Munich, farewell!

back in Munich for our last hurrah. on our last couple days, it was more Christmas Markets and another walk in the English Garden. the last time we were at the Garden was in 2019 for Gordon’s birthday. it poured then, but this time around, the sun was out, and it was a beautiful day! the English Garden is probably one of my favorite things about Munich.

another favorite spot is at the top of the Marienplatz. do get a ticket to go. it will be worth it!

a not so favorite spot was the Tollwood Christmas Market. maybe because we were really tired at this point and it was our last night before our flight home, but this market had Burning Man-granola with a hint of frat boy vibes. I’m not against any of those cultures, but I’m also not very keen on them. thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

now for the good stuff. I realized that of all the holiday drinks I had, my favorite is probably the Lumumba, or any hot chocolate with liqueur. I love the mulled wine/gluhwein/vin chaud, but there’s nothing a like a spiked hot cocoa drink with whipped cream while getting lost in the crowd at a Christmas Market. prost!

until next time, Europe. cheers! we hope to be in Switzerland in the summer ; )

Rothenberg ob der Tauber

we were at Rothenberg ob der Tauber for less that 24 hours, I reckon, and completely regret not spending more time there. granted it’s full of tourists year round, this little town takes you by the heart with its charm. after a couple of suspenseful train rides to get here from Nuremberg, we arrived so wide-eyed and excited. I know that for the people that grew up and still live there, they don’t see it in the way we do, as expressed by the youngun who served us our gluhwein at the Christmas Market. he said he didn’t really realize how awesome it could be for people like Gordon and I because it is what he grew up with, saw it everyday, and felt like it was just a tiny little town. when we see medieval towns like this, we are amazed. America is not that old, so there aren’t such things like it here. I can’t contain my excitement every time and at this age, I really don’t care if people see me getting giddy over stepping foot into places like Rothenberg.

Rothenberg has a wall surrounding it which you can walk the perimeter of. the view of the vibrantly colored houses are something else. reds, greens, oranges, blues… it’s feast for the eyes of a designer.

see you next time, Rothenberg!

Nuremberg

we weren’t expecting the Christmas Market here to be so packed, but we also chose opening night to attend. word of advice: don’t attend Christmas Market at Nuremberg on opening night. we tried real hard to enjoy it, but the crowd was really hard to tolerate. maybe if we visited a few weeks later, it would have been more enjoyable. we partook in more gluhwein and the nuremberg bratwurst. we went hard on the sausage (lol) in Dresden that by the second day in Nuremberg, I was kind of wanting something else. we had Ramen in Dresden but that didn’t cut it for me. we did, however have some spicy crispy chicken sandwiches for dinner on our second night here. pretty decent.

we had one full day to explore Nuremberg so we walked where Nuremberg’s city walls would take us. we ended up in the Red Light District. another word of advice: please don’t photograph the women without their permission. did you know prostitution is legal and regulated in Germany? I never really thought of that until we got here. we kept walking until we ended atop a hill where the Nuremberg Castle sits and then unexpectedly walked by the Executioner’s House.

Dresden

gotta be transparent. I wasn’t too excited about visiting Dresden, but when we got there in the mid-afternoon, we walked around the Grand Garden of Dresden, I immediately became excited. add to that, we would be enjoying our first Christmas Market of this trip, which turned out to be more fun than I expected.

we were excited to set off for the Market after checking in to our hotel and relaxing for a bit. the Striezelmarkt is the oldest Christmas Market in Germany, harkening back to 1434. a lot of people mistake Nuremberg’s as the oldest, which harkens back to the 1600’s, but I think they get confused about its age vs. its size/popularity. we visited Nuremberg, too, and it is in fact really big, populated, and not as enjoyable, personally.

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Dresden was so much fun! when you visit a Christmas Market, there are usually a few within walking distance from each other. our favorite was the Medieval Style market in the Stallhof. they do a really good job at barely using electric lights and using only wooden utensils. the vendors also do a good job at getting into character.

my favorite food was the wurst mit kase (sausage with cheese in the middle) and of course, the gluhwein. I wanted to eat like 10 of those sausages and I can’t remember how much wine Gordon and I imbibed. we also took home a few souvenir cups for gluhwein, which has become a tradition to consume in our homes during the holidays.

I’d also like to say that aside from the gluhwein, I really loved the Radler. it is called a Shandy elsewhere, but it’s basically beer and some lemonade or lemon flavored soda. I think this makes for a great summer drink even though I consumed it in the gloomy winter nights.

Featured here is the Frauenkirche, destroyed during WWII and reconstructed completely. you can see some of the original stone on the north side.

our second and last day was very rainy and cold, like blow away your umbrella and brace yourself kind of cold. we explored and even did a bit of hunting for the best Stollen in Dresden, which can apparently be found at the Hilton, as recommended by a cafe owner that we chatted with on our stop in Munich. she owns a cafe near the train station called California Bean. how apropos, what with two Californians visiting the Deutschland. we didn’t seek it, but it sought us. lol. we ended up there per chance and turns out, all of her dishes are inspired by her trips to California. one thing she did real well, was match the size of the meals, because the contents of her plates are HUGE and plenty, as are they in the U.S.

back to Dresden… we didn’t find the Stollen, but we really weren’t in the mood for fruitcake either, so we commenced our explorations. one thing I know I want to do when visiting cities, is to do a walking tour. I said I would do that this time around, but I got lazy and didn’t book any. how dumb. as fun as Dresden was, I think this is where we also started to feel tired, and with the cold war on our epidermis, I started to feel my immune system struggle.

Vysehrad, Prague

we walked from the city center to Vysehrad and it was a really great way to see the city. Alphonse Mucha is buried here along with a lot of prolific artists, academics, and politicians.

we walked around the cemetary and onto the rest of the castle/fort grounds. it is HUGE and beautiful.

Alphonse Mucha

Prague was one of the highlights of the trip for me so I’d like to share more of what we saw and experienced. we visited the Alphonse Mucha Museum and though it was small, we enjoyed it very much. I love art nouveau and always find inspiration in it when I’m researching for work. it’s a small Museum but there is quite a lot to look at.

the rest of our stay consisted of a lot of walking, eating, drinking, and embedding experiences into our memories. having photographic evidence helps a lot with that.

Prague!

ah, Prague had been on my bucket list of places to be and I can now cross it off the list. there were tons of tourists but for some reason, it didn’t bother me as much. the Czech Republic is a really beautiful country as we had seen on the train ride over from Munich. I would love to go back and visit the outskirts or Prague, or even to Pilsen or another big city there. we ate so much goulash and trdlnik that it made up for all the walking we took on this trip so far. there are several medieval style taverns you can go to that really brings you back to the time. U Pavouka was in a basement-like location that we stumbled upon just walking around the city center. there is also U Krále Brabantského which is more touristy and they actually slam the drinks on your table. I guess it’s what they used to do back in the day. it kinda rattles you a bit because it’s dark and cozy and then someone slams your table with a pint of pilsner. fun fact, did you know the pilsner was invented in the Czech Republic? also, in most places there, you can get them for 2 euros.

we stayed in Prague for about 3.5 days so we covered a lot by walking, which lead to some bad foot pains and visits to shoe stores to find geriatric shoes. really, what we should have done is take advantage of public transportation, even if it means not seeing as much of the city as you would if you walked. you live, you learn.

Dachau

we’ve made an intention that when we vacation, that we at least educate ourselves as well. I know that walking the walls of a medieval town, you come across historical information which can be educational, but we also don’t want to push aside historical events that shape the present day, and as a reminder that horrible things happened and are still happening, and that we all have to be better to each other.

we visited Dachau on our way back to Munich from the Black Forest and it was something of an eerie feeling, something melancholy that twists your stomach to know and be in the same ground that so many lives walked on that are no longer with us, or that didn’t even have a chance, that you can stand in front of bunks and ovens where people suffered and were killed. I can’t quite put into words the feeling, perhaps because I’m too scared to, or maybe because there are no words that describe it.

Freiburg im Breisgau

when we were researching towns we wanted to visit, Freiburg was amongst them that seemed interesting. it is a university town that is known for its bike-friendly, bike-priority environment. it’s another quaint little town that we didn’t really get to explore and see much of, but we made due with our time there. it was also the first (and only) time we had Black Forest Cake. I don’t think Gordon and I are huge fans, but you gotta try German cake in Germany once in your life! when we entered the town square, there was a farmer’s market which was cute. we also went to the Augustiner Museum, the highlight of our visit. they have artifacts of tall stone sculptures from the Freiburg Cathedral and a room with the biggest pipe organ I have ever seen. on Sundays, someone comes in and plays tunes at noon.

in the Black Forest in Germany

we rented a car to drive from Munich to the Black Forest and the autobahn was well worth it, but I also highly disliked driving outside of the autobahn. speed limits are taken seriously in Germany and outside of the autobahn, speed limits can vary greatly and it changes very frequently and it was really annoying trying to keep up with the changes and making sure you don’t get caught by the speed radar. we ended up getting a speeding ticket in Freiburg, so you’ve got to be careful when driving through Germany.

all that aside, we still enjoyed having the car and the freedom it gave us to be able to see what we wanted at our own pace as well as the scenery you wouldn’t normally see riding on a train. I will, however, take the train next time I visit the Black Forest : )

Triberg was on our itinerary to see the waterfalls, and though half of the hike was closed due to weather, we still enjoyed our short time there. we also visited the Black Forest Museum as the waterfall ticket includes admission to the museum. Triberg is a quaint, cute little town.

we also drove out to see the remains of Klosterruine Allerheiligen (All Saints’ Abbey), a church that caught fire twice and then struck by lightning, leaving it to its ruins. we also did a short hike through the Allerheiligen waterfalls.