Christkindlmarkt - Checking Out the Munich Area Christmas Markets

As previously forecasted the family decided to go into the belly of the beast. Christmas markets, late in December, in the heart of Munich, on a game day. Personally I was able to get myself mentally prepared for it and make it a nice day. Maybe we should have warned the kids to get themselves mentally prepared, I have never heard so much griping.

Several days earlier Cindy had taken the train down there and it worked out pretty well. We decided to try the same thing with the four of us. We drove the car to a park and ride about five minutes down the road and jumped on the U6 underground train. A couple of stops later the griping began. When we boarded the train car it was empty and we were all able to sit down. Soon after a very large group of loud and obnoxious people crammed in. We still had lots of room but it was loud, so much that both kids were putting their hands over their ears and making painful dramatic faces. It is clear that these suburban kids are not ready for the life of the inner city with personal space requirements and a requirement that they are the only ones that can be noisy.

While we were on the train Cindy and I were discussing the merits of where to go first to get to the three or four areas that we wanted to see. With the local soccer team playing this afternoon we probably did not come up with the most efficient plan to avoid the crowded trains, but it worked out. We decided to stay on the train until the southern most point of where we wanted to see. This was one stop south of the city center area at a stop called "Sendlinger Tor". We kind of knew what we were in for later in the day as everyone on the train except for us got off one stop earlier at Marienplatz. At Sendlinger Tor we departed the train. As you walk up from the station you are immediately in a market.

We did not stay at this one too long. It was not that large, it was pretty cold and early in the morning. We wanted to pace ourselves and see what else was available. My goal in this outing was to find some handmade ornaments, not only for our small Christmas tree in Germany, but also ones that we can hang on to over the years to remember our time here. This first place had a lot of nice stuff, but not many ornaments and not the kind that I had in my mind that I was looking for. We got back on the train and took it one stop north to Marienplatz. Cindy remembered which direction to go and which stairs to take to emerge in the middle of the action.

We were right in front of the New Town Hall building where the Glockenspiel bell show happens. They had a huge tree lit up and booths set up as far as you could see. First order of business was coffee and hot chocolate for the girls. 

We started to make our way around the exhibits and it was starting to get very crowded. Out of necessity I have learned to be a lot more aggressive at getting into tight spaces. These people aren't messing around, if you hesitate you will lose out on space. These booths are stuffed with product. It was hard to communicate with the people working in them since you had to look through all of the stuff hanging down. When you did buy something you had to be careful when they hand over your box or bag to not knock something off.

Noon came around and the Glockenspiel show started. We had already seen it earlier and the year, and if you remember my opinion, I was not a big fan. Most of the people stopped to watch the show, this was our chance to do some shopping without getting pushed and shoved around. Small problem, the people were backed up against the booth to get the best view possible. On one side of the aisle it was no good, but the other side was wide open. Well, another problem, Katherine wants to watch the show again. Oh well, get on my shoulders so you can see Princess Katherine. Thankfully she grew weary of the show after the Bavarian Knight won, again. We were able to get a little looking in while it finished up. It got to be past 1 pm so we started to look for some lunch. Cindy stood in line while I went to the ATM. Many of the booths claimed to take bank cards, but none of them worked. There was some sort of communication problem happening at the two booths where I tried to use a card. We ate some brats and pommes (fries). Now it was time for me to try this stuff they call gluhwein. It is similar to wassail in that it is made with cinnamon, but they use a red wine as the base and it is served hot. They really have a fascinating method to control waste around here. The brats are served on a roll with a napkin, if you want ketchup they dump it on the fries and/or the roll, no little packages. Cindy asked for a plate so she paid a deposit for a real plate that we had to return to get our deposit back. The gluhwein was the same. They served it in a small commemorative coffee cup that you paid three euros as a deposit. If you keep the cup, that is fine, you just lose the deposit and they essentially made a sell of a collectible cup. If you bring it back you get your deposit back. No waste and a way to make some extra money. The only trash cans around just have a little thin opening large enough to throw away the napkins, very little waste. The gluhwein was good, it was just weird drinking hot wine for me. It is a good alternative to coffee as a warm drink and a good alternative to beer for anyone wanting to get their drink on, but still have something warm.  

The above picture was from the courtyard area in the middle of the New Town Hall. There is a restaurant in here along with a few more booths. We decided to make our way a little further north to the next area. It was only one stop ahead near the Residenz, the first palace that we toured in Munich a few months ago. It used to be the residence of the monarchs of Bavaria and is still the capital building for the state of Bavaria today. We were not real sure where we were going once we got there. We just knew there were a couple of markets around here worth seeing. Inside the courtyard area of the Residenz complex there was another Christmas market. This person below, at the tunnel entrance, was playing a one man band contraption for tips.  

These other two pictures above show the view as you enter the area. It was packed with people. This market had more food and beverage booths that merchandise. We did find some very interesting items here though. One booth was full of hand carved wood Nativity Scenes. One of the scenes was made up of large pieces that were also painted. The guy spoke no English. There were some girls outside with us helping to interpret. He was telling us that he used real gold in silver on the figures. They were very detailed and ornate. He had already sold the one that we saw but was working on Cindy to get her to take delivery of it later next year. Cindy ended up getting a business card from him. I can only hope that the language barrier will shield me from being forced to make that investment in the coming months. It was pretty spectacular, but his price was representative of the quality of the work. Where are the pictures you ask? Well, all of these booth operators were very sensitive about anyone trying to take photos. They do not want their work copied I suppose. Earlier Cindy had been scalded when she tried to take a pic of a booth just to show what they look like.

They had this little area set aside with various displays of mechanical figures set to music. The kids enjoyed looking at the different scenes. 

Several people on this area were drinking a white creamy looking beverage topped with whipped cream. We decided to give it a try. Sure enough, hot spiked egg nog. We paid the deposit on the glass and also got some of the Kinder juice to try. It was really close to wassail, without alcohol, for the kids. Katherine liked it, David wouldn't try it. That is pretty typical. The warm egg nog was good, and strong. We got our deposit back on our glasses and headed out. Again, no idea where we were going.

I had never seen David put his arm around his sister like this. He was being very sweet and taking good care of her.

After a few minutes of walking we came to this open area and realized that we had almost walked back to Marienplatz. You can see the side of New Town Hall in the upper left along with the familiar domes from the Frauenkirche (Women's Church) in the middle. This little group was playing Christmas music. The was a nearby underground train entrance so we headed there.

Now we were headed to the northern part of Munich to the English Garden area. The problem was that we were leaving Marienplatz about the same time as all of the people going to a big soccer match at Allianz Arena, also north. We had parked that morning one more train stop further north of the arena. The train was really packed. Cindy and I had backpacks full and bags in our hands with the delicate glass and porcelain stuff that we had purchased during the day. Now rowdy and half lit gluhwein drinking soccer fans were piling in to get to the game. Cindy was being pushed and pulled and we were both trying to keep Katherine between us so she didn't get lost or crushed. As the doors closed with some people still trying to get in, a group of boys/men, probably early 20's, started singing in German very loudly. David was not happy, he was squished and it was loud. They sang and sang for the next few stops. I think Cindy and I made the best out of it that we could. It was quite the experience to soak in. We settled on a stop to get out at and pushed our way to the door. Okay, both kids, all of our sacks and backpacks, check. It was now that I realized I had stayed on the train for about three stops too many. We got back on a very empty train going the other direction and quickly recovered to the right spot. We even took a short bus ride right to the entrance of the next market to avoid a 1.5km walk. This large greenbelt is a popular outdoor hangout for the city folk. It is huge. In one part there is a landmark called the Chinese Tower. The Christmas market for this area was set up next to the tower.

We made our way to a little playground and let the kids go for a while. They had been pretty good considering what we had them doing all day.  

Cindy brought us some more gluhwein and we sat down for a few minutes to watch the kids play. This gluhwein was in a generic cup and was not as good as the stuff we had earlier. I managed to choke it down.

Cindy looked around the market for a while, then it started sprinkling a little on us. I checked my phone and saw a large rain storm was moving in to the area. We had been at it for about seven hours already and decided not to get stuck in a cold rain storm. By now the soccer game was starting and the train was much less crowded. We took the bus back to the underground, and ended up having to get on three trains as they kept stopping before they got to our park and ride station. It was not too bad though. In fact all day we did really good with the public transportation. As we got back to the car the rain was starting to get a little heavier. We made it back to the house with all of our stuff intact.

Here are a few pics of some of the ornaments that we found. What do you think? Any favorites?

Well, that was it for our weekend shopping trip. It was fun to see it all. I think next year we will check out the markets in the surrounding areas outside of Munich. 

Last week of school before the winter and Christmas break. We are busy getting ready for our trip. Talk to everyone soon. Merry Christmas.