at this time of year. 

What a great trip! I could eat my way through German Christmas Markets any day.



Have you visited a Christmas Market this season? What is your favourite part?




Fun travels!