Christmas Markets Galore! (and why we haven't posted in FOREVER!)

Wow, what terrible bloggers we are. I mean, almost 2 months since our last post. Why the gap? By way of apology, I will give a brief summation of what we've been up to and then post some pics and descriptions thereof, OK? I will hope that, after reading this, you will still click on the links when we post them on FB. I will try to post more stuff. Really. As a side note, I'm not going to identify our visitors as I have not gotten permission to do do (other than my kids, who don't care).

Our first set of Christmas Market visitors arrived on Tuesday night, November 20th. I know, right? TWO MONTHS AGO! Anyway, we went into Munich one day with them and then we departed for a whirlwind journey of train rides. Thursday morning took us to Salzburg. We decided to go up to Festung Hohensalzburg (literally, "High Salzburg Fortress"). This 11th century castle has some amazing history as well as lovely views of the city.

Salzburg at night from the Fortress. It has to be high so they can look down on the plebs!
After the fortress, we spent the evening at the main Salzburg Christmas Market (Christmas Market #1; I will keep track!). Friday morning it was back to the train station to head to Vienna! Thursday evening it was off to the large market held in front of the beautiful Vienna City Hall (#2).

Vienna Rathaus. "Rathaus" means "city hall", not "house of rats", although one could argue for certain similarities
After a sufficient amount of Glühwein was consumed, it was off to St. Stephen's (#3) and SomeOtherChristmasMarketWhoseNameICan'tRemember (#4, as they start to blend together). Saturday was spent wandering around Vienna a bit and visiting the surprisingly interesting Globe Museum. That evening we parted ways with our company as we took a train back to Munich and our visitors headed back to the States. Whew!

We had a full week to recover until our next set of company showed up on Sunday, December 2nd. They actually did some stuff by themselves during the week, with the exception of Tuesday when Lisa drove with one of our guests to the Nuremberg Christmas Market (#5). On Thursday, we collected ourselves and headed off to Prague! Thursday night we headed to ... you guessed it! The Christmas Market in the main square of Prague (#6). Friday morning we went to the Christmas Market in Wenceslas Square (#7) and then to the one at the Church of Saint Ludmila (#8). This is a relatively new church, having been completed in 1892.

Church of Saint Ludmila. "Bah! That place isn't old enough!"
Saturday we were scheduled to return to Munich, but we had some time in the morning, so it was off to Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral.  This cathedral has some of my favorite stained glass in the world. Oh, and a Christmas Market (#9).

"Stained Glass, Sunlight and Wall"
"And REALLY inconveniently located light fixture which does nothing useful"
We were back in Munich late Saturday and our visitors were not returning to the States until Monday, so we decided to go watch the Krampus Run at the Munich Christmas Market (#10).  "What is a Krampus?" you ask? Well, it is an additional way to keep your children straight. If you misbehave, not only will Santa not bring you gifts, but his rather more malevolent assistant (the Krampus) will come and take toys you already have! The Krampus Run is hundreds of people dressed up like a Krampus walking through the Munich Christmas Market harassing people. It is quite lively!

Is the plural Krampuses? Krampi? Hmmmmmmmm...

Our visitors left on Monday, meaning we had a few days to relax before our kiddos showed up for Christmas. And show up they did on Sunday the 16th! We were leaving on the 20th to spend Christmas in Paris, but we had a few days to kill between. We made it to the Deutsches Museum, a VERY geeky place, one day.  We did a day trip to Innsbruck one day (a place to which I plan to return again). We went to the Münchner Freiheit Christmas Market (#11). Fun was had by all ... except Bradley who sprained his wrist in Innsbruck. He survived but was a little gimpy for the rest of the trip.

Technically, this ski route doesn't go STRAIGHT down. It is inclined. Sorta. (Innsbruck)
We headed to Paris on the 20th and did the usual (for us!) Paris things. The Louvre (the boys went twice), the catacombs, the Eiffel Tower (which was surprisingly crowded on Christmas Day). We wore ourselves out and spent some time lounging in the apartment. Oh, and we went to the Champs-Elysées Christmas Market (#12) which wasn't actually on the Champs-Elysées due to a disagreement with the mayor of Paris, but was instead at the Jardin des Tuileries. One new thing we did this time (well, Lisa and I did) was actually to go up to the top of the "Ugly Black Skyscraper" (Tour Montparnasse) and see Paris from there. We went on Christmas Eve, so it was largely deserted. You can actually go to the terrace on the roof of the building and see some lovely views. I'm also quite sure it would be a great place for an event, which shows my brain still works that way sometimes, even after Lisa has sold Savvy. :)

Re-purposed wireless telegraph transmitter
We all returned to Munich on the 26th.

"So, back on the 26th of December and no post until the 20th of January?" Yup. Since then, we took time off to just rest. And then we had a snowstorm the dumped about 2 feet of snow in 10 days. There was much shoveling.

Now that we are back and rested in the New Year, we will (hopefully!) be updating this blog more regularly. We still have to work through suggestions on blog posts and we will be getting out and exploring more when the weather warms up some. And we will likely post on the weather, too! :)






 


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