Unsere Letzte Christkindlesmarkt - Munchen

Leaving Dachau, it took us only about 1/2 hour to get to Munich airport where we dropped the car and took an S-Bahn into the city.  Luckily, our hotel was within easy walking distance of the Hauptbahnhof (main train station).  So, shortly after our arrival and check-in, we were walking across Karlsplatz into the pedestrian area of the old town.  Our eyes were immediately assaulted by all the fabulous Christmas colours.  What a lovely contrast from the grey and dull brown earlier in the day in Dachau!  Munich is the last stop on our tour of the markets before we head into the Austrian Alps to celebrate Christmas.

On our way through the gates from Karlsplatz into the old town

One of the many building lit up - this one has changing colours

 



The Christmas tree in front of the Rathaus

We searched around for a while for somewhere that looked good to eat.  First, however, we had to stop at Augustiner am Dom for a drink - beer, of course, for my sister and red wine for me.  We ended up eating in the famous Ratskeller restaurant in the basement of the Rathaus.  It was very busy but they found us a nice table and we enjoyed our meal. 

Inside the Ratskeller

 




What Peace on Earth?

It was somehow fitting on the morning after the attacks in the Christmas Market in Berlin, that we were going to the KZ-Gedenkstatte (The Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site).  While this stop was certainly going to be a complete contrast to the rest of our trip, we thought it was important that we go there.  It seemed to us that we haven't gotten very far toward the goal of peace since the terror that took place here over 70 years ago.

The sign at the entrance to the memorial

On my various trips to Germany, whether to big cities or smaller towns and villages, it always impresses me how the Germans are doing a very good job of remembering the dark part of their history that took place from 1933 to 1945.  In Berlin, for example, at the entrance to one of the older U-Bahn stations, there is a sign saying "Places of Terror that We Must Never Forget" and below those words is a list of the concentration camps.  In many towns and villages little brass cobblestones have been placed in front of houses from where Jews were taken.  These "Stolperstein" have on them their names, dates of their birth and death as well as their fate which is usually "perished in Auschwitz".  There are usually no entrance fees to memorials and other sites recounting that part of history including the one at Dachau. There was only a modest 3.50 Euro charge for the audio guide.   

It was a particularly cold and grey day for our visit. Even this close to Christmas, there were lots of groups of German school children there learning about this part of their history.

We started by watching the documentary detailing the atrocities.  The movie was, needless to say, graphic and very disturbing!  After that, we spent some time reading the various exhibits in the museum before wandering around the grounds.  The entire environment seemed so desolate and hopeless.  You just cannot fathom how horrible it must have been here.

We had originally intended to do the 2 1/2 hour walking tour but neither of us had the stomach for it after the documentary.  However, given that we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace at this time of the year yet so often we are reminded peace eludes us, it was an important stop to make.  The one word that came to me to describe this place was grim!  After about 1 1/2 hours here, we closed the "Arbeit Macht Frei" gate behind us and moved on.

Next up:  Munich and our last Christmas market.

Bamberg - another Christmas Market

Monday, we left Nuremburg and made the short drive (about 45 minutes) north to the town of Bamberg.  Because of its impressively well preserved Old Town including 2400 listed buildings, winding alleys and the abundance of mediaeval churches, Bamberg was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993.  Bamberg is a lively arts and cultural centre with a thousand year old history, a long tradition of beer brewing and the buzzing atmosphere of a city full of life and street cafés and small antiques shops.

Thanks to the Garmin, we found our hotel fairly easily.  The parking, however, was another story.  I had to drive through this very, very narrow entry onto a parking platform that is basically an elevator.  If another parking space is needed, a key is turned and the car is elevated to create another space.  There is also a turntable to put your car on to turn it around so you don’t have to back out.  Getting out of there in the morning is going to be more than a little challenge! 

That's our car parked on the right - sitting on a lift.  Also, there is the turntable in front.

We came upon the Christkindlesmarkt pretty quickly and it was much smaller than the others we’ve seen.  Also, it appeared that the regular market was interspersed with the Christmas stalls as there were also vegetable and fruit stands.  Of course, there were the usual Gluhwein and Bratwurst stalls.  There were some different stands as well though.  One served fresh herbed Kasespaetzle and another was making fresh churros.  I had an order sprinkled “mit Zimt und Zucker” (cinnamon and sugar).  Yummy!  We continued to explore the old town and saw the famous Altrathaus (Old Town Hall) and Klein Venedig (Little Venice).

The Christmas tree at the Bamberg Christmas Market (above) and some of the stalls (below)

 

Above and below - the Altrathaus

Bamberg' "Little Venice" (above and below)

Kath was VERY pleased to find you could buy a 1 Euro bottle of beer just outside your room!

For dinner, we went across the little square at our hotel to the Klosterbraueri which was a rustic and typical Bayerisch restaurant where you share your table with other people.  The couple sitting at ours was from Leipzig and we "chatted" to them - to the extent I can chat in German! - and it turned out they were also staying at our hotel.  (More about them later).

Every now and then, you have one of those experiences in a restaurant where you are pretty sure you have ordered something that you will enjoy and it turns out differently.  For example, one time in Grindelwald I ordered a special house cheese fondue thinking it would be that amazing Swiss dish.  Not so much, it turned out to have curry in it which explained its odd yellow colour.  Well, something like that happened here.  I ordered Krautspaetzle mit Kase und Salat. which, I thought, would be some sort of herbed spaetzli with cheese and a salad.  However, what came was actually the traditional cheese spaetzli mixed with sauerkraut!  Yuck!  However, the salad was crisp and good.

The restaurant where we had our dinner

Tuesday morning, after a nice breakfast, we checked out and I had then to face what I thought might be a challenge – getting the car out of the garage.  Thankfully, the couple whom we’d met last evening were in the breakfast room and they offered to help us.  That was a good thing!  First we had to lower the car – done by turning a key – and then I had to back the car onto the turntable, the part of the floor that rotated.  The man then turned another key which turned my car around (there was not enough space to manoeuvre it otherwise), then the doors were opened and, although I had thought the entry was really narrow, it was actually a piece of cake after the first bit.  We profusely thanked the Leipzig couple and we were on our way!

The parking garage door we had to drive our car in and out of

Our car elevated so another car could park beneath it

Next up:  Munich with a short side trip on the way there.   

Surviving the "Feuerwzangenbowle" and Bach in Nuremberg

When we planned this trip, one stop had to be Nuremburg for a few reasons.  We knew it was the biggest and most famous of the Christmas markets; I had never been there before and, with my interest in WWII, I wanted to see the town where the war trials took place; and, finally, my sister wanted to experience a concert in a church with an orchestra and choir and we found there was going to be a Bach one in Nuremberg.

So, late Saturday afternoon, we arrived here and, once we were settled into our hotel after the autobahn drive from Rothenberg (amazing how quickly one gets accustomed to driving over 140 km!), we wandered into the Altstadt (old town) just across a main street and through the medieval gate from our hotel.  I am not sure either of us was prepared for the crowds although I guess we should have expected it - the city is, after all, a university town and it was a Saturday evening!  As we walked toward the "zentrum" (centre), the first thing we came upon was the Feuerzangenbowle, a stall featuring the specialty of the town at this time of the year.  Picture a very large flaming cauldron filled with wine, rum, spices and heaven knows what else.  There were hundreds and hundreds of people gathered around this thing - all drinking (and it appeared they had been there for a while!).  There was no way I could get a photo.  We had intended to go back and try the punch but we never got around to it - probably a good thing - although I did get a photo but there was no fire in the cauldron!

A photo of the flaming punch bowl I took the next morning. Picture flames coming out of the cauldron at the top

Next up was going to the Christkindlesmarkt itself.  What an experience!  It was almost impossible to move and we were constantly being pushed and shoved around so we gave up on that pretty quickly and found a restaurant for dinner before we retreated to the sanctity of our hotel rooms.

 

The Heilig Geist Spital - started as a hospital for the poor and now
a residence for needy seniors

The Nuremberg “Rauschgoldengel, symbolic ambassador for Nuremburg's Advent season

 

One of the quiet squares on the walk back to the city wall and our hotel

It had been disappointing not to see the market stalls; however, I had a plan:  surely all those people who were getting drunk on Gluhwein and all the other alcohol being sold. - including that flaming punch thing - wouldn't be up and around in the morning.  Indeed, they were not so I managed to get lots of photos in the market without having hundreds of people in them.  They say over 10,000 people visit the market daily and probably more on the weekend.  I believe it!  That first hour or so between 10 and 11 am was the perfect time to explore the stalls and check out everything that was being sold.  One of Nuremberg's specialties at this time of the year is Lebkuche, gingerbread cookies.  Of course, we had to try one.  We also sampled the Weissgluhwein (hot, spicy white wine) and the Heidelbeer-Gluhwein, a hot blueberry-flavoured beer.  I thought both were cloyingly sweet but at least I can say I tried them!  Below are photos of some stalls in the market.  Many of them were truly magical.

 

One of the gingerbread cookie stands

Above and below are photos of one of the many marzipan and Stollen stalls
Below you can see marzipan Wursts and potatoes!

 

 

At 1 pm, we did a walking tour of the town and it was very interesting although I won't try to capture the historic details here.  Suffice it to say, that this town has a chequered history from medieval times until the present - some good, some not so much.  It is, after all, where the Nazis had their huge parade grounds built to show the power of that party during the 1930s. Instead, I thought I'd keep the focus on Christmas.

Later, we went to the concert my sister was so excited about because she is a classical trained musician.  It was Bach's Christmas Oratorio Cantatas 3 through 6.  On the other hand, I was dreading it.  Bach is not my thing!  Actually, I survived it in a Maslov sort of way. The church was so incredibly cold that I was concentrating so much on trying to stay warm that I completely forgot about the music!  It actually was amazing to hear the voices of the choir and sounds of the orchestra powerfully filling a 1000 year old building.  I have to admit it was quite stunning - but it still took me a couple of hours to thaw from the experience and I was not exactly humming any Bach in my head after the concert!  We had dinner at a lovely French restaurant - no loud, drunk Bavarians there and great food!

Next up, Bamberg, the next stop on our tour of German Christmas markets.

Medieval Rothenburg

Saturday morning, we left Augsburg and drove to Rothenberg ob der Tauber, which many people say is the prettiest medieval town in Germany.  We arrived about noon and, thankfully, early enough to score a good parking place in P1, the parking lot closest to the town wall.  The first thing we saw when we walked through it and up one of the main streets was the iconic scene in many German calendars and travel posters.

This scene is in a lot of German calendars

Next, we wandered up into the main square where the Christkindlesmarkt was located.  On the way, we passed a Lindt store (hard to resist that!) and a store selling a Rothenberg specialty schneeballen (snowballs) which seem to be some sort of big flavoured cookie in the shape of a snowball.  We stopped for some food at a stall (Kath had bratwurst - some are .5 metre long! - and I had a crepe filled with marzipan and Grand Marnier - yummy!).  We also went into the Kathe Wolfahrt store where there was a very cute display of teddy bears.  The stalls contained more Christmas items than the one in Augsburg and Kath managed to find a couple of Christmas ornaments she liked.  Later in the day, we drove to Nuremburg, where the Christmas market become a lot more serious!  More about that in the next blog.
 

One of the pretty stores on the walk up to the square



A Display of the "Snowballs" - sort of spherical cookies with a filling -
a specialty of Rothenberg

Santa, the organ grinders!

One of the Christmas market stalls

The stuff animal display at Kathe Wolfhart's - very cute!

The main square and part of the market