Gingerbread House & Sugar Castle

Last Sunday we spent the day in the city taking in the sights of Christmas. I always love how festive San Francisco feels at this time of year. The city is filled with Christmas cheer with festive street lighting, Christmas trees, ice skating rinks, ornate decorations in windows and lobbies, and crowds of holiday shoppers and tourists.

We made sure to visit all of our favorite holiday spots: the giant gingerbread house at the Fairmont Hotel, the sugar castle at the Westin St Francis, Union Square and, of course, Santa at Santaland in Macy's.

Here's a look at the giant gingerbread house and the sugar castle...

Gingerbread House & Sugar Tree

Last weekend I took the girls into the city to visit two of San Francisco's finest hotels and their festive Christmas displays: the Giant Gingerbread House at the Fairmont Hotel and the Sugar Tree at the Westin St Francis Hotel.

Visiting these two amazing confectionery pieces makes up two of the vouchers on our advent calendar and it has become a tradition for us to visit them every year.

Giant Gingerbread House

Just like last year one of the activities on this year's advent calendar was to visit the giant gingerbread house at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.

And just like last year, the giant gingerbread house did not disappoint. Standing at over 22 feet high and 23 feet wide and made of thousands of gingerbread bricks it is quite a sight to see. The girls were enchanted by the masses of gingerbread with its, wait for it... two thousand pounds of royal icing and candy. My teeth are aching just thinking about that number!

Giant gingerbread house and Christmas tree in the Fairmont Hotel lobby