Ah, well, up at 7:15. Our daughter J came over from next door at about 8 and we went down to breakfast. There were plenty of people wanting to eat early. So, we did not dawdle and were done at 8:30. We went back upstairs to wash up and get our things together for our last outing.
We left the hotel for our now usual walk to the train station. We had to wait a little longer than usual, and were onboard at 9:35. The ride to Marienplatz took all of 3 minutes. Interestingly, no one has ever asked to see tickets on these rides to and from the city center.
Marienplatz was not a bundle of energy at this time of the day. The Christmas market wasn't really going yet and there was a tour group wandering around. As we went by, I saw a woman in a Glühwein stand take a bottle of wine in each hand and pour them into a big vat.
Before leaving at 11:05, I picked up three postcards and a book about the church at a table in the narthex and dropped 5 Euros into the container that was there.
Outside, I looked up the street toward Marienplatz. appreciating the concept of a pedestrian zone. We need more of those back home.
We continued down Sendlingerstraße to Sendlinger Tor. As expected, there was a Christmas market here, albeit a small one. We took a few minutes to look around. I believe J bought some of the stars.
We then headed up the left-hand side of Herzog-Wilhelm-Straße, which has a nice little park in the middle of it. There were apartment buildings on either side. New ones had been very carefully inserted in between old ones. I wondered how old they were. Munich took a beating in WWII.
When we reached the dead end, we turned left onto Josephspitalstraße, whose name indicated that a St. Joseph's Hospital used to be around here. It was destroyed in the war.
Almost immediately, we came upon Sonnenstraße and turned right. We came upon LILLY Brautkleider, a bridal shop that was featuring winter styles in its display window. They were lovely, but not cheap.
We followed the street up to Karlsplatz or, as it is locally known, Stachus. This square is really more of a semicircle, with a McDonald's on the corner and my favorite toy store, Obletter, just beyond that. However, it was closed, of course. We were here to take a look at the Münchner Eiszauber am Stachus ( Munich Ice Magic at Stachus). It was a huge ice skating rink that was certainly never there in spring or summer, when I'd been here. They also built a large building next to it that served cocoa and Glühwein and afforded a view of the rink through windows on two levels. We circle the whole rink, not being able to see into it, until we reached this building. We slipped up onto the platform to get a look outside. I loved the little monk (the symbol of the city) and polar bear that kids could use to help them skate. What a cool thing to put up at this time of year. It does cost to skate here, by the way.
Stachus is separated from the pedestrian zone that runs all the way down to Marienplatz by the Karlstor, one of the ancient gates of the city. So, it is unsurprising that there is an entrance to the local trains and the U-Bahn below. The main train station was more blocks to the west than we cared to walk, so we headed down.
One of the cool things about the Munich subway system-and perhaps others in Germany, but this is the one I know- is that often underground, you will find shopping. It's not just entrances to the big stores above, but smaller shops, too. In areas like Stachus, you don't cross the street, you go under it.
When we got down to the first level, we were delighted to see how they had decorated the ceiling for the holidays.
We walked down one more level to board the S-3 at 11:37 to the Hauptbahnhof, arriving at 11:41. We knew this place pretty well by now and headed for the WC, parting with 1 Euro each. Then, it was up to the platforms to find our train, the ICE1004 to Nürnberg (Nuremberg), which we boarded at 11:51. We had little trouble finding seats, taking numbers 76,78 and 85 in our car. Five minutes later we were on our way.
It was a pleasant ride. There was board that showed the speed and the highest we hit, I believe, was 217 kph. We read and dozed. Weirdly, no one checked our tickets today. They did a couple of times on the way to Rothenburg and once yesterday, but not today.
We pulled into the Nuremberg Hauptbahnhof at 12:56. The place was bustling. It seemed like an awful lot of traffic for a Sunday. I was truly impressed by the way the station was decorated. I suppose, though, that if you are the town with the granddaddy of all Christmas markets, and the most well-known at that, you take Christmas seriously everywhere.
Not knowing when we'd find one again, we used the restrooms here before heading out to the old town.
Strictly speaking, there is not much of the old town left. We bombed this city heavily. When K and I were here in '84, there were signs with photos of what a spot looked like before the war and after. You would then step to the side to look at what it currently looked like and the rehabilitation was always impressive. They worked hard to restore a lot of it to look older.
Across from the train station was the city wall with the Frauentor entrance to the old town. There is even a "moat".
When we crossed over the bridge and through the gate, we were in the old Handwerkerhof, the craftsmen's court. We looked at the shops here and were really taken with the chocolate shop, of course.
We walked up Königstraße admiring the Christmas decorations, as well as the things that are there all the time, like the statue of Mary up on the corner of a building. We took obligatory selfies under overhead decorations that said "Zum Christkindlesmarkt" ( To the Christmas Market).
Every once in a while, there was a market stall or food and/or drink stand. I don't know, if they are usually there or just didn't want to pay the fee to be in one of the Christmas markets in town. At the one featuring Nativity scenes and paraphernalia to outfit them, I was able to get a shot showing some of what you can get.
This Glühwein stand was a model of German efficiency, having a WC attached with a designated entrance to it.
The Lorenzkirche (St. Lawrence Church) was built as a Catholic church from 1250-1477 (yes, it took that long to finish), but it is now one of the most prominent churches of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. It was heavily damaged in World War II, of course, but has been restored. I can't say whether or not I've ever been inside.
The building on the northwestern corner of Königstraße and Kaiserstraße is all commercial on the first floor and of little interest architecturally. However, it is what is on the side of the building that intrigues me- "since 1569 newly rebuilt 1965" with an illustration of what the city looked like of old. I've never been able to figure out what the building was that used to stand there. It is a nice illustration.
Just after this, we reached the Museumbrücke over the Pegnitz. This is a popular photo spot and we waited our turn to take our photo with the Heilig-Geist-Spital behind us. I also took a photo of the Christmas trees erected on the Fleischbrücke in the other direction. They were really cool.
Strictly speaking, we had planned to go to one market here, the Christkindlesmarkt in the Hauptmarkt (main market square) in front of the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady, a Catholic Church). We knew that there was one past the church and that one was populated by the sister cities of Nuremberg. We weren't necessarily needing to go to that one. What we didn't know-and wouldn't have felt we needed to see had we known- was that there was a market dedicated to children. This we learned from overhead signs was called the Kinderweihnacht. We saw it off to the right just after we crossed the bridge and figured, why not?
The market was crowded into the Hans-Sachs-Platz and I don't recall actually seeing the statue to this native son of Nuremberg, who was a Meistersinger, writer, and shoemaker. So many kids and adults! There were rides, which on reflection, made total sense. The really impressive one was two levels: a carousel level and a teacup level!
There were food booths, of course, but the shopping booths were what impressed me. They were geared towards kids making gifts to take with them. There was sand art and candle dipping. There was a shop for dressing dolls and a bakery for decorating cookies. What a marvelous idea! And it really goes with the German love of handicrafts.
This town has a marvelous toy museum, which the family went to years ago. So, it was no surprise to discover a terrific model train scene here.
There was a nice, big, sturdy Nativity scene that was simple and would appeal to kids.
Something that would really appeal to kids, assuming they could see that high, was perched on top of the booths, especially the food ones. Each had a set of mechanical dolls that actually moved. It was seriously cool!
After enjoying the sights and sounds here, we headed back to the street leading from the bridge, which was now called Plobenhofstraße, and followed it for a block to the main attraction.
The angel hanging from the sign is the symbol of this market. On the first night of the market, a young woman dressed as the angel comes out on the balcony of the Frauenkirche to declare the market open. It is actually broadcast on television. You might recognize that "Christkindl" contains the word Christ. That's because it actually translates as "Little Christ Child". Children in southern Germany and often Catholic homes are taught that that is who brings the Christmas toys. I suppose having the Christ Child Himself do it didn't seem quite right, so He became an angel. Northern Germans and Protestants are taught it is the Weihnachtsmann (the Christmas Man), who is similar to Santa, but wears a long coat in keeping with his descent from St. Nicholas, who was a bishop. Nikolaus himself comes to visit some children on his feast day, December 6.
The square was full of stalls - and people. There were more than 180 stalls. This market attracts two million visitors a year and it seemed a good chunk of them were here today, three days before Christmas.
It was now about 2:10 and K felt it was time for a beverage. He got himself a Glühwein, a Glühwein weiß made with a wine named for the hometown boy, Der Gute Albrecht Dürer, for me, and a Kinderpunsch for J. Hers was 2,50 Euros and ours were each 3 Euros, and a deposit was added to each. Delicious drinks in very pretty mugs:
Now, it was time to wander down the aisles. Well, not so much wander as make one's way through the crowds, while deciding which booths had something new that warranted working to get close enough to get a good look.
One booth that lured us over was selling things we hadn't seen at any of the other markets. All of their goods were covered in pine cones, spice pods, nuts, etc. It smelled so good! I heard the woman telling a customer that the scent would last for years. I bought a heart that will hang on the wall, as well as an ornament for the tree.
Just about when it started to rain at 2:50, we came upon a booth that took some time to enjoy, not only because there were so many people, but also because they were selling miniatures. I got several items that were evocative of a German Christmas, including an angel that looked like the symbol of the market and a gingerbread house made by the woman's mother. It was the last she'd be making.
When we reached the end of that row, we had a view of the church with its massive Christmas tree.
It was now after 3 and we needed to finally eat. For 3,50 Euros, K got "3 im Weckla", which is Nuremberg dialect for 3 (Nürnberger -small sausages) in a roll. I spent 4 Euros to have "3 in Weggen mit Kraut", which was the same, but with sauerkraut to which I added mustard. Delicious! Nürnberger are always served in a group of 3, by the way.
The rain stopped for a while and we found another miniatures stand. I just couldn't see everything there and just purchased from what I could reach. Frustrating!
As we came out of the aisle, there was a neat display of angels behind glass. The top row contained ones that were like my German angel atop my tree. The bottom row were the Christkindel of the market. How cool!
At the end of the row, we found ourselves in front of the south side of the church. Oddly, there is a shield on it that said something we'd seen all over Rome: SPQR. It stands for Senātus Populusque Rōmānus - The Senate and People of Rome. I have no idea why, unless it is because the Holy Roman Emperor is the one who had it built.
We passed colorful signs on poles, as well as police and police cars as we walked along this side of the church to go to the WC, which cost 0,50 Euros each. They were clean and with running water, as usual.
We came back around the front of the church and saw that there was a group playing on risers on a stage there. They did not seem to be a professional group, but played quite well.
We made our way to the building at the north side of the square. I ducked into the Tourist Information office to buy a postcard. This photo gives an idea of the mass of people at this end of the square.
This put us near the famous Schöner Brunnen (Beautiful Fountain). I'd been aiming for this. I subscribe to German Life magazine and they are always asking for photos of readers with the magazine in Germany, Austria, Switzerland or Liechtenstein. The current issue had a night photo of the Schöner Brunnen on the cover. I'd brought it on the trip and had remembered to slip it into K's backpack. He took several photos of me holding the magazine with the fountain behind it. I'll post one to the magazine's Facebook page back at the hotel and then send one via email to the magazine itself back home. Such a neat thing to be able to do!
It was 4:15 and time to get back to looking at stalls.
There was one souvenir that I had to have, even though it would not last the way the other things I'd bought would. That was a Lebkuchenherz. Bavarian markets sell these Oktoberfest and Christmas markets, as well as tourist stops. It is basically a gingerbread heart with icing. The word was in my German textbook and one year a student actually produced one that I left hanging in my classroom for years. Don't worry- it was in plastic wrap.. This one I wanted to share with the family on Christmas day. It only cost 2,50 Euros.
We were back in near the musicians again and took some time to listen. I had the feeling that they used local groups and that was such a cool thing. It was so nice to hear German carols being played. I videotaped a snippet of them playing O du fröhliche, a really lovely carol, that did not start out as one. Oh, it translates as "Oh, you joyful".
Just minutes later, at 4:50, it was raining again. K had been wanting one of the cheese pretzels that we'd seen. So, as we headed down to the south end again. where we had missed the very first row of stalls, we kept our eye out for one. He found one for only 3 Euros and even got one last Glühwein, especially because it was Heidelbeer like the first one we'd had in Munich. That was 6, 50 Euros. We wanted to try to enjoy them a bit out of the rain. We found a place to stand under the balcony of a restaurant at the southern end of the market.
Afterwards, he wanted to go up the stairs to see the view. I worried a bit about getting yelled at for that, but there were people coming and going. It had stopped raining and I thought that this was a chance to get photos of the whole market. They did not disappoint.
By happy chance, I looked down and saw that there was a stall selling the Moravian stars. It wouldn't hurt to see if they had the small, plastic, red and white one that I wanted. If they didn't, I wasn't meant to have one. But, lo and behold, they did! I got the American battery pack version and paid 26,70 Euros. It will hang over my Nativity scene.
As I finished paying and we went to leave the market, we could hear the band playing one last song, my favorite Christmas hymn, Stille Nacht (Silent Night). How terribly appropriate.
As we crossed the bridge, I saw that the trees on the next bridge were now lit up. And, down the street, there were twinkling Christmas lights. So beautiful!
We reached the Hauptbahnhof at 6:05 and found Le Crobag selling sandwiches and bottled soda. We got 2 Holandaise Truthahn ( Hollandaise Turkey) for a total of 7,98 Euros, a Ficelle Serrano Schinken (long hard roll with Serrano ham) for 3,89 Euros, a Fanta and 2 Coke Zero Sugar for 2,04 Euros each plus 0,25 Euro deposit each. We took these and hurried up to the platform and found there were plenty of seats on the ICE 881 to München Hbf (Hauptbahnhof). It departed at 6:27 and we hungrily tucked into our meal.
It was an uneventful trip and dark out there. Once again, we passed the hotel without stopping. We arrived at the main train station at 7:47. When we went down the stairs to the upper level of the local trains, we saw a Starbucks and a great opportunity to use vouchers we'd been collecting from the restroom. J and I each ordered a hot chocolate, but they would only let us use one voucher each. So, after the 0,50 Euro rebate, the cost was 3,49 Euros. It was a good hot chocolate.
We caught the 8:10 S2 and rode the three minutes back to Donnersbergerbrücke. It was rather windy, when we came out on the street, but that was better than rain.
We reached our rooms at 8:25, J going off to hers to pack. K always leaves that to me, because I have an eye for that and I know how I want souvenirs handled. After rinsing the new ones, I took a photo of them all lined up and posted it on Facebook. Since it was 5 hours earlier in Florida, responses came in quickly.
My star came in a box and I was able to pack other things around it. I had to make sure that all of the things I was trying to get the VAT back on were in carry-ons. I really didn't want to pack much of the purchases in the checked luggage. However, I'd brought an incredible amount of bubble wrap from home and had plenty to wrap eat mug before it went into one of our laundry bags. I just had to hope that would be enough.
I got everything in, even though my carry-on was going to be rather full, what with the CPAP machine already needing to be in there. I put the fabric in carefully, so as to not wrinkle or crease it.
I then thought to check the phone. I'd supposedly walked 13,057 steps for 5.4 miles. Of course, it claimed I'd climbed 4 flights, which was debatable.
Even with the rain, it was a great day and a great ending to a trip I've dreamed of.
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