I am not a fan of the German autobahn!!!! It took us one hour to travel 7 km, about 4 and a half miles!!!!!!!!!!!! Really????!!!!!!! Are you kidding me???????!!!!!!!
The autobahn is the high speed road. We should probably have taken the slow speed roads. Needless to say, I was stressed as we were to meet our friend Rosie and her family.
What is the best way to de-stress? Of course, it is to go to the Christmas Market and have a Feuerzangenbowle. With this one, they give you the rum in a saucer and a cube of sugar. You place the cube at the end of the cup's lip and pour rum over it and lite the cube. This one was not as good as the one we had yesterday in Nürnberg.
The Munich Christmas Market on Marienplatz is held from November 27th to December 24th. The roots of this traditional market date back to the 14th century. However, it has been located on Marienplatz only since 1972. Thanks to its central location on Marienplatz and surrounded by numerous shops, the Munich Christmas Market is very popular. Again with this market, there was a high police presence.
Over a surface area of 20,000 square meters, the booths and craft stalls from numerous vendors stretch out from Marienplatz to the tower of the old town hall (Altes Rathaus), its inner courtyard (Prunkhof), along Kaufingerstraße and Neuhauserstraße to the Richard-Strauss-Brunnen and from Weinstraße to the Sternenplatzl at Rindermarkt.
The Christmas Market still retains its traditional Bavarian character, showing a variety of handmade items: The assortment ranges from ancient German Christmas decorations such as hand painted glass baubles, sheepskin jackets, nostalgic paper pictures and Third World Fair trade goods. The market vendors offer fresh chestnuts, “snowballs”, stollen and fruit cake, and brew their own berry mulled wine and herb liqueurs. Even the smallest “Zwetschgenmandl” (“plum-almonds” - figures made of dried fruit and nuts) are lovingly handmade.
The biggest attraction - literally - of the Christmas Market is the magnificent Christmas tree in front of the new town hall (Neues Rathaus)
Storefronts are decorated.
Today, we are staying at the Mandarin Oriental in Munich for one night. It is centrally located so we can walk to the center of the city.
Our room is under the roof on the top floor.
Went by the Hofbrauhaus.
The Hofbräuhaus am Platzl is a beer hall originally built in 1589 by Bavarian Duke Maximilian I as an extension of the Staatliches Hofbräuhaus in München brewery. The general public was admitted in 1828 by Ludwig I. The building was completely remodeled in 1897 by Max Littmann when the brewery moved to the suburbs. All of the rooms except the historic beer hall ("Schwemme") were destroyed in the World War II bombings. The reopening of the Festival Hall in 1958 marked the end of the post-war restoration work.
Munich's largest tourist attraction after the Oktoberfest, the Hofbräuhaus am Platzl is also frequented by locals, many of whom keep their personal steins stored there. During regular hours traditional Bavarian music is played. The famous Hofbräuhaus song (Hofbräuhaus-Lied), composed in 1935 by Wilhelm 'Wiga' Gabriel, goes: "In München steht ein Hofbräuhaus, oans, zwoa, g'suffa!". "There's a Hofbräuhaus in Munich—one, two, down the hatch!" (in the local dialect).
Pig's knuckles. A favorite of Michael's
Love the butcher shops
When Michael and I lived in Munich a few years ago, he, Zeljko and I closed this restaurant one evening. We lost track of time and before we knew it, we were the last ones there. The waiters never gave us our bill until we asked for it. This would never happen back home.
The Augustiner Brewery was first mentioned by name in 1328, established within an Augustianian Monastery which had been settled just outside the Munich city walls in an area called Haberfeld (or Haferfeld – "oat field") in 1294. The Monastery complex was the largest sacred building in Munich until the completion of the Frauenkirche cathedral in 1494. The Augustinian monks supplied beer to the Bavarian Royal Wittelsbach family until 1589, at which time the Hofbräu brewery was founded.
In 1759, the Augustinian Monks of Munich were among the first members of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Meanwhile, during this era, Augustiner's annual output reached 250,000 liters, three times the amount of an average brewery of the time.
In 1803, as part of a secularization movement, the monastery was dissolved, and the brewery was run by the state before passing into private ownership. Then in 1817, as the original building had fallen in great disrepair, the brewery was moved to Neuhauser Straße.
Of course, for me, no trip to Munich would be complete without a stop at Dallmayr.
Alois Dallmayr, which is usually abbreviated to Dallmayr, is the largest delicatessen business in Europe, and one of the best-known German coffee brands: The company Dallmayr can look back on an over 300-year history and is still in family ownership today. The corporate group has meanwhile been divided into four business units: "Delicatessen and Gastronomy" (which also includes the Stammhaus (original store) in Munich, attracting around 2.8 million visitors per year, "Party & Catering", "Coffee & Tea", and finally "Vending & Office", i.e. the sale of drinks and snack vending machines.
There are always lines at Dallymayr! This is the tea section.
Christmas stollen
They have such cute window displays.
Saint Michael's
St. Michael's, a Jesuit church, is the largest Renaissance church north of the Alps. The style of the building had an enormous influence on Southern German early Baroque architecture.
In 1556, Albert V, Duke of Bavaria granted the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) permission to establish what is now Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich, thus establishing the order's presence in the city. The collegiate church was only established during the reign of his son William V, Duke of Bavaria, also known as "the Pious". who was a supporter of the Jesuits' Counter Reformation tenets.
The church was finally consecrated in 1597, after fourteen years of construction. When the Jesuits were suppressed and banned from most Catholic territories in Europe, the church came into possession of the Bavarian Royal Family and eventually the State of Bavaria, when Germany became a republic.
The interior is a representation of the triumph of Roman Catholicism in Bavaria during the Counter-Reformation. The heavily indented chancel arch as well as the short side aisles and even the side chapels are designed as a triumphal arch to ancient model. A very deep choir room adjoins the mighty nave. The stucco decoration of the nave represents the life of Jesus Christ. The altarpiece "Annunciation" was created by Peter Candid (1587). The sculpture of the holy angel in the nave from Hubert Gerhard (1595) was originally intended for the tomb of William V, which was not completed.
Michael and I always light candles for family and friends when we visit churches. If there is a prayer intentions book, I will also write in it.
The Frauenkirche (Full name: German: Dom zu Unserer Lieben Frau, English: Cathedral of Our Dear Lady) serves as the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising and seat of its Archbishop. It is a landmark and is considered a symbol of the Bavarian capital city. Although called "Münchner Dom" (Munich Cathedral) on its website and URL, the church is always referred to as "Frauenkirche" by locals.
The Frauenkirche is among the largest hall churches in southern Germany. The interior does not overwhelm despite its size. The hall is divided into 3 sectors (the main nave and two side aisles of equal height (31 meters (102 ft)) by a double-row of 22 pillars (11 at either side, 22 meters (72 ft)) that help enclose the space. These are voluminous, but appear quite slim due to their impressive height and the building's height-to-width ratio. The arches were designed by Heinrich von Straubing.
Assumption of Mary, altarpiece by Peter Candid, 1620
From the main portal the view seems to be only the rows of columns with no windows and translucent "walls" between the vaults through which the light seems to shine. The spatial effect of the church is connected with a legend about a footprint in a square tile at the entrance to the nave, the so-called "devil's footstep".
Much of the interior was destroyed during WWII. An attraction that survived is the Teufelstritt, or Devil's Footstep, at the entrance. This is a black mark resembling a footprint, which according to legend was where the devil stood when he curiously regarded and ridiculed the 'windowless' church that Halsbach had built. (In baroque times the high altar would obscure the one window at the very end of the church visitors can spot now when standing in the entrance hall.)
In another version of the legend, the devil made a deal with the builder to finance construction of the church on the condition that it contain no windows. The clever builder, however, tricked the devil by positioning columns so that the windows were not visible from the spot where the devil stood in the foyer. When the devil discovered that he had been tricked, he could not enter the already consecrated church. The devil could only stand in the foyer and stomp his foot furiously, which left the dark footprint that remains visible in the church's entrance today.
Legend also says the devil then rushed outside and manifested its evil spirit in the wind that furiously rages around the church.
Another version of that part of the legend has it that the devil came riding on the wind to see the church under construction. Having completely lost his temper, he stormed away, forgetting the wind, which will continue to blow around the church until the day the devil comes back to reclaim it.
Tonight, Rosie invited us to dinner. It was wonderful to see her brother, sister-in-law, niece and husband, and two of the triplets. Rosie, Jackie, Michael and I had the Christmas goose, potato dumplings and red cabbage. DELICIOUS!
