We had so much fun visiting Berlin last year during the Christmas season that we decided to visit another German city this year to experience some more German Christmas markets. I had previously been to Munich back in 2003 and thought that it was a city David would like (they are known for their many beer halls so it wasn't too difficult to know he would enjoy it). We were only there for a quick weekend visit but made the most of our short trip.
Munich is the capital and largest city of the German state of Bavaria. It is the third largest city in Germany, behind Berlin and Hamburg. The city is well known as the home of Oktoberfest, a 16 day festival in late September and early October. Even though we weren't there over Oktoberfest, we did sample some German beers including enjoying liter steins at the famous Hofbrauhaus.
Munich is also home to BMW. We visited the BMW Museum which was a pretty cool display of a lot of classic BMWs and Rolls Royces. Across the street from the museum was the BWM Welt which exhibited all the new BMW models. There was a pick-up zone outside for pre-ordered BMWs. I am not sure why we didn't do this! Colin, of course, was in his glory getting to sit in cars and pretending to drive them. The BMW Museum was located right outside of Olympic Park which hosted the 1972 Summer Olympic games so we took a walk around and toured the stadium while we were in the area.
The main agenda of our visit was to check out the Christmas markets. Unlike Berlin which had many markets spread out around the city, Munich only had one main Christmas market. It was a huge market located right in Marienplatz, a large open square in the center of the city bordered by Munich's most famous landmark Neues Rathaus (New City Hall). We spent some time walking around the market and enjoyed some drinks and food but got sick of fighting the crowds fast. We ended up finding a tiny Christmas market nearby our hotel that was more for locals and way less crowded that we liked much more. In fact, we visited it twice. I was able to get in my annual quota of Gluhwein (mulled wine) on this trip so I would consider it a success.
Here are some photos from our time in Munich:
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| I thought this little car at the BMW Museum was cute! |
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| David at Olympic Stadium |
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| Colin loved this fire truck at the Deutsches Museum |
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| Enjoying my stein of beer at the Hofbrauhaus |
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| Colin is thrilled to be at another Christmas market |
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| Gluhwein (mulled wine) = YUM! |
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| Colin does like Christmas markets! |
