After avoiding overseas travel for 2 years due to Covid, and then having to cancel two European trips with friends due to cancer treatment, we finally decided to go to Germany and Austria during the Christmas market season. This may seem an odd choice if you know us because Jake is very averse to cold and I'm not a huge fan either, and neither of us are big shoppers. But the festiveness appealed to us and neither of us have been to this part of Germany before. I have never been to Germany at all and Jake only to Berlin and Tubingen for conferences.
 |
| Approaching Munich |
We flew from Santa Fe to Denver, then Denver direct to Munich, and miraculously for this day and age, both flights were on time. Stepping out of the Munich airport, there is a small Christmas market set up right there, but we forged ahead with our luggage to the train station on the other side of the plaza. It's a 45 minute train ride right into the heart of the city. Emerging from the underground station is always disorienting and we emerged right into the middle of the Marienplatz and its big Christmas market. Fortunately there are many map kiosks around and after a couple tries we got headed in the right direction to get to our hotel, just a few blocks away.Glühwein
Our room was ready even though we were there before noon, so we showered and napped before heading back out to check out the Marienplatz and Residentzplats markets! So many snack options... I started with a cherry strudel and cappuccino, ah, refreshed and warmed. We learned that the food booths charge a refundable 1 to 5 euro fee for tableware, saves a lot of disposable cups, plates, and silveware! Later in the evening I got a Glühwein, a hot mulled wine, and Jake got a non-alcoholic mulled cider drink. The hot drinks come in cute holiday themed mugs. Other booths sell crafts like everything you could possible imagine to set up a creche, glass ornaments, candle's, soaps, scarves and hats, etc.
 |
| Marienplatz |
Given the cold temperatures, we opted to dine at a traditional beer hall. We sat at the end of a long table in a wooden beamed room and feasted on roast pork and spinach dumplings downed with a dark beer.
After a solid night's sleep and breakfast at our hotel, we ventured out to the Victualmarkt as the snow started falling. I thought it would be open early for food shoppers, but it was only just starting to open up. There are lots of stalls selling everything from meats to cheeses to spices and holiday greens. Also lots of places sellling prepared foods with protected, but unheated, seating areas.
 |
| Christmas greens at the Victualenmarkt |
It happened to be very close to the Munich city museum which we were interested in visiting. The museum has a very interesting series of exhibits about the history of the city and how it has influenced present day life. An audiotour in English was informative and amusing. We learned that the Protestant Swedes had at one point invaded Germany. A punishment in the 1600s was to be placed on a tall wooden donkey, a ible humiliation. Many concentration camps were located in and around Munich during WWII and after the war it was a center for resettlement of displaced people. Greek workers were welcomed in Munich for a very long time and at one point there was a king who was half Greek, hence some of the Greek architecture around the city.
 |
| Sculptures of Morris dancers at the museum |
There was so much information that we had to take a break for a cup of tea at the Museum cafe before returning for WWII and the displaced persons exhibit.
We found a restaurant near the Victualenmarkt for lunch. A dish of braised duck with potato dumplings and red cabbage with apple would easily have been enough for both of us. In the evening, we ventured back out to the Christmas markets for a light dinner sharing a sausage on a roll and an apple strudel covered in a starchy vanilla sauce. The falling snow made for a lovely scene over the lights of the market.
 |
| Christmas market mugs |
 |
| Snow falling over the Residentzplatz market |
