Christmas in a cave

This was our last year of Christmas Markets as far as we know since we are supposed to PCS this fall. So, I was anxious to go to some markets that weren't the ones we've gone to since we've been here.

Our first opportunity came when I ran into Kelli - Riley and Haileigh's mom and she mentioned going to a Christmas market in a cave. Okay, sounds interesting. So off we headed the weekend before Christmas to the town of Vulkenburg. This is a neat little town in the Netherlands and it's not too far away.

Being that we waited until the weekend before Christmas to go, the line to get into the cave was really long so we bought tickets and decided to walk around the pedestrian area first. Lots of neat shops and buildings (and bakeries and Belgian chocolate shops...yum!!).

T, ever ready to provide a certain level of activity and interest, noticed all these really cool sandstone slabs outside of an engraving shop. So naturally he picks one up. Naturally I tell him to put it down. Naturally, he tosses rather than places it gently. Naturally it breaks. So, we have to buy it (19 Euro..grrrrrr) and since we have to buy it, we might as well engrave it, right? Right! It turned out really cool and so now we have a small piece of yard art to decorate our future homes. But I'm totally giving it to T as a wedding gift with the story behind it included.

A few bakeries later, Kelli and I go in to grab us all a snack. T sees that there is chocolate in the shop and asks for that. I say no since we haven't had lunch, and he gets upset. When I actually come out of the shop without chocolate, he gets more upset and here come the big crocodile tears. A very sweet older gentleman sees him crying for chocolate and says, "You want chocolate? Come with me..." and leads him and Riley into the shop and buys them a small bag of chocolate. You gotta love Grandpas, which is exactly what T's Grandpa's or Papa would have done had they been there. It was really sweet of him to do that. There are times I wish I could squeeze out some crocodile tears and have it work for me.

We eventually made it to the cave, which exceeded our wildest expectations. It may be called a cave, but it's really more of a labyrinth that's been there for hundreds of years underneath the town's castle. There are amazing drawings? etchings? on the walls that are just...wow...the pictures don't do them justice. It was totally worth the line, entrance fee, standing in the rain and the 19 Euro engraving.