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。