白色圣诞 Dec 2013 - Munich Walking Tour

This is the third time that we joined "Free Walking Tour" - We liked to participate in the tour as it gave us a flavor of the sites and history in the eyes of a "local tour". Initially, we have difficulties logging in and registering our names to join the tour and luckily there was an iMac in the B&B which solved the problem. We chose on Christmas Eve and it was a huge group. As we have registered, we were allowed to have a group photo taken by the guide. 

Different guides have different personalties and stories to share and our Munich guide was one who liked to "beer" and share "beer stories". I rem him saying that he was a musician in Jazz and decided to quit to be a guide. Not a bad choice considering that he is fulfilling his dreams? The walking tour was about 3 hours and we should have taken some notes to jot down interesting things else could not rem all the interesting stuff.


We assembled very near to our B&B at Marienplatz and the guide told us to standby at 1100hrs to listen to the famous Glockenspiel.  Every day at a few designated time slots, people will stand still and listen to the 15 minutes music ~ the guide said we could go youtube to see the close-up. Not sure why but I liked it a lot and found it to be a cute historical toy. So, I also "video" it just like any other tourists. After the "show", we went down to the toy museum and passed by "juliet" statue. The guide jokingly said that many singles would buy flowers from the florist shop nearby and present them to "juliet" for improvement in their relationship. He said that many people would also touch the statue for blessing and he asked us to guess where most people would touch. 

After a short stop outsides the Toy Museum, first thing that I rem was the "canon ball" that was stuck in a church all. My wife didn't notice it or I have to take a photo to show it to her. I couldn't rem if it was deposited there due to WWII? As usual, my concentration span was limited and I wondered around to see if I could take interesting photos.   Next was a walk down to the Virtual Market that was selling a lot of grocery and it has a beer garden.  Guide said he would pop by the beer garden later and encouraged us to do so too. We went down to Hofbrauhaus - a very famous beer hall. According to the guide, you won't be able to catch the attention of the waiters or waitresses there as they would be too bz to entertain you. Got to try let?  The guide stopped here to share the history of how the toilets was designed and created in the beer hall. Spare the details but I was very curious about what the guide said that there was a special area in the toilet where it allowed people to vomit. So we did go back to check but I couldn't really find it. 

Along the way we were introduced to a very famous local beer and I asked my wife why wasn't it exported? She smartly told me that it was without preservatives just like the Abashiri beer so it couldn't be exported. Make sense.  And well, I found my HRC ~ a tee in each new city I visited and this time would not be an exception unless all shops closed during Christmas?  From here, we ventured into the street that housed lot of branded boutiques and the guide asked us to see the rich and famous around the streets.   

Then there was some history lessons about the Nazi regime and I could not remember the details as usual.  I only remembered that the locals were still buying christmas trees and rushing back to celebrate the Christmas and we were then wondering if all the shops were closed on the eve. Luckily, we already made reservation for Christmas eve dinner. We rushed back trying to catch our lunch but many shops were closed or closing. There was a Jap restaurant but my wife wasn't interested so we decided to try our luck at Virtual Market - Oops closed except the beer garden.  We ended up queuing at Starbucks near our B&B and have cake and coffee for lunch at our "balcony".  Very different in lifestyle ~ Back home, many shops would be opened for business during Christmas but in Munich, it is really a holiday season for all.  

圣诞前夕，本来想晚上去教堂，但没去，也没有倒数。我们静静地逛街，看看橱窗地摆设。街道比较少人，大家应该是在团圆吃火鸡吧？ 想想，平静地度过圣诞，也是很开心的事。难得能自由自在。

白色圣诞 Dec 2013 Munich Christmas Market Part III - Marienplatz

Perhaps the most interesting and colorful Christmas Market in Munich is still the Marienplatz market? It is  in the town hall and there is a very tall REAL Christmas Tree which was lighted up by many bulbs. For me, this market was the first one that we encountered when we took the Bahn and landed at early morning hours. It was also the one when we said "bye bye". 

We read and understand that each year a town could have to contribute a christmas tree to the town hall. I decided to stand underneath the hugh tree to enjoy the lights and view of branches of the tree. It was beautiful and my wife joked that many people followed us in enjoying the view after we moved off from the spot. I like the tree a lot and in fact I have been watching live webcam of Marienplatz and the tree before we travelled to Munich. I even wanted to ask my family to catch a glimpse of my wife and me walking at Marienplatz if possible though time difference was a real challenge ~ while we were playing at Marienplatz, they were probably sleeping at night. 
The morning Marienplatz market was filled with nice spicy smell of the red wine and also sausages and cookies. While my wife was busy looking for boots, I took some time out to watch what  people were buying at the stalls. I was a bit hesitant to buy any cookies as we had our hearty cheese and ham breakfast and too full to "chew". Also my wife said she loved my homemade cookies most so I have second thoughts buying other cookies nowadays =). 


The night time markets are equally interesting as the crowd built up. Against the backdrop of lights and toy angels hanging up at the stalls, we were easily immersed into the beautiful atmosphere of Christmas. Very tempted to buy some cute decoration from the stalls but they were not cheap.  Another reason was we usually dun like to "anyhow" buy things as we would have difficulty finding place to put them or store them. I rem buying the "russian girl" keychains and ended up forcing my wife's friends to take - compulsory haha. 

很喜欢圣诞市场，觉得它很特别，很有节日气氛，和看过的其他市场很不一样，我很佩服老婆的好介绍。以前的我，只以为外国的圣诞就只是白色的圣诞，只有下雪，玩雪人。圣诞市场其实已有多年的历史，也是当地不可少的圣诞文化。

圣诞快乐。


http://www.christmasmarketsgermany.com/munich.php

白色圣诞 Dec 2013 - Munich Christmas Market Part II Tollwood

Tollwood Christmas Market - My Dear wanted to visit this market and it was one of her planned itinerary. Not sure how it looked like until we visited it. Tents, white tents - this was my very first impression of the Tollwood Christmas Market. What made Tollwood so famous was actually the Octoberfest - the very spot that held the event yearly! 

We bought our very first nuts in Tollwood. I still remember the taste till now and it was like an ever-filling kacang puteh! We kept eating and eating from Munich to Paris and still eating haha! The nuts were very nutty-licious - As I told my dear I was a "nut-cracker" and the nuts were really yummy! 

Tollwood Market was made up of many huge circus circus white tents - all carried a different theme and we would likely go into more than 6 or 7 tents. Some tents were quite stuffy due to the cooking and heat. 

There was a huge steel structure like a cube. Very interesting as you could climb up and take a seat - I rem there were at least three floors and each floor could house many tables. As we could see the view from underneath our feet - not for the faint hearts. We came with our instinct and were wary of fire hazards. 

We took many shots from the cube. I didn't know dear wanted to have "tollwood" wording in her photo. Took a helicopter view of her extending her arms wide and she "picky" that it didn't have the "feel" of tollwood.  So, I also decided to be "picky" and told her that my portrait photo very "big" with me filling up most of the photos she took.  :P.

The wine cup at Tollwood was very cute! I ordered "kinder" wine to try it out. Gosh, are we sure it was "kinder" wine? The taste was equally German wine leh?! I started to wonder if the kids drink at young age? My wife was very creative and asked us to pose a picture of the cute wine cup with our shoes. 

Actually, I didn't notice the German "Kinder" much until I came to Munich Markets. For me, I only knew the kinder bueno chocolate biscuits. To play safe in our merrying Christmas markets, I decided to go "Kinder" and of cos, people would think that it was my wife who was asking for "kinder" wine. 

It was interesting too that locals could manage to pronounce my name well. Maybe of the "mun"? Not surprising since the word "Munich" has "Mun" in it too. So, when we made reservations, the waiters/waitresses could easily bring us to our table. I was joking to my wife that they would think that my name was "local" too.  A familiar name. 

白色圣诞 Dec 2013 - Munich Christmas Market Part 1

慕尼黑的圣诞市场据说是有很久的历史了，这次我们也是慕名而来的。There are so many Christmas Markets to choose to go and fortunately we stayed at Marienplatz - a very convenient walk to most of the markets. Too many to choose and my plan was to go to those which would be closing. Christmas markets in Munich closed typically on the eve or even on 23 Dec, so ought to plan carefully.

We decided to go to the Market at The Munich Residence. It closed on 23 Dec, and just right on the day when we visited. It was about one Bahn stop from Marienplatz, and we actually chanced upon it when there was an "entrance" to the market just besides the cobblestone  path. First thing that caught my attention was the Windmill. Quite cute and then the smell of mulled hot red wine. We decided to roam around to see what to eat or buy first after a mini squabble haha.

There were quite a crowd, and many Germans would stand around the round table and drink. I also want to copycat but the smell of the wine was really strong. Not sure if I would tahan it - yup, not a good drinker. It was interesting to see the animated animals and figures in the booths - I didn't know they were so popular among the locals. 

 There were some narrations but I couldn't decipher the stories.  Of cos, there was the one story about the birth of our Saviour and that one I could tell. =). The inclusion of such display really made me like a "kinder" haha - this term would be important to use in subsequent Christmas markets.

There were hotdogs, chocolates, jams for purchase but the popular ones were of cos the German red wine.  We started to queue to buy the chocolate stick as it seemed to be quite popular as well. We didn't know that the storekeeper also had the habit of selling cheaper near closing hours - should have waited to buy more at a lower price! 


Then came the challenge - the German wine. We followed the locals to start to q to buy the wine. We took one cup and you have to pay a deposit of 2 EURO for the cup.  The cup was very cute, representative of the local christmas spirit. My dear carried the cup and walked like the locals merrying haha. The taste was strong and warm - very nice cozy feel. Yup, drink and drunk like the local haha. I already found that the cup was very cute and decided NOT to return liao. So, we slowly walked out of the Market carrying our wine and on our walk back to Marienplatz. On our way back, we noticed that the Christmas Market at "The Residence" was really closing - stalls closing and dismantling. How lucky we were to experience the Christmas Market in the courtyard of the Palace? By the time, we reached our B&B, our cup was emptied and what a nice souvenir we got - something very unique of Munich Christmas Market. This would not be the only one as I didn't share with my wife that I was going to keep all the cups whenever we "German Wine". Hee Hee. 

收集酒杯，不知不觉，成了逛慕尼黑圣诞市场的新嗜好。

白色圣诞 Dec 2013 - Chiemsee

We decided to spend our First White Christmas in Munich and it was a last minute decision as we were still thinking where to go. Very excited as we counted down to Dec 13! 

We reached Munich very early at around 5 plus and we were planning to get a Bavarian ticket - today we would be off to Chiemsee - to see the last castle of the "Swan King". Have kinda of trial and error trying to buy the "Bavarian ticket" haha. The ticket would cover Bahn ride and train ride all the way and I bought by comparing the prices that I knew during my research. We had another mini adventure when our "Prien Am Chiemsee" train was stalled at Munich Train Station and had to switch train. We were stuck in the train for one hour - gosh. The train ride to Prien Am Chiemsee was smooth after that and many people actually were on the train to Salzburg (Austria).  I dun like to travel from one country to another in a rush, so decided not to do the cross border thingy just like when we were in Milan (not to go Switzerland). The train stopped at a very old train station and we have to walk about 30 minutes to the ferry. Hmm… I was worried that it would be closed as I couldn't book the ferry online and no updates on the schedule. Actually, I thought the Chiemsee lake would be frozen! We rode on the boat and off we went cruising along Chiemsee lake to the last castle of the "Swan King". My wife said the King really knew how to select his site for castle - beautiful Lake with the Royal Palace of Herrenchiemsee was modeled after the Versailles in Paris, and the look really like "twin" castle. 


The path to the castle was quite romantic. A bit of old autumn leaves on the side of the path and trees without leaves paving the way for winter. I saw my wife carrying a cute brown bag walking up the path and thought it was a very cute moment. She didn't notice it but I thought she walked in a very adorable way. She purposely dolled up with nice winter clothes this time round and for me I was the usual winter wear. However, I heeded her advice to get my brown Uni pants - which turned out to be very comfortable too. Her combination of brown bag and brown winter wear was a nice match and in the background of the autumn-winter season - very nice. Well, we did squabble on the trip, haha over minor stuff and we still felt very fun on Day 1 of our trip.  The path became very foggy near afternoon and it gave a strange feeling to the overall atmosphere of the forest and castle.

The daylight in Winter is very very short - we joked that the morning sun rose up and then it went back to sleep away. We didn't want to be trapped on the island and it would be BIG TIME as there weren't any hotels around.  We adhered to the tour guide for the Castle and it was really half-built and you could still see the bricks and foundation. Building a castle was not an easy job, so much gold and bricks and artwork.  One item that amazed me was not the magic table who the King wanted to display during makan time? It was the bath area - so big and with pictures painted on the walls. Missing my public bath in Japan? It was a very quiet tour as it wasn't the season to come to Chiemsee. 

This was our first excursion in Munich.