Munich Christmas Market Trip 2012

This year, my now annual Christmas Market Trip was to Munich, Germany.  Stefanie, Christy, and Carole made great traveling partners, and I will be sad to see them all go next year.  

Stef and I with my gigantic beer.

Christy and Carole with there smaller beers.

The first thing we did, upon arrival in the airport, was get a beer and a sausage dog.  We then made tracks, by train, to the hostel (Wombats City Hostel-- I would totally recommend it to other travelers.) and then we hit some markets.

Stef and Carole buy some delicious Christmas candies and cookies.

I gets dark early in this part of the world, and I think it was only like 4:30 in this photo.

Riding the train and all giggles inspired by gluhwein.

 This is out side of one of the biggest markets in the city.  There are 11 all together (I think) and we ended up getting to nine in two days.

Inside of one of the eating tents.  The lights are just amazing.

The best part of any Christmas market is the Christmas cheer and decorations.  This city had a beautiful tree lit up out side of the cathedral.  This market was closed when we got there on Friday night, but we went and had great success on Saturday.

Four girls smiling and happy.

I am constantly amazed by the things that can jsut be found walking down the street in old European towns.  This was wedged in on a commercial street that was filled with high end boutiques and premium housewares.  We wandered in on a lark and were taken back by the Rococo (I think) interior. 

It was small, but covered in gold!

Traveling outside of Turkey, one of the constant joys is the food choices.  Here, Carole and Stefanie chow down on some curried spaetzle  and look totally content.

The German day gets cold once the sun disappears.  We took a break to warm up and had a few beers.  I got sausages, potatoes, and sour kraut as well...

If you don't know what the shops at the markets look like, here is a little sampling of what you can expect to see.  The boots are chock full of goodies and it takes time to look at everything.  It can be overwhelming if you don't have a mission, but I always do!
 

I'm already looking into where I want to go next year.  I'm not sure who will be with me, but I'm sure I'll find a fun girl or two to go with me.