Munich Day 2: Walking Tour on Christmas

Merry Christmas! Wishing you good cheer and happiness on what is hopefully a lazy day with your favorite people. Have you signed up for a postcard yet? 

Today was a beautiful, clear Christmas day in Munich! Coming in to this trip I was a bit anxious about traveling over Christmas, but was relieved to wake up and find the cafe across the street open (and serving tasty sandwiches), plus plenty of other sight-seers and pedestrians walking out enjoying the unseasonably warm holiday.

Today we started with a walking tour of the city center. Britton and I have had great success in many cities around Europe using Sandemans New Europe Tours, and they operated their daily "free" tour today, just like any other day. And it was popular — nearly 100 people showed up! (They split the group: one-third were Spanish-speakers and they set off with a native hispanohablante, and the rest of us divided between two guides, so our final group was large but not unruly.) You can see us on their Facebook Page. Every tour is different so how about some photos instead of words?

SO MUCH BEER. They can't *not* talk about beer. It's too connected with Munich and Bavarian history!

Dodger's Alley Memorial. Look it up. Here's a brief but beautiful post from Clare over at Need Another Holiday. It's one of the best memorials that I've come across anywhere in my travels.

After the tour, we sucked it up and paid a bit more than we would have liked at a German-food restaurant. My food was delicious, so I'm dubbing the price tag a "Christmas Surcharge". I ate potato dumplings, which I LOVE. (And I don't like potatoes, so this is saying something, people.) They're gummy-steamed-squishy goodness topped with gravy. DELISH.

To round out a beautiful Christmas day, we made the quick trek out to the grounds of Nymphenburg Palace (my brain immediately associated it with a nympho, so that's been a Freudian slip waiting to happen all day...). It's about 30 minutes outside the city center via public transit. It is a huge (HUGE), wandering palace, originally used as the summer home for the Bavarian royal family. Tough life. But it's really beautiful and the grounds are open year-round, even if the palace itself isn't.

Would you get a look at these tourists? Gosh. So cliché!

Britton: "Why did we stop?"

Me: "You're going to stick your arm out and take a pic of us smashing our faces together in front of this palace!"

And we found a bakery that is strategically positioned between the palace (which is a big tourist attraction) and the tram stop to get back to town. I ate a croissant stuffed with apricot filling and dusted with powdered sugar. I will never meet its equal.

Also a beautiful sunset to end the day. OMG THE SUN WAS OUT ALL DAY. The WHOLE day. All of it. Sunny sunny sunshine. Merry Christmas to me!

Munich Day 1: Yay, Bier!

Munich was one of Britton’s and my favorite stops on our honeymoon in 2012, so we were excited for the opportunity to share it with his parents while they're visiting.

We are traveling during Christmas so I was looking forward to catching the tail end of Germany's famous Christmas markets. I got a glimpse of these in Oslo, and London has several, but Germany is where it's at! (The origin of seemingly all things Christmas.)

We landed around six, checked in with our Airbnb and grabbed some food at the Iraqi restaurant downstairs. (sehr gut!) It was one of only a handful of restaurants we saw still open as we walked from the Hautbanhopf to our lodging. (As we left I distinctly made note of a bakery within the train station still selling sandwiches, in case we needed to go back for food.) Also, I think we're staying in the red light district? Several topless posters as we walked along.

Anywho, the internet implied that most of the Christmas markets would already be closed by the time we landed, but I wanted to at least try to see one. So my husband, father-in-law and I headed out for a bit of exploring. We're staying just a ten-, maaaaaaaaybe fifteen minute walk from Marienplatz, so we headed thataway.

And the streets were So. Empty.

Granted, the last time I was here it was the height of tourist season so my base level is quite skewed. But between the Christmas Eve  holiday and being out of tourist season, I could practically dance in the streets.

On arriving at Marienplatz we found that the internet was indeed correct: the Christmas markets had closed up shop. But the plaza was still really beautiful, with lights and a huge tree outside the glockenspiel.

But not ready to turn in just yet, we dragged my FIL to the iconic Hofbrauhaus. The place was still packed at 9.30 Xmas Eve, full of drunk tourists and Germans alike. (At one point I sneezed and our tablemate, who hadn't previously acknowledged us said, in broken English, “bless you and Merry Christmas!” To which i replied, “what?” because it was really loud in there. She repeated “Merry Christmas”, and then giggled uncontrollably, which I think is how I would react if I'd just had an opportunity to practice Swahili… if Swahili were taught to every eighth grader in Missouri.)

But the Hofbrauhaus doesn't disappoint. It was rowdy and raucous and full of energy and biers. And also an ancient woman pushing what we think was a portable, wind up organ up and down the center aisle on a cart, with a Christmas tree sticking out the front at a 45 degree angle, wearing something that Britton dubbed a mix between Mrs Claus and Professor Umbridge. Mixed with the table banging, the glass smashing, and the occasional room-wide cheer, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Merry Christmas, Munich. This is gonna be great.

London Christmas Lights 2015

I may complain occasionally (okay, frequently) about how gray and overcast London is, but the Christmas lights and decorations are mega making up for it. They're quickly becoming one of my favorite things about the city, especially for this time of year. However, I'm not a fan of mulled wine surprisingly enough.

We set out on Friday to look at the biggest displays — Oxford Street, New Bond Street, Regent Street, Carnaby Street, Trafalgar Square, The Strand, and Covent Garden are all decked out for the holidays. Not to mention several side streets and courts that have festive decorations, as well. I'll wander down to Harrod's and the National History Museum this week. I can't wait to see the ice rink!

Walking from Oxford Street to Covent Garden only took about two hours, even with my incessant fiddling with the camera to get just the right shot. My classic move of assuming the camera battery will last immediately failed me, so these were taken on a Samsung S5, which did a bang-up job if I do say so myself!

I posted the route at the end of the post if you're ready for your own evening stroll. I definitely recommend it.

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!