Thursday, March 26, 2020

Christkindlmarkts 2019...Day 8: Christmas Day and Heading Home

We woke up and enjoyed breakfast at our hotel.  I have to admit, I was a little sad that I was not snuggled by the fire with our girls, but I know they do not really know when Christmas day is.  We walked past the closed market stahls and wished we could have a mug of gluhwein!  We took the S-Bahn to the airport and boarded our flight.

We were in business class and enjoyed being able to lay down and take a nap on the long haul back home.  My favorite part of the entire flight was the that United offers sparkling wine and ice cream sundaes for dessert!

Sparkling wine, ice cream sundae, and Christmas Vacation, I am not sure my flight could be any better!

We had an uneventful and relaxing flight to DC where we stopped off in the United lounge for snacks and drinks and to make our Merry Christmas calls.  We arrived home around 9:00 pm to our girls.  We both commented about how we felt less jet-lagged on this trip than others and we both attribute that to taking naps on the way home.  We had both previously read that you should avoid a nap when flying back to the US, but that has always made us feel poorly for a few days.  This time, we both felt fine the next day.  

I wish I could say our next big trip was planned, but COVID-19 seems to have other plans for us.  We have already cancelled two trips and will possibly have to cancel a third.  At the end of the day, cancelling trips is not a life or death issue like so many others are facing.  

Until next time Deutschland!  

Sunday, March 15, 2020

Christkindlmarkts 2019...Day 7: Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve started with a Christmas Eve run to Englischer garten park.  There were so many families out walking around as Christmas Eve is a bigger deal in Germany than Christmas day.  We ended up running six miles and stopped for a few pictures around our favorite areas.

Such a fun morning together in the Hofgarten.


The yellow building behind me is my favorite church in all of Munich.  I have run so many miles past this spot.  It was such a great way for us to end our trip with Ken running past this spot with me.


After our run, we got ready to hit the markets for some final shopping and gluhwein.  The Marienplatz market stays open until 2:00 pm on Christmas Eve.  I am proud to say that we closed the Christmas market down on Christmas Eve.


It was a beautiful morning!

We were really hoping to find something to take home for our new enclosed patio and we found a stahl that was making wooden signs.  We ended up having one custom made that says Zum Jackson's.


Our board being custom engraved.  We ended up with the one on the left of the picture with the two beer steins.  


The stahl where we found it.  We were so excited to have a little piece of Munich to take home with us.


As we walked back to the Marienplatz, we heard Christmas Carols being played from the balcony of the town hall.  We stopped and enjoyed them for awhile and felt so fortunate to be in Munich on Christmas Eve.


Definitely a highlight of the day


The Marienplatz was bustling with people enjoying the final moments of the market.


Merry Christmas from Munich!


This stahl by our hotel smells amazing!  It has the best aroma of ginger and cinnamon.  


We dropped our purchases off at our hotel and decided to wander over to the Rindermarkt for lunch.  We obviously chose a final sausage from the Christmas Pyramid.  We finished eating right as it started to rain.  We huddled under a covered table and enjoyed our final Christmas market drinks.


Our final Christmas market drinks of 2019.  


Saying farewell to the Christmas Pyramid


Goofball :)

We were in the Rindermarkt as it struck 2:00 pm and everything closed.  We saw a crane come in to start dismantling the Christmas Pyramid immediately.  We had to leave the area because it was too much to handle watching it get dismantled.  

We spent the rest of the day at Hofbrauhaus enjoying a nice German meal.  

My Christmas Eve date enjoying one of his favorite things.


After Hofbrauhaus, we finished the evening at the Asian restaurant by our hotel enjoying dumplings and wine.  We loved our time together on this trip!