Things I love about Mexico: Torreon's Outdoor Christmas Market

During the holiday season, an outdoor Christmas market is set up in downtown Torreon. It runs the length of an entire block and consists of two long aisles of stalls. You can find everything you need to decorate your home for the holidays there, and the prices are among the best in town.

One of the market's most interesting features is the wide variety of things you can buy there for a manger scene. In Mexico, nativity scenes are a big deal. They can be very elaborate, featuring animals, bridges, wells, animals, people, and even live plants. Mike loves using nativity scenes to teach children the Christmas story.

Every year, we make several trips to the market. On Monday we headed there for the first time this season. Here's how it went -

Fueling up: we start with breakfast at our favorite gordita stand in town, just a few blocks from the market. Trinity gobbles up one-and-a-half gorditas - a new record for her.



Stables, grass, and plants for your manger scene...





Lights, lights, lights...





Nativity scene accessories...



Need some pigs or a snow-covered pyramid for your nativity scene...



or maybe a flamingo?


My shopper-in-training picks out a pack of gum...



Finishing off the trip with more of my favorite Christmas market foods - hotcakes drenched in cajeta (caramelized goat's milk) and lechera (sweetened condensed milk).



And the walk back to the van.



Gotta rest up so we can go again soon!

*previous entries on things I love about Mexico here.