Guten
morgan! Well, since I am suffering from a bit of jet lag and therefore was up
at the crack of dawn here in Munich- I thought I'd get started on our trip log.
We headed out early on Wednesday morning, with fears of huge airport lines and
delays since we flew through DC to get here. We were fortunate to experience no
delays. Mark and I are flying steerage this trip since I used lots of miles for
our Hawaii trip this year. On a lark, I stopped by the customer service center
for United and finagled us exit row seats to DC. Coupled with some bulkhead
seats to Munich and we were actually quite comfy! Of course they didn't feed us
constantly like Renate in Biz Class, but I'm able to survive on my fat stores
for days, so we were fine.
Once in Munich, we made our way (slowly) to the city center as we arrived during rush hour. Don't these people realize it's Thanksgiving? Sheesh. Doesn't the whole world celebrate our holidays? We deposited Renate at the hotel to get some rest as she is getting over being sick, and Mark and I called a friend of one of her friends who lives here and had offered to show us around. We made plans to meet Frank in an hour or so, and headed out to explore the Marianplatz. I think we probably made it about 3 blocks when it became clear to me that I was underdressed for the piercing cold. I briefly thought that purchasing a scarf might just take he edge off, and then realized we were still so close to the hotel, why bother. So back we went, added several layers everywhere, and tried again. Thank goodness we did, because I would never have survived the forced march with Frank otherwise.
As we walked towards Marianplatz we ran smack into our first Christmas Market. With some time to kill, we perused the stalls, enjoying the beautiful handiwork (and in some cases a few Regretsy type moments). Just about every other stand was selling gluwein, and while I was intrigued, I just knew if I tried some, I was going to be unconscious within minutes. So I'm saving that for later when I'm more well rested. While shopping, Mark and I heard the bells of the glockenspiel ringing, and so headed over to check out the "show". At 11 and 12, the centuries-old clock performs. Basically it's similar to "It's a Small World' where there are figurines that rotate on a carousel under the clock at certain times. This one plays classical music, and the scenes are village activities, and in one case a jousting match. I remember seeing it 30 years ago when I was here last, and it's still charming. Though I do have to say, the more recent Willy Wonka movie did run through my head for a minute and I wondered if they would all erupt in flames.
We met Frank at Hugenduble, because it's fun to say, and headed out for lunch and then a whirlwind tour of Munich. He is a wealth of knowledge, having lived in Munich for many years. We learned about all of the Bavarian kings (only 7 of them, so not hard to keep track of) and saw a number of churches and how buildings were re-built after the war. My favorite church was the first one that was an example of Baroque Post-Reformation design... basically it looked like baroque had thrown up in the church and it was awesome. Basically, the church was designed to feel like what it would be to live in God's presence. So there are all kinds of sculptures that look like they are suspended in mid-air. We also saw a set of street performers playing classical music who really committed... they had an actual piano on the street with them. Impressive. Through it all, I was nearly frozen the whole time, but enjoying the light snowfall throughout the day.
After a fun few hours, we took our leave and headed back for some rest before Al and Jen arrived and arranged to meet Frank for dinner. At night, the markets were completely different. During the day, they were just dozens of stalls selling a lot of the same things, and looking similar. At night, we walked through on the way to dinner and marveled at the beautiful lights and decorations on the buildings surrounding the markets, as well as the stalls themselves. Some had paper stars illuminated and colorful. Others had tableau on their roofs that I didn't even notice during the day. We stopped for the "best" lebekuchen (gingerbread) according to Frank which we will test out on the train today, and took pictures of the snow falling on the market. Dinner was traditional fare (it is Thanksgiving after all) and ate slabs of boiled meats with potato dumplings and some good bier. Top if off with some apfel streudel, and I was a happy girl.
Today we are off to Salzburg on the train! OK, time to actually get up and get ready to face the day. Hope it's a little warmer today...but no rain. My goal is no rain on this trip!
Once in Munich, we made our way (slowly) to the city center as we arrived during rush hour. Don't these people realize it's Thanksgiving? Sheesh. Doesn't the whole world celebrate our holidays? We deposited Renate at the hotel to get some rest as she is getting over being sick, and Mark and I called a friend of one of her friends who lives here and had offered to show us around. We made plans to meet Frank in an hour or so, and headed out to explore the Marianplatz. I think we probably made it about 3 blocks when it became clear to me that I was underdressed for the piercing cold. I briefly thought that purchasing a scarf might just take he edge off, and then realized we were still so close to the hotel, why bother. So back we went, added several layers everywhere, and tried again. Thank goodness we did, because I would never have survived the forced march with Frank otherwise.
As we walked towards Marianplatz we ran smack into our first Christmas Market. With some time to kill, we perused the stalls, enjoying the beautiful handiwork (and in some cases a few Regretsy type moments). Just about every other stand was selling gluwein, and while I was intrigued, I just knew if I tried some, I was going to be unconscious within minutes. So I'm saving that for later when I'm more well rested. While shopping, Mark and I heard the bells of the glockenspiel ringing, and so headed over to check out the "show". At 11 and 12, the centuries-old clock performs. Basically it's similar to "It's a Small World' where there are figurines that rotate on a carousel under the clock at certain times. This one plays classical music, and the scenes are village activities, and in one case a jousting match. I remember seeing it 30 years ago when I was here last, and it's still charming. Though I do have to say, the more recent Willy Wonka movie did run through my head for a minute and I wondered if they would all erupt in flames.
We met Frank at Hugenduble, because it's fun to say, and headed out for lunch and then a whirlwind tour of Munich. He is a wealth of knowledge, having lived in Munich for many years. We learned about all of the Bavarian kings (only 7 of them, so not hard to keep track of) and saw a number of churches and how buildings were re-built after the war. My favorite church was the first one that was an example of Baroque Post-Reformation design... basically it looked like baroque had thrown up in the church and it was awesome. Basically, the church was designed to feel like what it would be to live in God's presence. So there are all kinds of sculptures that look like they are suspended in mid-air. We also saw a set of street performers playing classical music who really committed... they had an actual piano on the street with them. Impressive. Through it all, I was nearly frozen the whole time, but enjoying the light snowfall throughout the day.
After a fun few hours, we took our leave and headed back for some rest before Al and Jen arrived and arranged to meet Frank for dinner. At night, the markets were completely different. During the day, they were just dozens of stalls selling a lot of the same things, and looking similar. At night, we walked through on the way to dinner and marveled at the beautiful lights and decorations on the buildings surrounding the markets, as well as the stalls themselves. Some had paper stars illuminated and colorful. Others had tableau on their roofs that I didn't even notice during the day. We stopped for the "best" lebekuchen (gingerbread) according to Frank which we will test out on the train today, and took pictures of the snow falling on the market. Dinner was traditional fare (it is Thanksgiving after all) and ate slabs of boiled meats with potato dumplings and some good bier. Top if off with some apfel streudel, and I was a happy girl.
Today we are off to Salzburg on the train! OK, time to actually get up and get ready to face the day. Hope it's a little warmer today...but no rain. My goal is no rain on this trip!
Linda
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