Christmas is not far away...
When I travelled to Birmingham on a very wet and rainy morning a rather unexpected spectacle awaited me there - the Birmingham "Christmas Market" was just build up and looking at car signs, odours and stands it seemed to be firmly in German hands. Every where one could smell roasted almonds. There were wood craft from the Erzgebirge. A lot of different sausages, some of them called "Wurst or Würstchen", Berliner with a variety of centres and of course "Glühwein".
This Christmas Market exists since 1997 and emerged from the cooperation between Birmingham and the German twin town Frankfurt. It began very small but today there are almost 200 stands. It is very popular in Birmingham might be in parts due to the special regulation that there it is allowed to drink alcohol in open-air which is usually forbidden in England.
It looks people in Birmingham love the crafts best. The food is slightly adapted to the British taste. Of course music plays a part as well and there is a bandstand. The Christmas Market usually opens mid of November and closes on 23. December. The British are so delighted of the Christmas Market that you can find in other towns in England "Frankfurter Christmas Markets" as well and as one hears Dublin casted a covetous eye on it too.
The "Christmas Market" is as typically German as the Christmas tree. The Christmas Market in Frankfurt is one of the oldest in Germany - it goes back as long as 1393 and it took quite a long time till it reached Great Britain. The Christmas tree which you found before 1900 only in more noble households in Germany was imported much earlier to Great Britain. It was some kind of Wedding present from Albert von Sachsen Coburg und Gotha to Queen Victoria.
Back in Wolverhampton I returned to the Civic Hall for the third evening of the Grand Slam with the second Group matches of the Groups E-H and another new shirt from Gary Anderson's collection. He was not the only one dressed like this, a lot of men and women in the crowd wore jackets, blouses, hair bands and shirts. I've no idea where they got them so fast.
Already the first match surprised me. I had returned from the hall to the press room convicted that local favourite Wayne Jones would be the winner but there found out Mark Walsh had won it!
Terry Jenkins had recovered from his loss against Wesley Harms and defeated Martin Phillips without problems. I really felt for Barrie Bates who was whitewashed by Paul Nicholson. Next was the not high-class match between John Part and Adrian Lewis. Something seemed to be wrong with Lewis. We had to wait for a long time till he turned up for the walk-on and had to use the "back door". Andy Hamilton showed against Brendan Dolan a strong performance - too strong for Dolan.
Gary Anderson somehow managed it over the finishing line this time at the expense of Tony O'Shea - the second 5:4 win for Anderson. After this win it was clear Anderson would be the first player to progress to the next round while the PDC World Championship only had needed two matches to be eliminated from the tournament.
His BDO colleague Christian Kist looked much better and defeated his fellow country man Raymond van Barneveld. So we at least know now that Kist is no one day Wonder but a really good dart player to be taken seriously. Might be someone can come up with a better nickname for him.
In the last match of the evening Wes Newton showed Wesley Harms his limits - we'll what Harms will do against Martin Phillips.
Birmingham and Darts proved to be a rather tiring mixture - I had no problems at all to fall asleep.
This Christmas Market exists since 1997 and emerged from the cooperation between Birmingham and the German twin town Frankfurt. It began very small but today there are almost 200 stands. It is very popular in Birmingham might be in parts due to the special regulation that there it is allowed to drink alcohol in open-air which is usually forbidden in England.
It looks people in Birmingham love the crafts best. The food is slightly adapted to the British taste. Of course music plays a part as well and there is a bandstand. The Christmas Market usually opens mid of November and closes on 23. December. The British are so delighted of the Christmas Market that you can find in other towns in England "Frankfurter Christmas Markets" as well and as one hears Dublin casted a covetous eye on it too.
The "Christmas Market" is as typically German as the Christmas tree. The Christmas Market in Frankfurt is one of the oldest in Germany - it goes back as long as 1393 and it took quite a long time till it reached Great Britain. The Christmas tree which you found before 1900 only in more noble households in Germany was imported much earlier to Great Britain. It was some kind of Wedding present from Albert von Sachsen Coburg und Gotha to Queen Victoria.
Back in Wolverhampton I returned to the Civic Hall for the third evening of the Grand Slam with the second Group matches of the Groups E-H and another new shirt from Gary Anderson's collection. He was not the only one dressed like this, a lot of men and women in the crowd wore jackets, blouses, hair bands and shirts. I've no idea where they got them so fast.
Already the first match surprised me. I had returned from the hall to the press room convicted that local favourite Wayne Jones would be the winner but there found out Mark Walsh had won it!
Terry Jenkins had recovered from his loss against Wesley Harms and defeated Martin Phillips without problems. I really felt for Barrie Bates who was whitewashed by Paul Nicholson. Next was the not high-class match between John Part and Adrian Lewis. Something seemed to be wrong with Lewis. We had to wait for a long time till he turned up for the walk-on and had to use the "back door". Andy Hamilton showed against Brendan Dolan a strong performance - too strong for Dolan.
Gary Anderson somehow managed it over the finishing line this time at the expense of Tony O'Shea - the second 5:4 win for Anderson. After this win it was clear Anderson would be the first player to progress to the next round while the PDC World Championship only had needed two matches to be eliminated from the tournament.
His BDO colleague Christian Kist looked much better and defeated his fellow country man Raymond van Barneveld. So we at least know now that Kist is no one day Wonder but a really good dart player to be taken seriously. Might be someone can come up with a better nickname for him.
In the last match of the evening Wes Newton showed Wesley Harms his limits - we'll what Harms will do against Martin Phillips.
Birmingham and Darts proved to be a rather tiring mixture - I had no problems at all to fall asleep.