A group of farmers in and near Deurne celebrate Christmas by putting up lights on their farms, and they publish a driving route that can be taken to view their masterpieces. The light tour made a nice after-dinner drive for us last night.
The tour starts outside of town with a traffic sign warning motorists to watch out for babies in mangers.
Then there is a “kerststal” (nativity scene) in a shed.
Along the route there were plenty of predictable tractors lined with lights
And an illuminated truck that says “happy holidays”
A neat European double-bladed plow done up in lights
And nothing’s puts you in the Christmas spirit like a manure spreader decked out with lights.
Several dairies featured illuminated cows
A horse farm had a horse and sleigh made out of lights
There was corn
A turkey farm
And one farm had both chickens and vegetables.
With all these pretty lights, how could we choose a favorite? Since I’m a mycologist, I was naturally drawn to the mushroom farm, with an illuminated smiley mushroom surrounded by a congregation of overgrown wooden mushrooms.
But it’s hard to beat a farrowing operation with anatomically correct girl and boy pigs in love. 
We started our tour with a visit to a half-size replica of Noah’s Ark. A Dutch builder felt compelled to build Noah’s Ark as an evangelistic tool, and after finishing the construction he has sailed the boat to several ports in the Netherlands. It is currently docked in Amsterdam.
Inside the ark are several displays about various stories from the Bible, as well as fake animals. 
After the ark, we visited the Rijksmuseum, the most famous art museum in Holland. It contains a large collection of masterpieces by Dutch artists such as Rembrant and Vermeer, including Rembrant’s famous “Night Watch” (this picture is from the Rijksmuseum website).
We also got to see a piece of modern art called “For the Love of God” by Damien Hirst, on display for only a limited time. This piece is a casting of a human skull, covered with 8601 diamonds. It is said to be the most expensive piece of art ever made. We were not impressed. It got its name from what the artist's mother exclaimed when he told her he was going to cover a skull with diamonds. This picture is from Wikipedia.
Next we went to the Van Gogh Museum. I enjoyed seeing how his artistic style developed through the course of his career.
Night comes early at this time of year, so we enjoyed the many Christmas lights before heading back to the train station for our ride home.
The market by the cathedral had round booths.
This market had more food than any of the others, so we indulged in traditional German fare, such as pretzels and bratworst. For some reason, the concept of long buns to accompany long sausages has not made it to Germany, so brats are usually served on round rolls, with the sausage sticking out both ends.
I liked the cute bread people being sold at a bakery.
Our second market, a few blocks away, featured an ice rink and lots of greenery and wooden statues for decoration.
The restrooms were marked with uncomfortable-looking elves.
We went to four of the markets in total, and we enjoyed browsing through the wooden toys and handblown glass. Mostly we enjoyed eating (the quantity of food stands reminded me of the Iowa State Fair). My favorite treat was a big delicious dumpling-like thing drowning in warm vanilla and cherry sauces. It had an unpronounceable German name, and unfortunately we devoured it before we thought to take a photo. Ah well, the markets run all month, so perhaps we’ll have reason to go back soon.
