Oh wait. The song only goes to twelve. So just like the trip, the blog endet hier. :)
The sun was shining on the snow capped mountains as we pulled out of beautiful Innsbruck. What a gorgeous place and great time we had. On the train to Munich we snoozed on and off and when we arrived to the airport we caught a taxi to the Munich airport Sheraton. We needed to unload our bags and rest for a few minutes before we caught the train back to downtown (almost a 40 minute ride back but we were unsure about storing our bags at the train station). It is only 2pm, and we are so tired we could have just gone to bed, but obviously that wouldn't have worked. So we mustered up the strength to ride back into Munich to go to the Tollwood Market one last time to get some supper and listen to some music. We do love our fair food!
We get to the station and buy our tickets. 20 euros was expensive for just the ride to the market and back. But we certainly got our money's worth from our train tickets earlier in the trip. So it all works out. Of course no one checked out tickets...but still...I can't sleep at night over dishonesties such as being non-paying train hobos. :) When we arrived at Tollwood we took one last selfie, I got my roasted rosemary potatoes and Guy got a sausage sandwich. THEN I discovered something I didn't see before. A chocolate gyro. Funny I know, but that is what it reminded me of. Layers of chocolate on a spit of sorts that they shaved off and made dessert with. Yes please! So it had a sweet outside that smelt like a waffle cone but had the consistency of a pancake. They had them pre-made and put it in a little toaster grill to warm it up. After it was warmed they loaded it with the shaved chocolate and squirted in whipped cream, topped with caramel sauce. Um, yeah. So that was a pleasant surprise! We walked around a bit (nothing to shop for at this point) and went into the music tent. Last time it was really good...tonight, not so much. But we hung out for about an hour and had a coke zero. This group had more of a Latino/Spanish/Mexican flare and it was nice, but after awhile the songs all started sounding the same. So headed out to walk around just a bit more and Guy got some fried apples at the infamous crepe stand.
Saying our goodbyes, we headed back to the train for our ride back to the airport. I got a Germany Starbucks mug at the airport terminal - we spotted it going to the train so we didn't have to stop at the main train terminal downtown Munich to hunt for one. I didn't get one in Italy, but I look forward to our next visit to Europe - I'll get another chance to snag one then. The train ride was uneventful and no sights to see as it was dark. We took the Sheraton shuttle back and even tho it costs 5 euros per person each way for the 10 minute ride, it was still cheaper than a cab.
Tonight we re-arrange our bags and hope they make it to the States in once piece. Our black one cracked open on the side and some duct tape would be nice, but I think it will make it. As far as my mother-in-law's bag...well zipping it closed this morning I broke off the zipper handle and had to use a pair of scissors to close it up. I broke the other zipper this past summer in Spain. So I'm thinking I pretty much owe her a new bag as this one is done. :)
I can't even begin to describe what a wonderful time we've had. The blog and photos lack the feel of the crisp air in your face and the fragrant smells of the markets. Just to come back to the markets only, we probably would not. They have been magical as a first time experience, but I'm not so sure it would be the same experience a second time. However, combine skiing during the day and hitting the markets at night for music and food, now that would be a yes!! Look out Innsbruck...you'll probably see us some December again in the future!
So thanks to all my avid blog readers. You must be bored if you have nothing to do besides read all my ramblings, but this blog helps us document the trip so we can look back and remember the little details. Plus it helps us remember the hotels and restaurants in case someone is heading this way and it would help them. The biggest reason is it lets our Moms know we are safe and having fun (and chatting for free on Viber is a pretty big deal, too!). All these combined make it worth the daily commitment.
Finally, a shout out (and up) to God for keeping us safe and healthy during the trip. We are truly blessed and grateful and spoiled! But also very appreciative to everyone who has to work a little bit harder so that we can be gone from our jobs. Thanks to everyone and prayers are now being accepted for safe travels home. Auf wiedersehen and gute Nacht!
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
On the twelfth day of Christmas markets...
...my true love gave to me, twelve bummers bumming
We woke up this morning to see this funny white stuff falling from the sky...SNOW! The flakes were big and lovely but unfortunately didn't last very long. I could have slept til noon, but Guy was hungry and was prompting me to get up and get ready. Breakfast is included here and even tho I didn't think I could possibly eat any more food for the rest of my entire life, we made it to the breakfast spread before they shut it down. And glad we did! Quite the lovely spread. Hot foods as well as pastries, breads, cereals, etc. Plenty to eat. We sat down in the restaurant and enjoyed a leisure breakfast as we had no set plans for the day.
The twelve bummers bumming is this: bummers that it is the last day in Innsbruck. I'm so glad we came here. Like I said, we've been here before, but never with snow in the mountains. Simply breathtaking. And the bumming part is that is what we'll be doing today. Just bumming around town. Sounds pretty nice, eh? It was. We started out and the snow was still falling, but quickly tapered off. That's ok. We hit the markets again and got a better look at things since there were less people during the day. They sure don't have the same vibe as they do at night. Completely different experience. We also went back to the train store. Guy is eyeballing a limited edition Italian engine he can't get from home, even online without outrageous shipping charges. So we went back there for him to ponder. And ponder he did. Lucky for us, he is not a spontaneous shopper like I am, as we'd be broke if he were. He knows he is going to get it but needed to think about it just a bit longer. I don't understand it, but appreciate it.
We bummed around town and decided to take a walk by the funicular because we were contemplating taking a ride up the mountain. There is a market up there, but it is only open on the weekends. So we opted to pass on the ride up and walked to another market on the other side of the river. We couldn't find it so we asked a local where it was. He was REALLY nice and eager to help. His English was excellent and he pointed us down the street. We were close, but just needed a bit of help. As we came upon this market, we could see that it was closed. When we got there, it only had about 5 little shops, but cute in its own right. We could see where they have a fire pit and food. Not big enough that we felt like we needed to walk back over tonight, but it was fun to see. We did see a cool log cut out to make a large candle holder. Will have to put my cousin on that one. Tom, consider yourself commissioned! :)
So let's talk lunch. It was amazing. I told Guy this evening, as we were reminiscing about lunch, that I was going to go back and propose the to pretzel guy and marry him and his cheese machine. It was that good. So what he did (with gloves on and took the gloves off to take your money) was he cut a regular size pretzel in half and put the insides down on the griddle. Then he took out a few pieces of thinly sliced speck (ham/bacon) and got it to sizzling as well. Then comes the cheese. This gorgeous half circle of cheese sits under this flaming cooker until the top is brown and bubbly. When the time is right, he puts half the pretzel down on the plate, tops it with ham, and then takes a knife to the top melty part of the big cheese wheel and slides it over the top of your ham. He then tops it off with the other side of the pretzel. Now tell me, your mouth is watering right now, isn't it?? I videoed it and immediately put it on Instagram. The best part was in the video he says "I think you are going to love it". He was right. My life is complete. If I ever have a "Ground Hog Day" experience and I wake up every morning to relive the same day over and over...this would be in my top 10 days to relive.
So what do you do after such a feast?? Go back to the hotel for a nap (aka pretzel coma). I had to text my sister to have her watch the video as I knew she would be awake. And then I saw Cara had "liked" it and so I knew she was awake and I had to chat with her about it. All while under the nap covers. Cara was just getting ready to go to work and my day was already half over. I think she may have left for work hungry. :) So after the nap we got back up to head back to the train store (for the third time). The time had come to spend the Euros and enjoy our last visit to the Innsbruck markets. It's night now, so they are back to their magical selves. The smell in the air is wonderful. But while Guy was in the train store, I went to the mall we discovered today, just off one of the markets. I know my way around the town here pretty well because each street has different overhead Christmas lights (quite extravagant,too!). Some are snowflakes, mountain scenes, chandeliers, angels, etc., but I knew I wanted the street with the red bulbs. It took me right to the mall. Who needs GPS here? Just follow the lights.
When Guy met up with me we headed for the market by the river for two last items I was contemplating (see I guess I have SOME restraint) and talked about dinner. It is about 6pm and we are not even hungry yet. But feeling tired and knowing we had experienced Innsbruck markets to their fullest, we headed back to the room to rest and blog and think about dinner. It is nearly 8pm now. Still not starving but I think Guy would like some schnitzel tonight. So I'm off to get ready and will report in on dinner soon.
Back from dinner and we ate at the hotel's restaurant Europa Stuberl. It was quite expensive and I felt underdressed when we walked in. Kinda weird because this is the same place (seating area) that we ate breakfast in. Then when the sun goes down *shazam* fancy restaurant. Since I wasn't that hungry, my only options were soup and a few Austrian dishes. I wasn't ready to pay $40 for some dish, no matter how fabulous, when I wasn't even hungry. There was one main guy who took your order and three others who delivered the food. The main guy seemed a bit "stern" as he was nice but to the point. I ordered what Guy ordered last night. Safe and simple traditional Austrian dish. Potatoes with meat. Meat being probably speck and sirloin. However, mine had a lot more meat than Guy's last night. His was mostly potatoes. But it was good solid comfort food and was the lowest priced menu item. So all is good because I only ate half. Guy was needing a last hit of schnitzel and from the two bites I had, it was tender and delicious. He is even beginning to get a taste for cranberry sauce. They are big on serving it here. Like ketchup almost. :) But I need to back up to the beginning. After we ordered, they brought out bread and three different kinds of butter/spread. The little gal that explained it to us was speaking in German, so we had no idea what it was. It was all very tasty tho and the bread was four different kinds of breads in one loaf. I took a picture of it. Pretty cool. Then comes out some kind of little chef's surprise mini appetizers. Again she explained them all in German and we had no idea what we were eating, but again very tasty. Later, of course, she said something to us in perfect English. Where was that a few minutes ago? After our entrees were cleared away they asked if we wanted dessert. That was a no, but always tempting. So as we are sitting there I see the main guy going to the tables that were finished with this gigantic box with a glass lid. It is filled with chocolates that are filled with run, champagne, coconut, nougat, etc. So I told Guy not to ask for the check because I wasn't leaving until I got a look into that box! Plus I've had so many "pretty woman" moments here that I'm starting to get a complex. And if he brought the check before bringing over that box, I'm going to cry. So we waited and waited and waited. No box. Then here he comes, "Coffee". no thanks. "Chocolates?" Yes please! So he didn't just bring it to the table and surprise us with it like the other tables, but at least I got to look into the grand wooden box. The chocolates were all arranged beautifully and there were about 10 different kinds. I took the nougat and coconut. Guy took just one. Dark chocolate. They all had a soft/runny center and were divine. Thankfully he brought the box. Now I can leave Innsbruck with perfect memories.
So just one last story before I get to bed. Many times on this trip I had wished that when on vacation God would let us take a vacation from having to go to the bathroom. Sometimes it is hard to find a place to go! You hate to drink too much water at any given time because you never know where you'll find a potty. So on the Christmas market map it actually had WC (water closet) on the map so you knew where bathrooms are. So today we came across a WC sign and we both thought we'd take advantage. Well I've been in bathrooms before where you had to pay someone a Euro to go inside (and you often need your own TP) but this bathroom you had to buy a TICKET from a guy behind a window and then scan it at the turn-style to let you in. Of course I documented this with a photo! But still, for the guy who works the WC window, what do you say when someone asks you "What do you do for a living?" Ha Ha. Hey, nothing bad on the guy...someone has to do it. Innsbruck is making a killing off people having to pee. Just sayin.
It certainly has been a lovely time here. I hate to say goodbye tomorrow, but at some point we have to head home. So tomorrow we train back to Munich, unload at the hotel, probably train into town and see Tollwood's Christmas market again and then go back to the Sheraton at the airport. We already know what we are going to eat at the market tomorrow night. Funny. :)
We woke up this morning to see this funny white stuff falling from the sky...SNOW! The flakes were big and lovely but unfortunately didn't last very long. I could have slept til noon, but Guy was hungry and was prompting me to get up and get ready. Breakfast is included here and even tho I didn't think I could possibly eat any more food for the rest of my entire life, we made it to the breakfast spread before they shut it down. And glad we did! Quite the lovely spread. Hot foods as well as pastries, breads, cereals, etc. Plenty to eat. We sat down in the restaurant and enjoyed a leisure breakfast as we had no set plans for the day.
The twelve bummers bumming is this: bummers that it is the last day in Innsbruck. I'm so glad we came here. Like I said, we've been here before, but never with snow in the mountains. Simply breathtaking. And the bumming part is that is what we'll be doing today. Just bumming around town. Sounds pretty nice, eh? It was. We started out and the snow was still falling, but quickly tapered off. That's ok. We hit the markets again and got a better look at things since there were less people during the day. They sure don't have the same vibe as they do at night. Completely different experience. We also went back to the train store. Guy is eyeballing a limited edition Italian engine he can't get from home, even online without outrageous shipping charges. So we went back there for him to ponder. And ponder he did. Lucky for us, he is not a spontaneous shopper like I am, as we'd be broke if he were. He knows he is going to get it but needed to think about it just a bit longer. I don't understand it, but appreciate it.
We bummed around town and decided to take a walk by the funicular because we were contemplating taking a ride up the mountain. There is a market up there, but it is only open on the weekends. So we opted to pass on the ride up and walked to another market on the other side of the river. We couldn't find it so we asked a local where it was. He was REALLY nice and eager to help. His English was excellent and he pointed us down the street. We were close, but just needed a bit of help. As we came upon this market, we could see that it was closed. When we got there, it only had about 5 little shops, but cute in its own right. We could see where they have a fire pit and food. Not big enough that we felt like we needed to walk back over tonight, but it was fun to see. We did see a cool log cut out to make a large candle holder. Will have to put my cousin on that one. Tom, consider yourself commissioned! :)
So let's talk lunch. It was amazing. I told Guy this evening, as we were reminiscing about lunch, that I was going to go back and propose the to pretzel guy and marry him and his cheese machine. It was that good. So what he did (with gloves on and took the gloves off to take your money) was he cut a regular size pretzel in half and put the insides down on the griddle. Then he took out a few pieces of thinly sliced speck (ham/bacon) and got it to sizzling as well. Then comes the cheese. This gorgeous half circle of cheese sits under this flaming cooker until the top is brown and bubbly. When the time is right, he puts half the pretzel down on the plate, tops it with ham, and then takes a knife to the top melty part of the big cheese wheel and slides it over the top of your ham. He then tops it off with the other side of the pretzel. Now tell me, your mouth is watering right now, isn't it?? I videoed it and immediately put it on Instagram. The best part was in the video he says "I think you are going to love it". He was right. My life is complete. If I ever have a "Ground Hog Day" experience and I wake up every morning to relive the same day over and over...this would be in my top 10 days to relive.
So what do you do after such a feast?? Go back to the hotel for a nap (aka pretzel coma). I had to text my sister to have her watch the video as I knew she would be awake. And then I saw Cara had "liked" it and so I knew she was awake and I had to chat with her about it. All while under the nap covers. Cara was just getting ready to go to work and my day was already half over. I think she may have left for work hungry. :) So after the nap we got back up to head back to the train store (for the third time). The time had come to spend the Euros and enjoy our last visit to the Innsbruck markets. It's night now, so they are back to their magical selves. The smell in the air is wonderful. But while Guy was in the train store, I went to the mall we discovered today, just off one of the markets. I know my way around the town here pretty well because each street has different overhead Christmas lights (quite extravagant,too!). Some are snowflakes, mountain scenes, chandeliers, angels, etc., but I knew I wanted the street with the red bulbs. It took me right to the mall. Who needs GPS here? Just follow the lights.
When Guy met up with me we headed for the market by the river for two last items I was contemplating (see I guess I have SOME restraint) and talked about dinner. It is about 6pm and we are not even hungry yet. But feeling tired and knowing we had experienced Innsbruck markets to their fullest, we headed back to the room to rest and blog and think about dinner. It is nearly 8pm now. Still not starving but I think Guy would like some schnitzel tonight. So I'm off to get ready and will report in on dinner soon.
Back from dinner and we ate at the hotel's restaurant Europa Stuberl. It was quite expensive and I felt underdressed when we walked in. Kinda weird because this is the same place (seating area) that we ate breakfast in. Then when the sun goes down *shazam* fancy restaurant. Since I wasn't that hungry, my only options were soup and a few Austrian dishes. I wasn't ready to pay $40 for some dish, no matter how fabulous, when I wasn't even hungry. There was one main guy who took your order and three others who delivered the food. The main guy seemed a bit "stern" as he was nice but to the point. I ordered what Guy ordered last night. Safe and simple traditional Austrian dish. Potatoes with meat. Meat being probably speck and sirloin. However, mine had a lot more meat than Guy's last night. His was mostly potatoes. But it was good solid comfort food and was the lowest priced menu item. So all is good because I only ate half. Guy was needing a last hit of schnitzel and from the two bites I had, it was tender and delicious. He is even beginning to get a taste for cranberry sauce. They are big on serving it here. Like ketchup almost. :) But I need to back up to the beginning. After we ordered, they brought out bread and three different kinds of butter/spread. The little gal that explained it to us was speaking in German, so we had no idea what it was. It was all very tasty tho and the bread was four different kinds of breads in one loaf. I took a picture of it. Pretty cool. Then comes out some kind of little chef's surprise mini appetizers. Again she explained them all in German and we had no idea what we were eating, but again very tasty. Later, of course, she said something to us in perfect English. Where was that a few minutes ago? After our entrees were cleared away they asked if we wanted dessert. That was a no, but always tempting. So as we are sitting there I see the main guy going to the tables that were finished with this gigantic box with a glass lid. It is filled with chocolates that are filled with run, champagne, coconut, nougat, etc. So I told Guy not to ask for the check because I wasn't leaving until I got a look into that box! Plus I've had so many "pretty woman" moments here that I'm starting to get a complex. And if he brought the check before bringing over that box, I'm going to cry. So we waited and waited and waited. No box. Then here he comes, "Coffee". no thanks. "Chocolates?" Yes please! So he didn't just bring it to the table and surprise us with it like the other tables, but at least I got to look into the grand wooden box. The chocolates were all arranged beautifully and there were about 10 different kinds. I took the nougat and coconut. Guy took just one. Dark chocolate. They all had a soft/runny center and were divine. Thankfully he brought the box. Now I can leave Innsbruck with perfect memories.
So just one last story before I get to bed. Many times on this trip I had wished that when on vacation God would let us take a vacation from having to go to the bathroom. Sometimes it is hard to find a place to go! You hate to drink too much water at any given time because you never know where you'll find a potty. So on the Christmas market map it actually had WC (water closet) on the map so you knew where bathrooms are. So today we came across a WC sign and we both thought we'd take advantage. Well I've been in bathrooms before where you had to pay someone a Euro to go inside (and you often need your own TP) but this bathroom you had to buy a TICKET from a guy behind a window and then scan it at the turn-style to let you in. Of course I documented this with a photo! But still, for the guy who works the WC window, what do you say when someone asks you "What do you do for a living?" Ha Ha. Hey, nothing bad on the guy...someone has to do it. Innsbruck is making a killing off people having to pee. Just sayin.
It certainly has been a lovely time here. I hate to say goodbye tomorrow, but at some point we have to head home. So tomorrow we train back to Munich, unload at the hotel, probably train into town and see Tollwood's Christmas market again and then go back to the Sheraton at the airport. We already know what we are going to eat at the market tomorrow night. Funny. :)
Monday, December 8, 2014
On the eleventh day of Christmas markets...
...my true love gave to me, eleven pipers piping
Today we leave snowless Cortina and put a bit more Christmas market back into this trip! We had a lovely breakfast at the hotel and they were cordial with us upon checkout even though we were leaving two days early. We got to the bus stop in plenty of time and when it arrived it was the same driver that brought us here. We sat in the front two seats and got a nice view on the trip back to the Dobaccio train station. When we got to the station we thought we were going to have to wait an hour, but as luck would have it an earlier train was about to pull up that we could catch as well. Since there was NOTHING at this train station, we decided to hop on now and wait the extra hour at a bigger train station that would have food, drinks, shops, etc. So we got on and took the hour + ride to Fortezza. When we arrived I asked Guy if he had a knife or possibly something we could use as a shank. This place was sketchy at best. Oh, by the way. No food, drinks or shopping. Just an empty old train stop. At one time this must have been quite a happening place as there were multiple tracks and the station was really big. But now it all looked practically abandoned.
I looked out the window to the tiny town as Guy went to find a restroom. He came back and said the men's room was closed. I told him across the street was a bierhaus and where the is a bierhaus there are pretzels...go find me one. I moved all our bags toward the door so I could watch the traffic go by (not much action I must say) and probably 15 minutes went by. I wasn't worried as we had an hour, but just as I began to make up scenarios of how Guy was kidnapped, he emerged from the place next to the bierhaus with a pizza, napkins and cokes! SCORE! He said they spoke very little English but when he asked about a cheese pizza and pointed to his wrist and said "time", they girl told him 5 minutes. Piping hot cheese pizza (no sauce) but it was actually pretty darn good! So we set up a little dining area inside the train station and had some lunch. It was fun.
Our train taking us to Innsbruck also continues on to Munich. This is the train we were going to take two days from now to the Munich airport. But since we cut our Cortina trip short, we asked at the Cortina train station if they could adjust the tickets for us. She said no, talk to the conductor. So we were concerned that we would get our tickets punched today by the conductor making them void for our ride from Innsbruck to Munich. But as luck would have it, no one asked to see our tickets on either train. Score! So now when we hop on Wednesday to go to Munich it will be like they've never been used. Worked out great. It's not like we were trying to be tricky with the tickets, it was the same ticket for the same route, just broken up into two days instead of one. :P One interesting thing that happened today is when the train stopped at the Italian/Austrian border the Austrian police pulled about 7 or 8 guys off the train and wouldn't let them enter into Austria. Being judgemental again, these guys did look like they could be up to no good, so I was glad they got booted off the train. Kudos to the Austrian police. These guys did everything they could do to try to get back on the train, but the police stood between them and the train as we pulled away. Left to the Italians to deal with.
When we arrived in Innsbruck, so did the clouds. Not a peek so of sun to be seen. But that won't keep us from hitting the markets. We checked into the Grand Hotel, which is located directly across from the train station and is a great location if you are going to be using the train station and it is within walking distance to everything. However, it is in a part of town that isn't anything to look at, especially if you are wanting to sip your coffee out on the balcony and enjoy a view. LOL. But back to why we are here...the markets, and as luck would have it, the gal at the hotel had a BROCHURE on all the markets here. Yeah, baby! Now we are talking! There are six major ones and then various other Christmas activities. When our room was ready we settled in and took a break to plan our night. I Trip Advisored a place to eat close the "golden roof" and decided on the restaurant Goldener Adler. Our hotel's restaurant is actually rated like 30 out of nearly 400 restaurants, so we may try it tomorrow night. - So as we headed out (we waited til it started to get dark so the lights would be prettier) we walked straight to the restaurant to make a reservation. He said not needed on a Monday night, however the town was packed! There are three major Christmas markets in the immediate area that needed my immediate attention!
So back to the "golden roof". This is a must see destination for those visiting Innsbruck and is located in Old Town. In 1500 the golden roof was built by an Emperor to mark his third wedding (geeze) and was designed to be a viewing box where they watched festivals and other activities. Tonight there were men playing Christmas music from the balcony (eleven pipers piping!! Really!). Awesome. And people everywhere! I videoed it and could have stood there all night. What fun. But as our stomachs began to growl, we decided to grab dinner a bit early after hitting the highlights of a couple of the bigger markets. (Lots of people made them a bit hard to navigate). We were seated promptly even though the restaurant was starting to fill up. Our menu was in English and our server spoke it perfectly. We ordered an appetizer that has speck (ham) with pickled beans (delicious) red cabbage (like a slaw) and they gave us some wonderful bread. It was really excellent and I could eat that tomorrow as my lunch! Then came the entrees, I had venison and guy had sirloin and potatoes. His came out in a little skillet and was all together like hash. Mine had little potato dumplings and cranberry sauce. The venison was a bit gamey (some of the pieces) but was really good. We didn't order dessert because we saw something at the market we wanted to try. All in all...great great dinner - ambiance was wonderful as well. A cozy place.
After dinner we were pretty tired, but we had to get our little dessert. The line was down to only about 6 people, so it didn't take long. What it consisted of was a dough that was deep fried in the shape of a bowl (similar to a funnel cake but solid and shaped like a bowl) You could get it with sour kraut in it or get it with fruit and powdered sugar. When I ordered I said "with berries". He said "Sweet?" I said "Yes, like me" and smiled great big. It took him a second but then he got it. He mumbled something in German as he and Guy rolled their eyes. What?
Back at the room we are looking forward to a good nights rest. Our room has an adjustable fan noise which is HUGE when you are used to this at home. In Cortina..no fan. Our room is really nice and modern with shampoos, waters and other amenities. We have no reason to set an alarm (except breakfast is included and is done at 10). We'll see how the night goes. Breakfast isn't my favorite meal of the day anyway! ;) Night from Innsbruck. P.S. the forecast for Innsbruck tomorrow? Snow.
Today we leave snowless Cortina and put a bit more Christmas market back into this trip! We had a lovely breakfast at the hotel and they were cordial with us upon checkout even though we were leaving two days early. We got to the bus stop in plenty of time and when it arrived it was the same driver that brought us here. We sat in the front two seats and got a nice view on the trip back to the Dobaccio train station. When we got to the station we thought we were going to have to wait an hour, but as luck would have it an earlier train was about to pull up that we could catch as well. Since there was NOTHING at this train station, we decided to hop on now and wait the extra hour at a bigger train station that would have food, drinks, shops, etc. So we got on and took the hour + ride to Fortezza. When we arrived I asked Guy if he had a knife or possibly something we could use as a shank. This place was sketchy at best. Oh, by the way. No food, drinks or shopping. Just an empty old train stop. At one time this must have been quite a happening place as there were multiple tracks and the station was really big. But now it all looked practically abandoned.
I looked out the window to the tiny town as Guy went to find a restroom. He came back and said the men's room was closed. I told him across the street was a bierhaus and where the is a bierhaus there are pretzels...go find me one. I moved all our bags toward the door so I could watch the traffic go by (not much action I must say) and probably 15 minutes went by. I wasn't worried as we had an hour, but just as I began to make up scenarios of how Guy was kidnapped, he emerged from the place next to the bierhaus with a pizza, napkins and cokes! SCORE! He said they spoke very little English but when he asked about a cheese pizza and pointed to his wrist and said "time", they girl told him 5 minutes. Piping hot cheese pizza (no sauce) but it was actually pretty darn good! So we set up a little dining area inside the train station and had some lunch. It was fun.
Our train taking us to Innsbruck also continues on to Munich. This is the train we were going to take two days from now to the Munich airport. But since we cut our Cortina trip short, we asked at the Cortina train station if they could adjust the tickets for us. She said no, talk to the conductor. So we were concerned that we would get our tickets punched today by the conductor making them void for our ride from Innsbruck to Munich. But as luck would have it, no one asked to see our tickets on either train. Score! So now when we hop on Wednesday to go to Munich it will be like they've never been used. Worked out great. It's not like we were trying to be tricky with the tickets, it was the same ticket for the same route, just broken up into two days instead of one. :P One interesting thing that happened today is when the train stopped at the Italian/Austrian border the Austrian police pulled about 7 or 8 guys off the train and wouldn't let them enter into Austria. Being judgemental again, these guys did look like they could be up to no good, so I was glad they got booted off the train. Kudos to the Austrian police. These guys did everything they could do to try to get back on the train, but the police stood between them and the train as we pulled away. Left to the Italians to deal with.
When we arrived in Innsbruck, so did the clouds. Not a peek so of sun to be seen. But that won't keep us from hitting the markets. We checked into the Grand Hotel, which is located directly across from the train station and is a great location if you are going to be using the train station and it is within walking distance to everything. However, it is in a part of town that isn't anything to look at, especially if you are wanting to sip your coffee out on the balcony and enjoy a view. LOL. But back to why we are here...the markets, and as luck would have it, the gal at the hotel had a BROCHURE on all the markets here. Yeah, baby! Now we are talking! There are six major ones and then various other Christmas activities. When our room was ready we settled in and took a break to plan our night. I Trip Advisored a place to eat close the "golden roof" and decided on the restaurant Goldener Adler. Our hotel's restaurant is actually rated like 30 out of nearly 400 restaurants, so we may try it tomorrow night. - So as we headed out (we waited til it started to get dark so the lights would be prettier) we walked straight to the restaurant to make a reservation. He said not needed on a Monday night, however the town was packed! There are three major Christmas markets in the immediate area that needed my immediate attention!
So back to the "golden roof". This is a must see destination for those visiting Innsbruck and is located in Old Town. In 1500 the golden roof was built by an Emperor to mark his third wedding (geeze) and was designed to be a viewing box where they watched festivals and other activities. Tonight there were men playing Christmas music from the balcony (eleven pipers piping!! Really!). Awesome. And people everywhere! I videoed it and could have stood there all night. What fun. But as our stomachs began to growl, we decided to grab dinner a bit early after hitting the highlights of a couple of the bigger markets. (Lots of people made them a bit hard to navigate). We were seated promptly even though the restaurant was starting to fill up. Our menu was in English and our server spoke it perfectly. We ordered an appetizer that has speck (ham) with pickled beans (delicious) red cabbage (like a slaw) and they gave us some wonderful bread. It was really excellent and I could eat that tomorrow as my lunch! Then came the entrees, I had venison and guy had sirloin and potatoes. His came out in a little skillet and was all together like hash. Mine had little potato dumplings and cranberry sauce. The venison was a bit gamey (some of the pieces) but was really good. We didn't order dessert because we saw something at the market we wanted to try. All in all...great great dinner - ambiance was wonderful as well. A cozy place.
After dinner we were pretty tired, but we had to get our little dessert. The line was down to only about 6 people, so it didn't take long. What it consisted of was a dough that was deep fried in the shape of a bowl (similar to a funnel cake but solid and shaped like a bowl) You could get it with sour kraut in it or get it with fruit and powdered sugar. When I ordered I said "with berries". He said "Sweet?" I said "Yes, like me" and smiled great big. It took him a second but then he got it. He mumbled something in German as he and Guy rolled their eyes. What?
Back at the room we are looking forward to a good nights rest. Our room has an adjustable fan noise which is HUGE when you are used to this at home. In Cortina..no fan. Our room is really nice and modern with shampoos, waters and other amenities. We have no reason to set an alarm (except breakfast is included and is done at 10). We'll see how the night goes. Breakfast isn't my favorite meal of the day anyway! ;) Night from Innsbruck. P.S. the forecast for Innsbruck tomorrow? Snow.
Sunday, December 7, 2014
On the tenth day of Christmas markets...
...my true love gave to me, ten hordes a skiing.
Today was kinda emotional. We are in Italy to ski but the snow is bad as you heard yesterday. So I got up to eat breakfast with Guy and go with him to get his skis and see him off at the cable car. There were hordes of people in line to cram onto the dangly thing of death. Of course it doesn't bother him at all, but he said I would have hated the 15+ minute ride. It was crammed with people, it was hot inside and the windows were all fogged up. IF I can do an elevator, it can't have many people on it. So there you have it.
As I walked away I felt bad because I hate that I have that problem, but also I came to ski, too. So disappointed, I actually had a few tears pop out as I walked back to the hotel. I'm sure the guy who gave me my room key thought we'd been in a fight. LOL. It was still early and no shops were open and since my makeup was already smudged I decided to come down to the bar area that has nice leather sofas and watch "A Fault In Our Stars". That way I could continue the tear fest and get it out of my system. So I watched, and that I did. Again, the guy at the hotel probably thought I was going to jump out the window or something. Ha Ha. But the movie was excellent (sad) and now that all that business was over I desperately needed some retail therapy. So I fixed my face and hit the streets.
Since it was getting close to lunch I thought I'd shop and look for a place to eat all at the same time. Shopping is not too good. It is Sunday and some shops are not open and the other shops are super duper expensive. I don't even want to go in- they are that ridiculous. But I picked up some post cards, stamps and a couple of ornaments. I did find a nice place to eat. It was busy and when I walked in and said "one" he said "one"? and not in a way that was like "oh, what is a sweet girl like you doing eating all by herself", but more like "Oh...your single self is going to hog up a table when we are really busy." But he sat me quickly in a nice spot that I could people watch. I also had my phone and caught up on Facebook and Twitter to keep me busy. I ordered a pizza margarita and water. This town doesn't have coke light!! From what I could gather from my seat is it is a mom and pop shop with the son on the pizza's. They had a cute wood burning oven, however sometimes they came out with other types of food, so there must have been a kitchen in the back as well. It was so busy that when a gal walked in she spoke twice to the main guy as he walked right by her and he COMPLETELY ignored her. TWICE! Yikes. So she and her family left. Weird. So I waited and waited for my check and I did see some people pay at the register area. So I got up and asked if I should pay here. They said yes and ignored me for what seemed like 10 more minutes and finally the wife said "we are very busy". I said I understood and waited patiently. At least they took credit cards.
So I roamed the streets until time to meet Guy. As I evaluated the town (and I'm being pretty judgmental here) this isn't a town with many friendly people, the ladies all have big fur coats, puffy lips and they all brought their little sweater clad dogs. So I'd say I feel a bit out of place here, as I had no dog, but that is ok. :) Ha Ha. However, the sun has actually popped out and I took several pictures and enjoyed the spectacular scenery. The Dolomites are quite amazing. At one point, when the sky cleared, there was a very weird mushroom shaped cloud over one of the big peaks. I got some shots of it and they'll be in today's pictures, but I've seen this phenomena on the weather channel and there is an name for it. So that was really cool.
Time to meet Guy, so I went back to the room to get his shoes and headed to the cable car. He was already waiting on me and I could tell he had a good day by the look on his face. (quick sidebar: I'm in the lounge and an Italian family is down here as well. The mom, who looks to be about 40 is singing to the radio. The song playing is "All about that base" Sung by an American, Megan Trainor, a heavy white gal singing about it's ok to be a larger size and having a big "base". I think it is funny - does this Italian know what she is singing about?) Ok, back to Guy. So he told me I would have hated the ride up and even though he had a wonderful time, the snow wasn't groomed so it was bumpy. Also there were only two lifts working and it was really crowded. He rode the same lift several times. Several dozen times I think. So that does get old. He appreciates skiing with me now because he frequently has to stop for me to catch up. He realizes now that gives him some pretty good breaks. When he is on his own he can go at his own pace and doesn't have a reason to stop. :) He did get some awesome pictures from the top (even a few selfies) and they are the first 10 in today's line up.
On the walk back to the room we passed a restaurant I wanted to eat dinner at. I went in earlier that day and asked to make a reservation for tonight at 7. This is early for the Italians and I didn't think it would be problem, but she (an older gal that was a waitress) told me "already full". So as we walked by it I told Guy that I wanted to eat there but it was a no. So a guy from the restaurant was at the door and Guy said he'd like to make a reservation for tonight. He looked at Guy and said "7:30?" We said yes and gave him our name. What the heck? Was it the fuzzy braids and hat that I sported early today that made her think I was a transient or something? I had a "Pretty Woman" moment when Julia Roberts told the guy at the hotel "nobody would wait on me". LOL.
Back at the room and when we were out of stories for the day, Guy showered and we both took naps. I was going to start my blog earlier, but was too sleepy. I set the alarm on my phone as we had had these reservations we couldn't miss. But before dinner we went looking for Guy a Tshirt. I looked ALL DAY and there was only one shop with Tshirts and he wouldn't have liked it. The only place I didn't go in (because it closes in the middle of the day, which I don't understand because it is like a mini mall) had shirts -- this coming from the hotel guy. So sure enough there were some really nice shirts and he got a hat as well. They also had food, a pharmacy, kitchen pots and pans, fabric by the roll, clothes, skis, Christmas ornaments...you name it. But his shirt is really nice.
So dinner. We ordered a speck (ham) plate. It is thinly sliced (you could read a paper through it) and it was served with horseradish and a pickle. The combo of all three together was amazing...we savored every bite. Then came our entrees. We both ordered the same thing, we usually don't so we can try different things, but I was solid with this item because it is why I wanted to eat there to begin with: pumpkin stuffed ravioli with smoked ricotta and fried speck. I'm glad we both got it because it was SO DELICIOUS I wouldn't have wanted to share! Oh my, was it ever good. It was heavily covered with freshly grated parmesan. To-die-for. We had a side of veggies and for dessert - Lava Cake. Yep...possibly our best meal so far. My belly is smiling.
For a quick wrap up of Cortina. Not the friendliest part of Italy we've been to, but scenery is spectacular. The skiing, even if there WAS snow, doesn't hold a candle to Whistler or anyplace in Colorado. Limited runs and none of the big "ski from the top all the way down runs" like we like to finish the day with. Big dangly cable cars are the only way up if there is no snow in the lower parts. Shopping is way too expensive. Food was delicious. Not a problem to get to if you like trains and buses, but if we had driven (not sure where we'd put the car as the hotel is in a pedestrian area) it would not have been too terribly scary, only a few spots on the main road coming in would have been hairy if snow covered. Nothing like the road going up to the ski lodge by the Matterhorn in 2006. That day I will never ever forget as long as I live. Here? Piece of cake.
So after today we are still solid with our decision to go to Innsbruck for our last two days. Looking forward to ending on a Christmas market note instead of a snowless ski town note. Good night from Cortina! Ciao!
Today was kinda emotional. We are in Italy to ski but the snow is bad as you heard yesterday. So I got up to eat breakfast with Guy and go with him to get his skis and see him off at the cable car. There were hordes of people in line to cram onto the dangly thing of death. Of course it doesn't bother him at all, but he said I would have hated the 15+ minute ride. It was crammed with people, it was hot inside and the windows were all fogged up. IF I can do an elevator, it can't have many people on it. So there you have it.
As I walked away I felt bad because I hate that I have that problem, but also I came to ski, too. So disappointed, I actually had a few tears pop out as I walked back to the hotel. I'm sure the guy who gave me my room key thought we'd been in a fight. LOL. It was still early and no shops were open and since my makeup was already smudged I decided to come down to the bar area that has nice leather sofas and watch "A Fault In Our Stars". That way I could continue the tear fest and get it out of my system. So I watched, and that I did. Again, the guy at the hotel probably thought I was going to jump out the window or something. Ha Ha. But the movie was excellent (sad) and now that all that business was over I desperately needed some retail therapy. So I fixed my face and hit the streets.
Since it was getting close to lunch I thought I'd shop and look for a place to eat all at the same time. Shopping is not too good. It is Sunday and some shops are not open and the other shops are super duper expensive. I don't even want to go in- they are that ridiculous. But I picked up some post cards, stamps and a couple of ornaments. I did find a nice place to eat. It was busy and when I walked in and said "one" he said "one"? and not in a way that was like "oh, what is a sweet girl like you doing eating all by herself", but more like "Oh...your single self is going to hog up a table when we are really busy." But he sat me quickly in a nice spot that I could people watch. I also had my phone and caught up on Facebook and Twitter to keep me busy. I ordered a pizza margarita and water. This town doesn't have coke light!! From what I could gather from my seat is it is a mom and pop shop with the son on the pizza's. They had a cute wood burning oven, however sometimes they came out with other types of food, so there must have been a kitchen in the back as well. It was so busy that when a gal walked in she spoke twice to the main guy as he walked right by her and he COMPLETELY ignored her. TWICE! Yikes. So she and her family left. Weird. So I waited and waited for my check and I did see some people pay at the register area. So I got up and asked if I should pay here. They said yes and ignored me for what seemed like 10 more minutes and finally the wife said "we are very busy". I said I understood and waited patiently. At least they took credit cards.
So I roamed the streets until time to meet Guy. As I evaluated the town (and I'm being pretty judgmental here) this isn't a town with many friendly people, the ladies all have big fur coats, puffy lips and they all brought their little sweater clad dogs. So I'd say I feel a bit out of place here, as I had no dog, but that is ok. :) Ha Ha. However, the sun has actually popped out and I took several pictures and enjoyed the spectacular scenery. The Dolomites are quite amazing. At one point, when the sky cleared, there was a very weird mushroom shaped cloud over one of the big peaks. I got some shots of it and they'll be in today's pictures, but I've seen this phenomena on the weather channel and there is an name for it. So that was really cool.
Time to meet Guy, so I went back to the room to get his shoes and headed to the cable car. He was already waiting on me and I could tell he had a good day by the look on his face. (quick sidebar: I'm in the lounge and an Italian family is down here as well. The mom, who looks to be about 40 is singing to the radio. The song playing is "All about that base" Sung by an American, Megan Trainor, a heavy white gal singing about it's ok to be a larger size and having a big "base". I think it is funny - does this Italian know what she is singing about?) Ok, back to Guy. So he told me I would have hated the ride up and even though he had a wonderful time, the snow wasn't groomed so it was bumpy. Also there were only two lifts working and it was really crowded. He rode the same lift several times. Several dozen times I think. So that does get old. He appreciates skiing with me now because he frequently has to stop for me to catch up. He realizes now that gives him some pretty good breaks. When he is on his own he can go at his own pace and doesn't have a reason to stop. :) He did get some awesome pictures from the top (even a few selfies) and they are the first 10 in today's line up.
On the walk back to the room we passed a restaurant I wanted to eat dinner at. I went in earlier that day and asked to make a reservation for tonight at 7. This is early for the Italians and I didn't think it would be problem, but she (an older gal that was a waitress) told me "already full". So as we walked by it I told Guy that I wanted to eat there but it was a no. So a guy from the restaurant was at the door and Guy said he'd like to make a reservation for tonight. He looked at Guy and said "7:30?" We said yes and gave him our name. What the heck? Was it the fuzzy braids and hat that I sported early today that made her think I was a transient or something? I had a "Pretty Woman" moment when Julia Roberts told the guy at the hotel "nobody would wait on me". LOL.
Back at the room and when we were out of stories for the day, Guy showered and we both took naps. I was going to start my blog earlier, but was too sleepy. I set the alarm on my phone as we had had these reservations we couldn't miss. But before dinner we went looking for Guy a Tshirt. I looked ALL DAY and there was only one shop with Tshirts and he wouldn't have liked it. The only place I didn't go in (because it closes in the middle of the day, which I don't understand because it is like a mini mall) had shirts -- this coming from the hotel guy. So sure enough there were some really nice shirts and he got a hat as well. They also had food, a pharmacy, kitchen pots and pans, fabric by the roll, clothes, skis, Christmas ornaments...you name it. But his shirt is really nice.
So dinner. We ordered a speck (ham) plate. It is thinly sliced (you could read a paper through it) and it was served with horseradish and a pickle. The combo of all three together was amazing...we savored every bite. Then came our entrees. We both ordered the same thing, we usually don't so we can try different things, but I was solid with this item because it is why I wanted to eat there to begin with: pumpkin stuffed ravioli with smoked ricotta and fried speck. I'm glad we both got it because it was SO DELICIOUS I wouldn't have wanted to share! Oh my, was it ever good. It was heavily covered with freshly grated parmesan. To-die-for. We had a side of veggies and for dessert - Lava Cake. Yep...possibly our best meal so far. My belly is smiling.
For a quick wrap up of Cortina. Not the friendliest part of Italy we've been to, but scenery is spectacular. The skiing, even if there WAS snow, doesn't hold a candle to Whistler or anyplace in Colorado. Limited runs and none of the big "ski from the top all the way down runs" like we like to finish the day with. Big dangly cable cars are the only way up if there is no snow in the lower parts. Shopping is way too expensive. Food was delicious. Not a problem to get to if you like trains and buses, but if we had driven (not sure where we'd put the car as the hotel is in a pedestrian area) it would not have been too terribly scary, only a few spots on the main road coming in would have been hairy if snow covered. Nothing like the road going up to the ski lodge by the Matterhorn in 2006. That day I will never ever forget as long as I live. Here? Piece of cake.
So after today we are still solid with our decision to go to Innsbruck for our last two days. Looking forward to ending on a Christmas market note instead of a snowless ski town note. Good night from Cortina! Ciao!
Saturday, December 6, 2014
On the ninth day of Christmas markets...
... my true love gave to me, nine forms of transportation
Ok not really nine, but we did take myriad forms of transportation today. :) We left the suite at the Sheraton, *sniff sniff - tear* - ate some breakfast and headed out to the train station just after 7am to begin our Italian Ski Adventure! We were plenty early again, so we bought some pretzels in a little bakery inside the station and sat inside the shop to keep warm til our train came. It arrived about 20 minutes early, so we hopped on and picked a good seat for our 2 hour ride. Sadly, I fought to keep my eyes open for the first hour and I'm sure I missed some beautiful scenery, but after we started getting into the really good stuff, there was no way I could sleep through it. For a good deal of the trip (that I saw) we were up high looking down at the towns. It seemed like we followed this spectacular river the entire way. It was the most interesting green color and I promise you it had to be COLD! As we traveled on the train, the day (again) was foggy, but you could see the mountains pretty well. And when you have mountains...you have tunnels.
Ok not really nine, but we did take myriad forms of transportation today. :) We left the suite at the Sheraton, *sniff sniff - tear* - ate some breakfast and headed out to the train station just after 7am to begin our Italian Ski Adventure! We were plenty early again, so we bought some pretzels in a little bakery inside the station and sat inside the shop to keep warm til our train came. It arrived about 20 minutes early, so we hopped on and picked a good seat for our 2 hour ride. Sadly, I fought to keep my eyes open for the first hour and I'm sure I missed some beautiful scenery, but after we started getting into the really good stuff, there was no way I could sleep through it. For a good deal of the trip (that I saw) we were up high looking down at the towns. It seemed like we followed this spectacular river the entire way. It was the most interesting green color and I promise you it had to be COLD! As we traveled on the train, the day (again) was foggy, but you could see the mountains pretty well. And when you have mountains...you have tunnels.
Not a big fan of the tunnel, and some of these were pretty long, but our ears were not popping too bad and we never had to stop in one...so that is good. As we traveled along there was not a flake of snow to be seen. However, another train passed us going the opposite way and Guy said he saw snow on it. So as we went through one tunnel and emerged on the other side the entire train car GASPED at the sight. Snow! And I mean SNOW! Hanging off the trees, piled on the rooftops, and totally covering the ground. It was one of the coolest things I've ever been surprised with. One side nothing, a dark tunnel, then Bam - A white winter wonderland! I guess if you are yawning right now it was one of those "had to be there" moments. But trust me when I say it was awesome.
So after a two hour ride we switched trains, and then after an hour ride we switched trains and then after a 45 minute ride we switched trains, and then after a 4 minute ride we switched trains. Not joking. But honestly it wasn't really that bad at all. All the trains were on time and we never waited more than 15 minutes at each station for the next one to arrive. When we were on the last train Guy looked at me and said "We've had such good luck with the trains I hope the bus...." and I immediately shushed him! Don't jinx us now! So when we got to the final train stop it was like a ghost town. Not a soul to ask about the bus, where to get a ticket, etc. So we kinda looked around and finally Guy went down to a bar and asked about the bus. The dude in the shop (with a cowboy hat, beard, and a bit sketchy) said it would be by about 2pm. So we had an hour. Ok...if that was the longest we had to wait today then that isn't too bad.
So promptly at 2:10 pm our bus arrives. It was a 45 minute ride to Cortina, but it didn't really seem that long. It made 5 or 6 quick stops and the only hairy part was the road was a bit twisty turny and yes, the cliff dropped off just to my right out the window. But only once did I grab Guy's leg and am glad that on the ride back we will be hugging the mountain instead.
Once we arrived at Cortina we went to the taxi stand and the cabbie loaded us up. This time we had the address written down (lol) and once he looked at it he looked at us and shrugged his shoulders. He basically said he could take us there, no problem, but it was only a 300 meter walk down the hill. So scratch that final form of transportation off the list as we hoofed it down the hill instead. Now all the guy said was down and turn but he didn't really say which way. So Guy went into a ski shop to ask for better directions. I thought he had been kidnapped because he was gone forever, but he comes out smiling and apparently he and some ski dude hit it off and talked ski talk. Hello? I'm outside freezing with the bags!! *end rant*
The hotel Aquila is conveniently located right down in the middle of the action. It is a pedestrian area, which is nice, and like most of the area, it has a swiss feel to the architecture. We checked in, got our gigantic oversized Italian key and Guy headed up in the elevator to the first floor alone (the elevator wasn't big enough for the both of us and luggage - not that I would have gone in it). The room seems extra small (coming from the Sheraton suite) and has no slippers, no shampoo, and worst of all - a terrible wifi connection in the room. But it is cute, extremely clean and has a big balcony. We unloaded our stuff and headed out for a snack. It is about 3pm by this time and we've had no lunch. We needed to find a place to sit and talk about our early exit strategy from Cortina - and this is why...
No Snow.
At first, on the train when we saw the beautiful white stuff, we thought we'd be good. In fact the girl at the Sheraton last night says she has family here and she said they got dumped on. She promised skiing. But as we got closer and closer to Cortina, the snow got less and less and in some places there was none. As we saw the town, we could see the snow at the top of the mountain. Way, way, way at the top of the mountain. But all the lower area - nothin. So you have to go all the way to the top to ski, then when you are ready to come down you have to ski to mid-station and ride back down. The only issue for me is I don't do "the F". The F was the name of the gigantic 150 person gondola/cable car in Italy that I rode back in 2006 - that was so high off the ground it was part of the sky - like the one the American military jet clipped a few years earlier and sent everyone to their deaths. I rode it once out of ignorance and hated it. The second time I rode it, with 149 others crammed in like sardines, I cried all the way to the top. Guy promised he'd never make me do that again. So guess how you get to the top here? The F.
Time to discuss Plan B. There are only a few little "Christmas stands" here, not like the markets elsewhere, but there are lots of shops and fun things to do around the village. That is where you will find me tomorrow. Guy, however, is going to ride The F and go for it. BTW, he looked it up and it dangles from a tiny wire over a half mile off the ground. Have fun! I'll be down here smoking the credit card. - Now knowing the snow is bad and there is only so much shopping I can do, we surfed for a place to stay in Innsbruck for two reasons. 1. We have train tickets that go through there already. and 2. they have 4 big Christmas markets. Done and Done. Hotel booked.
Once all of today's drama was over, we headed out for a place to have dinner. Trip Advisor highly recommended one place and while Guy was booking our new reservations I went out to scout the place out. I finally found it and when I did...it was dark inside. Well it is already 5:30 pm here, and it should be open. And it is a Saturday night! Hmm.....and the hotel above it was closed as well. So back to the room for yet another Plan B (this one not as big of a deal). One restaurant was supposed to have good authentic Italian and I was in the mood for polenta, so we chose Restaurante 5 Torri. We got there just after 7 and they weren't quite full, so we got a table in the back (they must have been hiding the Americans from the public). So we ordered and kinda rolled the dice with our selections. I had polenta and mushroom sauté and Guy had polenta with salted cod. We also started out with a Caprese salad, my favorite. Then came the entrees. Hmmm...mine was to be expected, but Guy's was flaked fish in some kind of white sauce and was on the plate more as a sauce than a main course. It was fishy and I thought it tasted more like clams. yuck. Both of us agreed we wouldn't order ours again, but it is always fun to try something new. The tiramisu was the bomb and it patched up the wounds caused by the flaked fish. :)
Back at the room we officially unpacked (my ski stuff will remain sucked tight in my space bag) and showered. It has been quite the day and we both feel good about the plans for the rest of the trip. The lack of snow won't slow us down! So good night from beautiful snowless Cortina, Italy. I'm sure there will be more stories for tomorrow.
P.S. I will try to upload pictures tomorrow. The wifi at the hotel is worse than dial up, so I may try to find a place in town tomorrow for a cappuccino and free wifi. :)
Friday, December 5, 2014
On the eigth day of Christmas markets...
...my true love gave to me, eight trolls a skulking
So today was supposed be R&R and it started that way. We slept in until 11am and then went to the club room for lunch (no breakfast for the sleepy heads). At lunch, which was nice, consisted of soup, cheeses, pasta, breads, etc. We didn't eat a ton, but had plenty. As we sat and tried to decide what to do today, a lovely lady from the Sheraton came by our little table and asked us what we were doing today (hmmm...was just the topic at the table before she arrived). We said we were not sure. We told her what we had done and then she asked us if we had been to the Hellbrunn Christmas market. We said no! She went on to explain it was the best. Not commercialized like the one in the square, but a more traditional market. She told us to catch bus #25 and it would be about a 15 minute ride out of town. After that, she went on to tell us how today was a very special day as St. Nicholas comes tonight. After the kids get home from school, they clean their boots and set them outside. Tonight, if they have been good, Santa will leave them sweets in their boots. If they have been bad, they will find a broom. The good thing is Santa comes again on the 25th (like us) and IF they have improved in their behavior, St. Nick will leave them goodies later this month. As a tradition, St. Nicholas parades all around town tonight with an entourage of devils (that stink) and if you've been bad they will whip you with their tails. She said it can hurt if you get whipped, so wear "trousers". This starts downtown at 5pm. You will see masses of people and hear loud bells. You can walk with them in the parade or just watch them go by. Sounds like the perfect day.
So we thanked her and went downstairs to get ready to catch bus #25. When we arrived at the Hellbrunn stop, the entire bus unloaded, so we knew we must have been at the right spot. We didn't know which direction to go, but we followed the crowd right to the market. It was one of the best markets so far (and to think we were so close and almost missed it). As we entered the area it was a huge beautiful place. A large park was in the back and the Salzburg zoo was just next door (we didn't hit the zoo). There were shops of all kinds and music. It was more of a family-friendly place as it had a petting zoo, a place where kids could make and bake their own cookies, it had fires where you could roast hot dogs and marshmallows and of course, gluhwein for the big kids. :) The shops had more hand crafted items and there were artisans working on them at the stands (this is always more fun). So Guy and I selected a meeting spot but this time I needed an hour. I dropped him at the petting zoo and headed for some shopping. I scouted everything out first but ended up getting several nice things. They had Christmas trees everywhere and the feel of this market was just different somehow. I loved it. So I bumped into Guy before the meeting place and he told me all about the petting zoo (he wants a rabbit now). He told me I HAD to go back with him before we left. Ha Ha. So we finished up the shops, looked around the park, bought a few goodies and headed for the petting zoo. As we were on the way we took a side entrance and came across this beautiful fish pond/fountain area. We walked around the entire thing and it was quite lovely. As we reached the petting zoo we saw all kinds of fun animals but the funniest of all were the brown furry pigs. They were having a blast playing all around their pen and were putting on quite the show. There were sheep and rams and tiny horses that little ones could ride on. There was a giant turkey just walking around by himself and gobbling constantly. The bunnies were cute (I was expecting Jack Rabbits) but these were small ones, some with floppy ears. This is the spot where the kids had their fun zone with games, roasting marshmallows and making the cookies. We went inside the little shop where they had the cookie making and the set up was just adorable. AND smelt fantastic! We took the daily selfie and several other pictures. Again it was a gloomy day, but it didn't matter. :)
Back to town we headed for the hotel to enjoy a hot chocolate and warm up before going to see the craziness of St. Nick and the trolls (I've got to get the real name of these creatures) While drinking our hot chocolate we asked the gal in the club room which street all this would take place on. That is when she began her story. Obviously quiet traumatized last year from St. Nick and his entourage, she goes on to tell us that the trolls are often drunk. DO NOT make eye contact with them. She said if one sees you and comes toward you - RUN! She said if they catch you, they do terrible things to you. She said she hid behind a big man last year after one of them spotted her and came for her. She was hilarious with her story. She told us over and over, "Don't let them see you looking and if they do RUN and RUN fast and they will chase you". Ha Ha. Should be an interesting event.
We headed out of the hotel for a nice walk along the river in anticipation of the festivities. We took the far bridge again so I could get some shots of downtown at night (since I didn't have my camera with me last night). So after a little research on the Internet, the 5th of December is the "Kramustag" where young men dress up in fur and evil masks and are called Perchten (pagan spirits) and they are scary. They carry oxen tails and whip you if you have been bad. Eek. Our gal from the hotel may have exaggerated just a bit, but they certainly were scary and we did see them pull a girl away from the group and put her in a cart...but I think she was willing to join the parade. I can't imagine people would want their kids exposed to these scary beasts, but it was certainly interesting to experience this tradition. Nothing like we've ever seen before. Fun Fun Fun.
After our experience with St. Nick (I did get video and several shots) we headed to the market for just a few minutes for me to get one last ornament and watch the kids ice skating. We walked toward our restaurant and we were a bit early but they had our table ready. It was a tiny place, very dark wood and if I'm not mistaken it is part of the oldest hotel in Salzburg. The waitresses had traditional clothes on and everything had hearts on it. The name of the restaurant is called e'Herzl which means "heart". So there were hearts everywhere. I already knew I wanted the goulash as I had to have one last authentic meal and Guy had the venison - both were AMAZING! The service was great and we highly recommend this restaurant. It had a really authentic feel to it and you felt like you had gone back in time. Really nice.
We strolled along the river on the way home and even though it is cold and misty, it was magical to hear Christmas songs being played by street musicians in the distance. It was before 8 pm, but the town is still bustling with people on every street. Reflecting back on our stay in Salzburg, we decided we were here the perfect amount of days. We saw the highlights and markets and if it hadn't been for the markets and Christmas activities, 3 days may have been too many. I would like to come here again in the summer and again in the winter when it is covered in snow. Basically I think I'm saying I want to come here again...
Tomorrow morning bright and early begins our trip to Italy. 3 trains, a bus and a cab. I'm sure it will be another beautifully sceneic adventure! Ciao!
So today was supposed be R&R and it started that way. We slept in until 11am and then went to the club room for lunch (no breakfast for the sleepy heads). At lunch, which was nice, consisted of soup, cheeses, pasta, breads, etc. We didn't eat a ton, but had plenty. As we sat and tried to decide what to do today, a lovely lady from the Sheraton came by our little table and asked us what we were doing today (hmmm...was just the topic at the table before she arrived). We said we were not sure. We told her what we had done and then she asked us if we had been to the Hellbrunn Christmas market. We said no! She went on to explain it was the best. Not commercialized like the one in the square, but a more traditional market. She told us to catch bus #25 and it would be about a 15 minute ride out of town. After that, she went on to tell us how today was a very special day as St. Nicholas comes tonight. After the kids get home from school, they clean their boots and set them outside. Tonight, if they have been good, Santa will leave them sweets in their boots. If they have been bad, they will find a broom. The good thing is Santa comes again on the 25th (like us) and IF they have improved in their behavior, St. Nick will leave them goodies later this month. As a tradition, St. Nicholas parades all around town tonight with an entourage of devils (that stink) and if you've been bad they will whip you with their tails. She said it can hurt if you get whipped, so wear "trousers". This starts downtown at 5pm. You will see masses of people and hear loud bells. You can walk with them in the parade or just watch them go by. Sounds like the perfect day.
So we thanked her and went downstairs to get ready to catch bus #25. When we arrived at the Hellbrunn stop, the entire bus unloaded, so we knew we must have been at the right spot. We didn't know which direction to go, but we followed the crowd right to the market. It was one of the best markets so far (and to think we were so close and almost missed it). As we entered the area it was a huge beautiful place. A large park was in the back and the Salzburg zoo was just next door (we didn't hit the zoo). There were shops of all kinds and music. It was more of a family-friendly place as it had a petting zoo, a place where kids could make and bake their own cookies, it had fires where you could roast hot dogs and marshmallows and of course, gluhwein for the big kids. :) The shops had more hand crafted items and there were artisans working on them at the stands (this is always more fun). So Guy and I selected a meeting spot but this time I needed an hour. I dropped him at the petting zoo and headed for some shopping. I scouted everything out first but ended up getting several nice things. They had Christmas trees everywhere and the feel of this market was just different somehow. I loved it. So I bumped into Guy before the meeting place and he told me all about the petting zoo (he wants a rabbit now). He told me I HAD to go back with him before we left. Ha Ha. So we finished up the shops, looked around the park, bought a few goodies and headed for the petting zoo. As we were on the way we took a side entrance and came across this beautiful fish pond/fountain area. We walked around the entire thing and it was quite lovely. As we reached the petting zoo we saw all kinds of fun animals but the funniest of all were the brown furry pigs. They were having a blast playing all around their pen and were putting on quite the show. There were sheep and rams and tiny horses that little ones could ride on. There was a giant turkey just walking around by himself and gobbling constantly. The bunnies were cute (I was expecting Jack Rabbits) but these were small ones, some with floppy ears. This is the spot where the kids had their fun zone with games, roasting marshmallows and making the cookies. We went inside the little shop where they had the cookie making and the set up was just adorable. AND smelt fantastic! We took the daily selfie and several other pictures. Again it was a gloomy day, but it didn't matter. :)
Back to town we headed for the hotel to enjoy a hot chocolate and warm up before going to see the craziness of St. Nick and the trolls (I've got to get the real name of these creatures) While drinking our hot chocolate we asked the gal in the club room which street all this would take place on. That is when she began her story. Obviously quiet traumatized last year from St. Nick and his entourage, she goes on to tell us that the trolls are often drunk. DO NOT make eye contact with them. She said if one sees you and comes toward you - RUN! She said if they catch you, they do terrible things to you. She said she hid behind a big man last year after one of them spotted her and came for her. She was hilarious with her story. She told us over and over, "Don't let them see you looking and if they do RUN and RUN fast and they will chase you". Ha Ha. Should be an interesting event.
We headed out of the hotel for a nice walk along the river in anticipation of the festivities. We took the far bridge again so I could get some shots of downtown at night (since I didn't have my camera with me last night). So after a little research on the Internet, the 5th of December is the "Kramustag" where young men dress up in fur and evil masks and are called Perchten (pagan spirits) and they are scary. They carry oxen tails and whip you if you have been bad. Eek. Our gal from the hotel may have exaggerated just a bit, but they certainly were scary and we did see them pull a girl away from the group and put her in a cart...but I think she was willing to join the parade. I can't imagine people would want their kids exposed to these scary beasts, but it was certainly interesting to experience this tradition. Nothing like we've ever seen before. Fun Fun Fun.
After our experience with St. Nick (I did get video and several shots) we headed to the market for just a few minutes for me to get one last ornament and watch the kids ice skating. We walked toward our restaurant and we were a bit early but they had our table ready. It was a tiny place, very dark wood and if I'm not mistaken it is part of the oldest hotel in Salzburg. The waitresses had traditional clothes on and everything had hearts on it. The name of the restaurant is called e'Herzl which means "heart". So there were hearts everywhere. I already knew I wanted the goulash as I had to have one last authentic meal and Guy had the venison - both were AMAZING! The service was great and we highly recommend this restaurant. It had a really authentic feel to it and you felt like you had gone back in time. Really nice.
We strolled along the river on the way home and even though it is cold and misty, it was magical to hear Christmas songs being played by street musicians in the distance. It was before 8 pm, but the town is still bustling with people on every street. Reflecting back on our stay in Salzburg, we decided we were here the perfect amount of days. We saw the highlights and markets and if it hadn't been for the markets and Christmas activities, 3 days may have been too many. I would like to come here again in the summer and again in the winter when it is covered in snow. Basically I think I'm saying I want to come here again...
Tomorrow morning bright and early begins our trip to Italy. 3 trains, a bus and a cab. I'm sure it will be another beautifully sceneic adventure! Ciao!
Thursday, December 4, 2014
On the seventh day of Christmas markets...
...my true love gave to me, seven haus a dining.
The church bells rang this morning at 8:45 for some reason - for a very very long time. Not sure what it was about, but I needed to get up anyway. No good nights of sleep yet on this trip and we slept last night with the window open. It seems like the heat is just "on" and adjusting it isn't an option. We were downstairs having breakfast and the options were lovely. Guy had an omelet and I have a variety of other little goodies. We had no particular schedule today except to walk all over Salzburg, which we did.
Our first area to explore was going to be Old Town, which we saw last night, but we wanted to see it during the day while the shops were open. Before we got that far we came across a huge market. More of a farmers market as it mostly consisted of food and vegetables, floral items, socks, clothes and meat....lots of meat, including lots of raw chickens and farm eggs. We took about 30 minutes to explore the goods and the area was packed with locals. As we moved down the street we popped in and out a few shops and made a few quick purchases. As we made our way toward the pedestrian bridge we decided today would be the day we would ride the funicular to the castle (ok, so they call it a fortress, but still...). We decided to go ahead and go up today because the weather app on my phone says that it may clear off about 3pm. However, the girl at the desk said no, "cloudy until Tuesday", that is like 5 days away. But she did say snow was in the forecast, so bring it!
On the way to the funicular we came across an old cemetery that was so eye-catching we had to stop. There was what appeared to be an old church-looking area chiseled into the cliff, which are catacombs that you could go in and see. Google says the Petersfriedhof Cemetery is the oldest Christian graveyard in Salzburg, dating back to 1627. But most people come here to see where the Von Trapp family hid in the Sound of Music (yes, I'm ashamed to admit I've never seen the entire thing, but it was filmed in Salzburg). Mozart's sister is also buried there...apparently a talented musician in her own right. The cemetery is maintained by family members and the people of Salzburg and the pansy is the flower of choice on many of the grave sites. It was definitely worth a look. Eerie and amazing all at the same time.
We made our way to the funicular and bought tickets for the one minute ride. It beats the walk up I can tell you that. Guy read where it takes 30 minutes to walk down...so X3 at least for the hike up. No thanks. The ride was nice and not too scary. At the top we began our self guided tour of the fortress. We walked every inch and went through all the museums. It was nice. The view was great, but would have been amazing if we were not socked in by clouds. Still. Lovely.
We did it again...it is 2:30pm and we have decided we were hungry, which means we won't be hungry for dinner. But we saw a hoppin' old restaurant on the square and thought we'd give it a go. It was the Zipfer Bierhaus and the staff was exceptionally nice. We sat at a table for 6 with another couple, but they were at the other end and it didn't seem awkward. They were not speaking English, so there was no conversation happening between us. I ordered cheese dumplings with onions and Guy ordered pork schnitzel and boiled potatoes. The food came out promptly and it was good. My "dumplings" had a bit of a funky smell, but tasted good. I'm sure I was getting a whiff of the cheese that was on it, but really there was nothing that could be wrong with it *hopefully*. So to end the suspense of the intro to the blog, I think this bierhaus is the 7th haus we've dined at on this trip. They are plentiful and have all had great food.
After lunch I went back to the main market to check on a few items, plus I wanted to test out the "time-lapse" option on my phone. It is really cool, so I did a time lapse of the Christmas markets. It also has a slow motion option that I've done some cool things with. Twice I videoed the horse and carriages today, but I can't quite get the timing down. I'll try again tomorrow. - After my photo experiments we headed back to the hotel with a pitstop at a train store Guy wanted to visit. While he did that I went back to the little Christmas market by our hotel and picked up a few goodies. Back at the hotel we visited with this really super cute employee who was assisting us with dinner reservations and ideas for tomorrow. Guy asked him if the Eagle's Nest was closed and he said yes, but even if it was open the only thing there is a place for tea and a group of Chinese on the left and a group of Taiwanese on the right. Not very PC, but he was cracking us up. He gave us dinner suggestions and made us a reservation for tonight at 8pm and a list to review for tomorrow night. We went to the room to drop off our coats and went to the club room for hot chocolate and a cappuccino (or two). We Trip Advisored the suggestions he gave us and chose one that sounded very traditional Austrian and fun! So Guy went down to have them call for a reservation. Apparently the restaurants are all booked during the time of the Christmas markets, so reservations are a must. At least they take credit cards. When Guy arrived downstairs the desk was busy, so they are supposed to call when they can. Fingers crossed. The restaurant tonight is a seafood place. He said it is an Italian restaurant, but they are known for their seafood and if we wanted Italian to go somewhere else. Love the brutal honesty of this one.
I think we may have decided to take tomorrow easy. I'm pooped and the thought of sleeping in and lazying around the town sounds fabulous. Maybe tomorrow we'll figure out how to do a well-timed lunch so we are hungry for our last meal here. But we don't seem to be very good at that. LOL. We've hit the highlights and have enjoyed our time here, so if we had to choose a day to "take the day off" it would be here. In this hotel. In the suite. With unlimited snacks. And movies.
So I'll report in on dinner shortly, but wanted to get the blog going as I see my eyes closing much earlier tonight.
Ok, so dinner was interesting. Anytime I say "I'm not going to take my camera to dinner" is code for "you are getting ready to see something really cool". Just an FYI for future reference. *sigh* We headed out the door to the Pan E Vin, the Italian place with the good seafood and not so good Italian food. We took a different route and foot bridge to get there. As we were crossing that bridge and looked back at the beautifully lit bridge that we normally go across, it was a beautiful night time shot. I took a pic with my phone, but it won't be as good as my little camera. Anyway, it was worth the walk just to see that view. Maybe I'll catch it tomorrow night. Anyway, we find the restaurant and we are unsure if to eat upstairs or downstairs. Downstairs is their Cantina, more casual and consisted of two guys smoking at the bar. The upstairs was the restaurant part that was quiet and fancy, with really no customers. So they said they were expecting us, but we asked to see a menu to both places. Since Guy was there for seafood, there were only about 3 options and the one that sounded the best was the seabass (can't go wrong) but it was close to $50 US. It also didn't help that he had just read a really bad review on Trip Advisor. So combining 1). the place had no business on one of the busiest nights of the year, 2). the atmosphere was that of a library and 3). there are not too many fishes in the world worth fifty bucks. We left.
Neither one of us were really that hungry, so we were in no rush to find a place to eat, and since we'd need a reservation anywhere we went (except Pan E Vin) we were prepared to wait. We went by a few places we had seen yesterday, but all full, so we headed back to the restaurant we ate at last night as we threw in the towel and went for the world's most famous default. Pizza. We had to wait for a table but that was fine. When they did seat us it was at the same exact table we ate at the night before. Funny when you know how big the place was. I didn't mention it last night, because Guy wouldn't let me take a picture of another tables food, but the pizzas are so big they are hanging off the plates. Obviously they know this as they give you a circle of paper, like a placemat, when you order the pizza. Since we split one, they gave us our own plates, but it was still hanging off the side. Funny.
Now back at the hotel Guy said I hope our guy doesn't ask us how dinner was. He said don't make eye contact and we'll walk straight for the elevator. He won't holler across the lobby because he isn't American. We did as planned. No eye contact. B-line for the elevator. Just about to push the button...."How was the restaurant?" we hear coming from the desk. Busted. We go over to explain what had happened and he felt SO bad he had led us astray with his recommendation. We assured him that it was fine, the view from the bridge was worth the trip, and we were sure we'd like the restaurant tomorrow night. We told him we hoped the restaurant wouldn't be mad at him and he said of course not. This guy is just a kid, but is incredibly helpful. We felt so bad.
Back to the room there are chocolates on the bed and our laundry had been delivered. We needed just a few things washed up, including some of Guy's underwear. No need to be bashful here folks, we all wear them. (well most of us) but the best part of the story is they were delivered neatly folded on a wicker tray on the bed. We first thought it was a gift of some kind, but um, no! Underwear in a basket. We laughed.
So off to bed. Long day today and looking forward to a bit of R&R tomorrow. There will still be markets and food and stories to be told...but at a much slower pace.
The church bells rang this morning at 8:45 for some reason - for a very very long time. Not sure what it was about, but I needed to get up anyway. No good nights of sleep yet on this trip and we slept last night with the window open. It seems like the heat is just "on" and adjusting it isn't an option. We were downstairs having breakfast and the options were lovely. Guy had an omelet and I have a variety of other little goodies. We had no particular schedule today except to walk all over Salzburg, which we did.
Our first area to explore was going to be Old Town, which we saw last night, but we wanted to see it during the day while the shops were open. Before we got that far we came across a huge market. More of a farmers market as it mostly consisted of food and vegetables, floral items, socks, clothes and meat....lots of meat, including lots of raw chickens and farm eggs. We took about 30 minutes to explore the goods and the area was packed with locals. As we moved down the street we popped in and out a few shops and made a few quick purchases. As we made our way toward the pedestrian bridge we decided today would be the day we would ride the funicular to the castle (ok, so they call it a fortress, but still...). We decided to go ahead and go up today because the weather app on my phone says that it may clear off about 3pm. However, the girl at the desk said no, "cloudy until Tuesday", that is like 5 days away. But she did say snow was in the forecast, so bring it!
On the way to the funicular we came across an old cemetery that was so eye-catching we had to stop. There was what appeared to be an old church-looking area chiseled into the cliff, which are catacombs that you could go in and see. Google says the Petersfriedhof Cemetery is the oldest Christian graveyard in Salzburg, dating back to 1627. But most people come here to see where the Von Trapp family hid in the Sound of Music (yes, I'm ashamed to admit I've never seen the entire thing, but it was filmed in Salzburg). Mozart's sister is also buried there...apparently a talented musician in her own right. The cemetery is maintained by family members and the people of Salzburg and the pansy is the flower of choice on many of the grave sites. It was definitely worth a look. Eerie and amazing all at the same time.
We made our way to the funicular and bought tickets for the one minute ride. It beats the walk up I can tell you that. Guy read where it takes 30 minutes to walk down...so X3 at least for the hike up. No thanks. The ride was nice and not too scary. At the top we began our self guided tour of the fortress. We walked every inch and went through all the museums. It was nice. The view was great, but would have been amazing if we were not socked in by clouds. Still. Lovely.
We did it again...it is 2:30pm and we have decided we were hungry, which means we won't be hungry for dinner. But we saw a hoppin' old restaurant on the square and thought we'd give it a go. It was the Zipfer Bierhaus and the staff was exceptionally nice. We sat at a table for 6 with another couple, but they were at the other end and it didn't seem awkward. They were not speaking English, so there was no conversation happening between us. I ordered cheese dumplings with onions and Guy ordered pork schnitzel and boiled potatoes. The food came out promptly and it was good. My "dumplings" had a bit of a funky smell, but tasted good. I'm sure I was getting a whiff of the cheese that was on it, but really there was nothing that could be wrong with it *hopefully*. So to end the suspense of the intro to the blog, I think this bierhaus is the 7th haus we've dined at on this trip. They are plentiful and have all had great food.
After lunch I went back to the main market to check on a few items, plus I wanted to test out the "time-lapse" option on my phone. It is really cool, so I did a time lapse of the Christmas markets. It also has a slow motion option that I've done some cool things with. Twice I videoed the horse and carriages today, but I can't quite get the timing down. I'll try again tomorrow. - After my photo experiments we headed back to the hotel with a pitstop at a train store Guy wanted to visit. While he did that I went back to the little Christmas market by our hotel and picked up a few goodies. Back at the hotel we visited with this really super cute employee who was assisting us with dinner reservations and ideas for tomorrow. Guy asked him if the Eagle's Nest was closed and he said yes, but even if it was open the only thing there is a place for tea and a group of Chinese on the left and a group of Taiwanese on the right. Not very PC, but he was cracking us up. He gave us dinner suggestions and made us a reservation for tonight at 8pm and a list to review for tomorrow night. We went to the room to drop off our coats and went to the club room for hot chocolate and a cappuccino (or two). We Trip Advisored the suggestions he gave us and chose one that sounded very traditional Austrian and fun! So Guy went down to have them call for a reservation. Apparently the restaurants are all booked during the time of the Christmas markets, so reservations are a must. At least they take credit cards. When Guy arrived downstairs the desk was busy, so they are supposed to call when they can. Fingers crossed. The restaurant tonight is a seafood place. He said it is an Italian restaurant, but they are known for their seafood and if we wanted Italian to go somewhere else. Love the brutal honesty of this one.
I think we may have decided to take tomorrow easy. I'm pooped and the thought of sleeping in and lazying around the town sounds fabulous. Maybe tomorrow we'll figure out how to do a well-timed lunch so we are hungry for our last meal here. But we don't seem to be very good at that. LOL. We've hit the highlights and have enjoyed our time here, so if we had to choose a day to "take the day off" it would be here. In this hotel. In the suite. With unlimited snacks. And movies.
So I'll report in on dinner shortly, but wanted to get the blog going as I see my eyes closing much earlier tonight.
Ok, so dinner was interesting. Anytime I say "I'm not going to take my camera to dinner" is code for "you are getting ready to see something really cool". Just an FYI for future reference. *sigh* We headed out the door to the Pan E Vin, the Italian place with the good seafood and not so good Italian food. We took a different route and foot bridge to get there. As we were crossing that bridge and looked back at the beautifully lit bridge that we normally go across, it was a beautiful night time shot. I took a pic with my phone, but it won't be as good as my little camera. Anyway, it was worth the walk just to see that view. Maybe I'll catch it tomorrow night. Anyway, we find the restaurant and we are unsure if to eat upstairs or downstairs. Downstairs is their Cantina, more casual and consisted of two guys smoking at the bar. The upstairs was the restaurant part that was quiet and fancy, with really no customers. So they said they were expecting us, but we asked to see a menu to both places. Since Guy was there for seafood, there were only about 3 options and the one that sounded the best was the seabass (can't go wrong) but it was close to $50 US. It also didn't help that he had just read a really bad review on Trip Advisor. So combining 1). the place had no business on one of the busiest nights of the year, 2). the atmosphere was that of a library and 3). there are not too many fishes in the world worth fifty bucks. We left.
Neither one of us were really that hungry, so we were in no rush to find a place to eat, and since we'd need a reservation anywhere we went (except Pan E Vin) we were prepared to wait. We went by a few places we had seen yesterday, but all full, so we headed back to the restaurant we ate at last night as we threw in the towel and went for the world's most famous default. Pizza. We had to wait for a table but that was fine. When they did seat us it was at the same exact table we ate at the night before. Funny when you know how big the place was. I didn't mention it last night, because Guy wouldn't let me take a picture of another tables food, but the pizzas are so big they are hanging off the plates. Obviously they know this as they give you a circle of paper, like a placemat, when you order the pizza. Since we split one, they gave us our own plates, but it was still hanging off the side. Funny.
Now back at the hotel Guy said I hope our guy doesn't ask us how dinner was. He said don't make eye contact and we'll walk straight for the elevator. He won't holler across the lobby because he isn't American. We did as planned. No eye contact. B-line for the elevator. Just about to push the button...."How was the restaurant?" we hear coming from the desk. Busted. We go over to explain what had happened and he felt SO bad he had led us astray with his recommendation. We assured him that it was fine, the view from the bridge was worth the trip, and we were sure we'd like the restaurant tomorrow night. We told him we hoped the restaurant wouldn't be mad at him and he said of course not. This guy is just a kid, but is incredibly helpful. We felt so bad.
Back to the room there are chocolates on the bed and our laundry had been delivered. We needed just a few things washed up, including some of Guy's underwear. No need to be bashful here folks, we all wear them. (well most of us) but the best part of the story is they were delivered neatly folded on a wicker tray on the bed. We first thought it was a gift of some kind, but um, no! Underwear in a basket. We laughed.
So off to bed. Long day today and looking forward to a bit of R&R tomorrow. There will still be markets and food and stories to be told...but at a much slower pace.
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
On the sixth day of Christmas markets...
...my true love gave to me, six dollars a paying.
Well, we hated to say goodbye to beautiful Munich, but the hunt for more Christmas markets continues! As we got to the train station I stopped at Starbucks for a caramel macchiato. Cost me nearly six dollars (US). Sheesh. It's killing me because I have a free drink on my Starbucks account, but they won't accept it here. I wanted to get a Germany Starbucks mug to go in my collection I have started, but they were OUT! (They had Munich, but I prefer just the country to match my others) Hopefully they will have them in when we stop at the station on the way back through to fly home. :)
We were at the station an hour early, just to be safe, but neither one of us slept last night...so I was already awake when the alarm went off at 7am. Our train pulled away from the station right at 9:55 and off we went to Salzburg, Austria. The ride was only about two hours long and the scenery was nice but it is so foggy today that if there were mountains I didn't see any. We hogged up 4 seats with all our stuff, but the guy taking our ticket didn't say anything even tho the train was pretty full. 11am was apparently snack time as people around us started pulling out food. The cute older couple next to us had packed sandwiches and apples. Down a few seats, several girls whipped out bread of some kind. So of course with the train car smelling like a buffet, I had to pull out the snacks we bought at the train station. I had a long pretzel and Guy had a pretzel with cheese and ham on it. I also had some kind of German cookie and the jury is still out on its level of deliciousness. It had like a thin wafer on the bottom, then the middle was a cross between an oatmeal cookie and fruit cake. The outside was covered in dark chocolate. So when I got it I had no idea what lurked in the middle. Since I'm not counting any kind of calories on this trip, I ate most of it. If I had been counting calories I'm not sure I would have wasted them on it. Ha Ha. Still, I don't think I've ever met a cookie I didn't like or coudn't eat.
As we got off the train and into the cab, Guy told the cabbie "the Sheraton". He said "which one". Um.....for a very long second Guy looks at me - I look at Guy *insert blank stare here*. So Guy told him the one that was only about an 8 Euro ride. He said "ok". The lady at the desk said there was really only one Sheraton in town. The other one was about a 1/2 hour ride out into the country. Glad we aren't looking at the countryside right now. So as we checked in, this beautiful blonde gal got us hooked up with, yes, an UPGRADE! All she said was it overlooked the garden, which was cool, but when we walked in the room it had a hallway. Yes, a hallway. First clue that it ain't the Red Roof Inn (Tena Bennett). Gosh, what will we do with two bathrooms and a walk-in closet? Maybe MOVE HERE? So as I overlooked the beautiful gardens and castle in the background, I decided the few seconds of tight chest, shortness of breath, and sweaty palms in the elevator was worth it. It is just the 6th floor, so I could hoof if I had to.
I was so excited about the room I had to Facetime my sister so she could take a tour! Ooops...my bad (and lack of math skills) it was only 5:30am in Nashville. But she loves me and tolerated my early call. She did her obligatory "ooos and ahhs" and I told her I'd call her later...at a decent time. - After our chat, Guy and I headed out to the town in search of more Christmas stuff. Within a few steps of the hotel we came across our first little market. They had a few nice things, but this wasn't the big one. For that we crossed over the river (over a beautifully lit pedestrian bridge) and entered into one of the town's squares. It was so big we had to designate a meeting spot because I needed about a half hour to peruse. Then we'd go into the second section. They had most of the same things the German markets had, hats, candles, ornaments, toys, food, Christmas miniatures, and of course Gluhwein! I wondered if that was just a German thing, but it must just be a Christmas thing. We'll see in a few days if the Italians have it. ;)
So all this shopping makes one hungry! Guy grabbed a hotdog on a big roll and I had a giant sugar donut in the shape of a pretzel. It was a big'n but I took care of business. Note the information about calories and vacations in the second paragraph. - As we looked around this cute section of Salzburg, we walked up and down the main narrow street and down the occasional side street we would find mini markets to explore. One even had some sheep and a jackrabbit. Hmmm...but it had some unique items and I actually bought a few ornaments there. BTW, this no credit card business at the markets is for the birds. How can I spend recklessly when I only have so many dollars on this trip? One needs a credit card so you don't have any idea what you have spent and have shoppers remorse weeks after the fact! Geeze...they really know how to take the air outta my shoppin' balloon.
Time to eat again, so for dinner I found a place on Trip Advisor that sounded really good. Authentic Austrian food that was packed every night and a reservation is a must. So Guy had the hotel call for a reservation and they were booked tonight and tomorrow night. Hmm...so we opted for an Italian restaurant, L'Osteria. We decided since we couldn't get into the Zum fidelen Affen and we were getting slightly schnitzeled out, we thought a dose of straight up spaghetti would do us good. So we walked back past the small Christmas market toward old town. The restaurant was on the main road and when we walked in it was rockin'. Good thing the hotel made us a reservation. The tables for two were so close together something like that would not fly in a small town, but the bad thing is we couldn't eavesdrop because we had no idea what they were saying. Still, people watching is always fun. They brought out our food, first the Caprese salad and then the spaghetti. I went for the marinara and Guy went for the meat sauce. They were both really good and hit the spot on a cold night. As we were waiting for our check the door opens and in walks a guy that is dressed like an Arch Bishop and he had some angels with him...as well as a few trolls. Seems like an odd group, doesn't it? So he came in with his big walking stick and tapped in on the floor several times and made a small speech. In German. After this they went around and collected money from anyone willing to part with a few coins and if you did so, you got some candies. We were indeed willing and with a "danke" they were on their way. When our waiter came by to drop off the check we asked him what that was all about. He said they go around as a fund raiser for "kids who need help". So that was pretty cool.
After we left he restaurant we walked around just for a bit in the old part of town. The shops were all closed, but the Christmas lights were beautiful. We walked up and down and window shopped. It is brisk out and you could see your breath, but we were bundled up nicely and we didn't want to miss out on the cool night vibe in beautiful Salzburg. Now don't get excited here people, but there was a possibility that for a split second we saw the outline of the moon. So perhaps...without saying it too loudly and knocking on wood...we may see a break in the clouds tomorrow? That would be nice. - Upon return to the hotel we went to the room to put our coats away and headed up to the 7th floor where a hot chocolate awaited us in the "Club Room". Yes, you heard me...the Club Room...as part of the UPGRADE. And so you know, and can sleep tonight without disappointed, there were lovely little chocolates on our pillows when we got back from dinner. Guy and I just gave each other knuckles with jazz hands. *wink* Gotta love Starwood points!
Well, we hated to say goodbye to beautiful Munich, but the hunt for more Christmas markets continues! As we got to the train station I stopped at Starbucks for a caramel macchiato. Cost me nearly six dollars (US). Sheesh. It's killing me because I have a free drink on my Starbucks account, but they won't accept it here. I wanted to get a Germany Starbucks mug to go in my collection I have started, but they were OUT! (They had Munich, but I prefer just the country to match my others) Hopefully they will have them in when we stop at the station on the way back through to fly home. :)
We were at the station an hour early, just to be safe, but neither one of us slept last night...so I was already awake when the alarm went off at 7am. Our train pulled away from the station right at 9:55 and off we went to Salzburg, Austria. The ride was only about two hours long and the scenery was nice but it is so foggy today that if there were mountains I didn't see any. We hogged up 4 seats with all our stuff, but the guy taking our ticket didn't say anything even tho the train was pretty full. 11am was apparently snack time as people around us started pulling out food. The cute older couple next to us had packed sandwiches and apples. Down a few seats, several girls whipped out bread of some kind. So of course with the train car smelling like a buffet, I had to pull out the snacks we bought at the train station. I had a long pretzel and Guy had a pretzel with cheese and ham on it. I also had some kind of German cookie and the jury is still out on its level of deliciousness. It had like a thin wafer on the bottom, then the middle was a cross between an oatmeal cookie and fruit cake. The outside was covered in dark chocolate. So when I got it I had no idea what lurked in the middle. Since I'm not counting any kind of calories on this trip, I ate most of it. If I had been counting calories I'm not sure I would have wasted them on it. Ha Ha. Still, I don't think I've ever met a cookie I didn't like or coudn't eat.
As we got off the train and into the cab, Guy told the cabbie "the Sheraton". He said "which one". Um.....for a very long second Guy looks at me - I look at Guy *insert blank stare here*. So Guy told him the one that was only about an 8 Euro ride. He said "ok". The lady at the desk said there was really only one Sheraton in town. The other one was about a 1/2 hour ride out into the country. Glad we aren't looking at the countryside right now. So as we checked in, this beautiful blonde gal got us hooked up with, yes, an UPGRADE! All she said was it overlooked the garden, which was cool, but when we walked in the room it had a hallway. Yes, a hallway. First clue that it ain't the Red Roof Inn (Tena Bennett). Gosh, what will we do with two bathrooms and a walk-in closet? Maybe MOVE HERE? So as I overlooked the beautiful gardens and castle in the background, I decided the few seconds of tight chest, shortness of breath, and sweaty palms in the elevator was worth it. It is just the 6th floor, so I could hoof if I had to.
I was so excited about the room I had to Facetime my sister so she could take a tour! Ooops...my bad (and lack of math skills) it was only 5:30am in Nashville. But she loves me and tolerated my early call. She did her obligatory "ooos and ahhs" and I told her I'd call her later...at a decent time. - After our chat, Guy and I headed out to the town in search of more Christmas stuff. Within a few steps of the hotel we came across our first little market. They had a few nice things, but this wasn't the big one. For that we crossed over the river (over a beautifully lit pedestrian bridge) and entered into one of the town's squares. It was so big we had to designate a meeting spot because I needed about a half hour to peruse. Then we'd go into the second section. They had most of the same things the German markets had, hats, candles, ornaments, toys, food, Christmas miniatures, and of course Gluhwein! I wondered if that was just a German thing, but it must just be a Christmas thing. We'll see in a few days if the Italians have it. ;)
So all this shopping makes one hungry! Guy grabbed a hotdog on a big roll and I had a giant sugar donut in the shape of a pretzel. It was a big'n but I took care of business. Note the information about calories and vacations in the second paragraph. - As we looked around this cute section of Salzburg, we walked up and down the main narrow street and down the occasional side street we would find mini markets to explore. One even had some sheep and a jackrabbit. Hmmm...but it had some unique items and I actually bought a few ornaments there. BTW, this no credit card business at the markets is for the birds. How can I spend recklessly when I only have so many dollars on this trip? One needs a credit card so you don't have any idea what you have spent and have shoppers remorse weeks after the fact! Geeze...they really know how to take the air outta my shoppin' balloon.
Time to eat again, so for dinner I found a place on Trip Advisor that sounded really good. Authentic Austrian food that was packed every night and a reservation is a must. So Guy had the hotel call for a reservation and they were booked tonight and tomorrow night. Hmm...so we opted for an Italian restaurant, L'Osteria. We decided since we couldn't get into the Zum fidelen Affen and we were getting slightly schnitzeled out, we thought a dose of straight up spaghetti would do us good. So we walked back past the small Christmas market toward old town. The restaurant was on the main road and when we walked in it was rockin'. Good thing the hotel made us a reservation. The tables for two were so close together something like that would not fly in a small town, but the bad thing is we couldn't eavesdrop because we had no idea what they were saying. Still, people watching is always fun. They brought out our food, first the Caprese salad and then the spaghetti. I went for the marinara and Guy went for the meat sauce. They were both really good and hit the spot on a cold night. As we were waiting for our check the door opens and in walks a guy that is dressed like an Arch Bishop and he had some angels with him...as well as a few trolls. Seems like an odd group, doesn't it? So he came in with his big walking stick and tapped in on the floor several times and made a small speech. In German. After this they went around and collected money from anyone willing to part with a few coins and if you did so, you got some candies. We were indeed willing and with a "danke" they were on their way. When our waiter came by to drop off the check we asked him what that was all about. He said they go around as a fund raiser for "kids who need help". So that was pretty cool.
After we left he restaurant we walked around just for a bit in the old part of town. The shops were all closed, but the Christmas lights were beautiful. We walked up and down and window shopped. It is brisk out and you could see your breath, but we were bundled up nicely and we didn't want to miss out on the cool night vibe in beautiful Salzburg. Now don't get excited here people, but there was a possibility that for a split second we saw the outline of the moon. So perhaps...without saying it too loudly and knocking on wood...we may see a break in the clouds tomorrow? That would be nice. - Upon return to the hotel we went to the room to put our coats away and headed up to the 7th floor where a hot chocolate awaited us in the "Club Room". Yes, you heard me...the Club Room...as part of the UPGRADE. And so you know, and can sleep tonight without disappointed, there were lovely little chocolates on our pillows when we got back from dinner. Guy and I just gave each other knuckles with jazz hands. *wink* Gotta love Starwood points!
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
On the fifth day of Christmas markets...
...my true love gave to me, five Olympic rings!
Well today was our big touring day around the city. Again the weather is not playing nice. It is 36 degrees with off and on heavy mist. The good news is we never needed an umbrella! (we were optimistic and didn't pack one) However, we are starting to think the sun doesn't shine in Munich, as we have no proof it exists here. :) So we bundled up and ate a couple of granola bars in the room. We were out the door just after 10, first stopping at the main train station to check into train tickets from Salzburg to Cortina. Apparently we have to buy those in Salzburg...so no biggie. While at the train station we picked up a few pretzels to have as emergency bus snacks. As we left the train station we saw where the hop on hop off bus was stopped, so we went over and bought our tickets for the day. The gal at the desk was having a "Monday" and snapped at us when we asked a question, but the driver was pleasant. We hopped on and lucked out with a spot up top in the front row (the top was covered of course). We had our headphones in and as we were listening to the narration, it was also over the loud speaker in the bus, only in German - and really loud. So it was kinda hard to hear. The older folks had their hands over their ears to try to block out the speaker in the bus. This is the first time we've had that happen as everyone just listens with headphones to their own language option. Plus by the end of the tour the windows fogged up and that made seeing a bit more difficult. I was a little disappointed in the "Red" hop on hop off as we usually go straight to this company because of our good experiences in past cities. After today my loyalties may not be as strong. ;)
As we were on our first route (there were three) it took us out to the Olympic Village. This area was built up when Munich had the summer Olympics in 1972. It has a brutal history - if any of you have seen the movie "Munich" you know what I'm talking about. The games were overshadowed by the abduction and murders of Israeli athletes. Yikes. There is also Olympic Hill, a 60 meter high hill made from the debris of WWII. In the winter people ski on it and in the summer people climb it to get an overview of the city. It was amazing to see and think about what was underneath. A very interesting area to be in. - As we hopped on our second route, it took us to the English Gardens. We only took half this route as it only ran twice that day, but we wanted to see the gardens so we hopped off. It was a beautiful walk and we can only image its beauty in the summer. We asked a nice older gentleman where the Christmas market was and he pointed us in the right direction. It was a smaller market, but still had 20 or so little shops to look at. Even though it was still early in the day, the Gluhwein was cooking and the smell enveloped the market. After checking everything out, we headed back for town as we passed the Medieval Christmas market on the bus ride. We were at the wrong market last night (our bad) but happy accidents as we got to see the Sendlinger Tor market last night and then this VERY unique market today. Yep, everyone was in medieval attire and they had full sized pigs on spits and torture devices. LOL. It was really fun to look at these shops. Again each market is a bit different. I just read on the Internet there are 24 markets in Munich. LOL. I think we hit the big ones.
Let me jump back a few months. My friend Mary Stoffel is married to Mark, who is from Munich. We had lunch with them several months ago when we were planning this trip to get pointers from them. Mark gave us the lowdown on what to see and markets to be sure to hit. He was right about everything. I just wish they were here - now that would have been fun!
So after the Medieval market we decided to head back toward the main market at St. Mary's (Marienplatz) as I needed to pick up some ornaments and we were contemplating dinner at the Hofbrauhaus. We were there a few days ago, but it was too crowded to find a seat. Trip Advisor says it has both tourists and locals as regulars and even though touristy, it has excellent traditional Bavarian food. So deciding to go ahead and have an early dinner, we headed through the shops and back roads to the restaurant. It was just getting dark so I stopped occasionally to snap a few photos of the city lights and the Christmas lights. They were beautiful.
At the Hofbrauhaus we chose a seat and lucked out to have a very chipper waiter. As we struggled with the German menus, he said "How about English menus?" After seeing our sighs of relief he said "I'm a good boy". Ha Ha. So as we thought over the menu, he asked if we wanted drinks. In the past beer halls they have just said "two beers?" with the answer always being "water and diet Coke". So this time we ordered the usual - water and diet coke. Guy looked at me and then looked over at the beer being poured out of these huge tanks. I knew what he was thinking. One of us needs to try it and since he is allergic to alcohol that meant me. So I looked at the menu and saw they had different kinds of beer mixed with lemonade. Hmmmm. So when our waiter brought the coke and water I told him I didn't like beer but it was our last night in Germany and wondered if he thought I'd like the lemonade one. He said "Yes, it is delicious, my mom even likes it!". I'm not exactly sure how to take that...but I said ok and waited for its highly anticipated arrival to the table. When he sat it down it looked like beer and when I sniffed it, it had a nice smell, but when I took a swig...it was gross. He came back and asked me if I liked it, and I said "no, but I'm in Germany so we had to try it". He agreed it was an acquired taste that not everyone likes. :)
So on to the food. I ordered some kind of crispy pig belly with a bread dumpling and kraut. Guy ordered potatoes and pork sausages. Mine arrived first and I was told by my co-pilot to dig in. This was kinda like a prime rib...you work around the fat, but the meat in the middle is outstanding. I definitely won for the best meal tonight. The dumplings were like a round circle of dressing minus all the spices. However, the kraut was the best I've had so far. It wasn't as tangy as most but was more on the savory side. I even made Guy take a bite (he still isn't a kraut fan). We topped off the meal with apple struedel, of course, and it was spectacular. As we left, our waiter was taking an order from another table, but he made a point to look up and tell us goodbye. That was nice. :) The crowd at the restaurant was fun to watch. All kinds of people, both young and old, were enjoying the big open areas and by the time we were finishing up, the band was just beginning. A lady was dancing all by herself and apparently Guy cut a quick rug with her as he walked by, which evoked a huge smile from the lone dancer. I was walking ahead of him, so I missed his dancing with the stars audition, but was glad he made some old gal's night.
So we walked back through the Marienplatz market and smelled the gluhwein one last time before heading to the train. I snapped a few more pictures and it was a wonderfully crisp-cold night. On the way back to our hotel we talked about the past few days and what an adventure it had been. The markets are perfectly entertaining. There is always something to do, food to get, and music to listen to. Plenty of shopping and items were not outrageously priced. Our hotel was situated right by a subway station (Heimeranplatz) and was a quick train ride to anywhere in town. We never once got on the wrong train and even if we had it would have been no big deal to get back on the right track (pun intended). We never had a bad meal and the people are very kind to those who do not speak German. So with these lovely Munich Christmas market memories dancing around in our heads, we are off to bed as we have an early train ride tomorrow to Salzburg, Austria.
Stay tuned...more adventures to come!!
Well today was our big touring day around the city. Again the weather is not playing nice. It is 36 degrees with off and on heavy mist. The good news is we never needed an umbrella! (we were optimistic and didn't pack one) However, we are starting to think the sun doesn't shine in Munich, as we have no proof it exists here. :) So we bundled up and ate a couple of granola bars in the room. We were out the door just after 10, first stopping at the main train station to check into train tickets from Salzburg to Cortina. Apparently we have to buy those in Salzburg...so no biggie. While at the train station we picked up a few pretzels to have as emergency bus snacks. As we left the train station we saw where the hop on hop off bus was stopped, so we went over and bought our tickets for the day. The gal at the desk was having a "Monday" and snapped at us when we asked a question, but the driver was pleasant. We hopped on and lucked out with a spot up top in the front row (the top was covered of course). We had our headphones in and as we were listening to the narration, it was also over the loud speaker in the bus, only in German - and really loud. So it was kinda hard to hear. The older folks had their hands over their ears to try to block out the speaker in the bus. This is the first time we've had that happen as everyone just listens with headphones to their own language option. Plus by the end of the tour the windows fogged up and that made seeing a bit more difficult. I was a little disappointed in the "Red" hop on hop off as we usually go straight to this company because of our good experiences in past cities. After today my loyalties may not be as strong. ;)
As we were on our first route (there were three) it took us out to the Olympic Village. This area was built up when Munich had the summer Olympics in 1972. It has a brutal history - if any of you have seen the movie "Munich" you know what I'm talking about. The games were overshadowed by the abduction and murders of Israeli athletes. Yikes. There is also Olympic Hill, a 60 meter high hill made from the debris of WWII. In the winter people ski on it and in the summer people climb it to get an overview of the city. It was amazing to see and think about what was underneath. A very interesting area to be in. - As we hopped on our second route, it took us to the English Gardens. We only took half this route as it only ran twice that day, but we wanted to see the gardens so we hopped off. It was a beautiful walk and we can only image its beauty in the summer. We asked a nice older gentleman where the Christmas market was and he pointed us in the right direction. It was a smaller market, but still had 20 or so little shops to look at. Even though it was still early in the day, the Gluhwein was cooking and the smell enveloped the market. After checking everything out, we headed back for town as we passed the Medieval Christmas market on the bus ride. We were at the wrong market last night (our bad) but happy accidents as we got to see the Sendlinger Tor market last night and then this VERY unique market today. Yep, everyone was in medieval attire and they had full sized pigs on spits and torture devices. LOL. It was really fun to look at these shops. Again each market is a bit different. I just read on the Internet there are 24 markets in Munich. LOL. I think we hit the big ones.
Let me jump back a few months. My friend Mary Stoffel is married to Mark, who is from Munich. We had lunch with them several months ago when we were planning this trip to get pointers from them. Mark gave us the lowdown on what to see and markets to be sure to hit. He was right about everything. I just wish they were here - now that would have been fun!
So after the Medieval market we decided to head back toward the main market at St. Mary's (Marienplatz) as I needed to pick up some ornaments and we were contemplating dinner at the Hofbrauhaus. We were there a few days ago, but it was too crowded to find a seat. Trip Advisor says it has both tourists and locals as regulars and even though touristy, it has excellent traditional Bavarian food. So deciding to go ahead and have an early dinner, we headed through the shops and back roads to the restaurant. It was just getting dark so I stopped occasionally to snap a few photos of the city lights and the Christmas lights. They were beautiful.
At the Hofbrauhaus we chose a seat and lucked out to have a very chipper waiter. As we struggled with the German menus, he said "How about English menus?" After seeing our sighs of relief he said "I'm a good boy". Ha Ha. So as we thought over the menu, he asked if we wanted drinks. In the past beer halls they have just said "two beers?" with the answer always being "water and diet Coke". So this time we ordered the usual - water and diet coke. Guy looked at me and then looked over at the beer being poured out of these huge tanks. I knew what he was thinking. One of us needs to try it and since he is allergic to alcohol that meant me. So I looked at the menu and saw they had different kinds of beer mixed with lemonade. Hmmmm. So when our waiter brought the coke and water I told him I didn't like beer but it was our last night in Germany and wondered if he thought I'd like the lemonade one. He said "Yes, it is delicious, my mom even likes it!". I'm not exactly sure how to take that...but I said ok and waited for its highly anticipated arrival to the table. When he sat it down it looked like beer and when I sniffed it, it had a nice smell, but when I took a swig...it was gross. He came back and asked me if I liked it, and I said "no, but I'm in Germany so we had to try it". He agreed it was an acquired taste that not everyone likes. :)
So on to the food. I ordered some kind of crispy pig belly with a bread dumpling and kraut. Guy ordered potatoes and pork sausages. Mine arrived first and I was told by my co-pilot to dig in. This was kinda like a prime rib...you work around the fat, but the meat in the middle is outstanding. I definitely won for the best meal tonight. The dumplings were like a round circle of dressing minus all the spices. However, the kraut was the best I've had so far. It wasn't as tangy as most but was more on the savory side. I even made Guy take a bite (he still isn't a kraut fan). We topped off the meal with apple struedel, of course, and it was spectacular. As we left, our waiter was taking an order from another table, but he made a point to look up and tell us goodbye. That was nice. :) The crowd at the restaurant was fun to watch. All kinds of people, both young and old, were enjoying the big open areas and by the time we were finishing up, the band was just beginning. A lady was dancing all by herself and apparently Guy cut a quick rug with her as he walked by, which evoked a huge smile from the lone dancer. I was walking ahead of him, so I missed his dancing with the stars audition, but was glad he made some old gal's night.
So we walked back through the Marienplatz market and smelled the gluhwein one last time before heading to the train. I snapped a few more pictures and it was a wonderfully crisp-cold night. On the way back to our hotel we talked about the past few days and what an adventure it had been. The markets are perfectly entertaining. There is always something to do, food to get, and music to listen to. Plenty of shopping and items were not outrageously priced. Our hotel was situated right by a subway station (Heimeranplatz) and was a quick train ride to anywhere in town. We never once got on the wrong train and even if we had it would have been no big deal to get back on the right track (pun intended). We never had a bad meal and the people are very kind to those who do not speak German. So with these lovely Munich Christmas market memories dancing around in our heads, we are off to bed as we have an early train ride tomorrow to Salzburg, Austria.
Stay tuned...more adventures to come!!
Monday, December 1, 2014
On the fourth day of Christmas markets....
...my true love gave to me, four antique birds
I'll explain this one is a second, first...let me tell you how the day began (not good). So we woke up about 5am hot. Guy opened the window for a bit, but the traffic was zooming by and was quite loud. So after things cooled off he shut the window and we fell asleep again. When we woke up it was NOON! Oops! Should have set an alarm. :| So as I'm racing to get ready, I put my face on in the bathroom (where the zoom mirror lives) but went into the hallway to do my hair while Guy takes his shower. The closest plug is the one in the safe, so I used my new converter/adaptor, plugged in my Chi and set the temp to 425. As I grabbed it to start doing my hair I realized it was only warm - not hot and the light was off. So I plugged it into a few other sockets, tried my old faithful converter and still .... nothing. Ok, so all you ladies out there that go to bed with wet hair know what it looks like in the morning, right? Ahem...and when you have no way to fix it you get in a "mood", right? And you know the Chi iron is not cheap, and it is only a few months old.. so you know where this is going.... but I still managed to put on my happy face (not super happy but happy to be on vacay face), braided my hair and stuck my hat on. It was nearly 1pm before we headed out but it was fine because we just switched our plans and we decided to see the German museum of Science and Technology instead of doing the hop on hop off bus. So after eating two granola bars, we set out for the day.
The museum was easy to get to and it was a huge place. The people taking our money, giving us the maps, and scanning our tickets were ALL having a "Monday" as they were a bit grumpy. :) So we went inside and worked our way around the spots Guy wanted to go to (this is a dude place for the most part...but he puts up with all my shopping so it's only fair). There were lots of planes and engines and machinery...you get the picture - this is where the "four antique birds" comes from as my intro to today's blog. I thought it was going to have WWII stuff in it - uniforms, guns, etc. But sadly no luck. I took a few photos and listened to a guy give a talk on snowflakes and CDs in German. His voice was pleasant and I just needed a break, so I sat in the crowd like I understood. (Mark and Mary Stoffel, I think of you every day and wish you were here with us). :)
After a few hours we decided we were getting hungry so we set out for lunch at an old beer hall that was recommended to us by "Sven" at the Sheraton's front desk on our first day. He told us it was over by the Four Points hotel so we hopped a train and found the hotel. We went inside to talk to the hotel folks because we weren't for sure where we were going and we wanted to find a bank (markets don't take credit cards. sigh. but now I remember Mark telling me they didn't) and I need some kind of device that removes bed head since my Chi passed on to the next life. The two gals at the desk were fantastic and pointed us next door to the "Saturn" electronics store - very convenient - for the curling iron and down the street for the beer hall. As luck would have it, I had about 20 flat irons to choose from! So I grabbed a Remington (knew the name) and headed out of this mega electronics store. Kinda hard to explain how big it is, but I think it covered nearly half a block and had more than one level. Out the door and to the right was the beer hall and even at 4pm it had quite a crowd (early bird types if you know want I mean) and they appeared to be locals.
The name was the Augustiner Braeustuben. I didn't catch when it opened exactly, but some time in the 1800s (says the internet). There is a huge beer hall where you can see the bars and it was lined with long tables where you sat with other people. They also had a quiet quaint space with tables just down a few stairs, so we opted for that section and was led to our table by our waiter. He was not having a "Monday" as he was excellent and gave us menus in English (again with photos - very helpful). Our food came quickly and it was delicious. Guy had schnitzel (veal) and I had some kind of sausage over kraut. We ate pretty much everything but still found some room for apple streudel. So so so good! Good thing my pants have a stretchy waist!
As we left the Augustiner we went back to the train station and headed for a new market, the one at Sendlinger Tor. This was supposed to have people wearing medieval clothing at their shops. When we arrived it was already very dark (6pm) and it was lit beautifully. Even though very small, we still enjoyed the shops and it had a nice crowd that were family types and were either visiting the shops or just sitting around having a fun evening. I sampled their gluhwein and it was good. The mug it came in was a keeper. :) So after an hour we decided to go back to the market close by our hotel - the Saturday night nightmare market. However, Sunday night was some better and guess what...Monday night was PERFECT! This market, Tollwood, has quickly grown from market hell to our favorite place to hang out. :) So many food options, shops, music...it has it all. We compare it to the DuQuoin State Fair on steroids. So I shopped for a new hat and Guy got and sausage sandwich. Since the lines were short at the Crepe place, I got the same thing I had the other night - banana and chocolate. This time I only waited 10 minutes instead of nearly an hour like Saturday night. We also found that the music tent was managable tonight. There was no place to sit down, but we had a small table to put our drinks on (a chopped off tree stump). The band of 14 musicians and singers were rockin' out to 80s cover songs and we were excited we knew the words. :) We stayed for well over an hour as the music was excellent and it was the end to a perfect day (well maybe didn't start out perfect). As the misty rain became a little heavier and my legs were even heavier than the mist, I was ready to head back to the hotel.
Arriving back at the hotel, we warmed up with long hot showers and I started downloading a few pictures. I didn't take a lot today because the museum lacked what I would consider interesting photo ops (Guy would differ) but we still snapped a few fun shots of our day and night. We are looking forward to tomorrow as we hop on and hop off the big red bus and see Munich from the top (it seems like we've seen underneath it a lot) however it is our last day in this wonderful city and our vacation is zipping by! We do look forward to coming back and visiting again. That is for sure!
Night all and yes....I have my alarm set. ;)
I'll explain this one is a second, first...let me tell you how the day began (not good). So we woke up about 5am hot. Guy opened the window for a bit, but the traffic was zooming by and was quite loud. So after things cooled off he shut the window and we fell asleep again. When we woke up it was NOON! Oops! Should have set an alarm. :| So as I'm racing to get ready, I put my face on in the bathroom (where the zoom mirror lives) but went into the hallway to do my hair while Guy takes his shower. The closest plug is the one in the safe, so I used my new converter/adaptor, plugged in my Chi and set the temp to 425. As I grabbed it to start doing my hair I realized it was only warm - not hot and the light was off. So I plugged it into a few other sockets, tried my old faithful converter and still .... nothing. Ok, so all you ladies out there that go to bed with wet hair know what it looks like in the morning, right? Ahem...and when you have no way to fix it you get in a "mood", right? And you know the Chi iron is not cheap, and it is only a few months old.. so you know where this is going.... but I still managed to put on my happy face (not super happy but happy to be on vacay face), braided my hair and stuck my hat on. It was nearly 1pm before we headed out but it was fine because we just switched our plans and we decided to see the German museum of Science and Technology instead of doing the hop on hop off bus. So after eating two granola bars, we set out for the day.
The museum was easy to get to and it was a huge place. The people taking our money, giving us the maps, and scanning our tickets were ALL having a "Monday" as they were a bit grumpy. :) So we went inside and worked our way around the spots Guy wanted to go to (this is a dude place for the most part...but he puts up with all my shopping so it's only fair). There were lots of planes and engines and machinery...you get the picture - this is where the "four antique birds" comes from as my intro to today's blog. I thought it was going to have WWII stuff in it - uniforms, guns, etc. But sadly no luck. I took a few photos and listened to a guy give a talk on snowflakes and CDs in German. His voice was pleasant and I just needed a break, so I sat in the crowd like I understood. (Mark and Mary Stoffel, I think of you every day and wish you were here with us). :)
After a few hours we decided we were getting hungry so we set out for lunch at an old beer hall that was recommended to us by "Sven" at the Sheraton's front desk on our first day. He told us it was over by the Four Points hotel so we hopped a train and found the hotel. We went inside to talk to the hotel folks because we weren't for sure where we were going and we wanted to find a bank (markets don't take credit cards. sigh. but now I remember Mark telling me they didn't) and I need some kind of device that removes bed head since my Chi passed on to the next life. The two gals at the desk were fantastic and pointed us next door to the "Saturn" electronics store - very convenient - for the curling iron and down the street for the beer hall. As luck would have it, I had about 20 flat irons to choose from! So I grabbed a Remington (knew the name) and headed out of this mega electronics store. Kinda hard to explain how big it is, but I think it covered nearly half a block and had more than one level. Out the door and to the right was the beer hall and even at 4pm it had quite a crowd (early bird types if you know want I mean) and they appeared to be locals.
The name was the Augustiner Braeustuben. I didn't catch when it opened exactly, but some time in the 1800s (says the internet). There is a huge beer hall where you can see the bars and it was lined with long tables where you sat with other people. They also had a quiet quaint space with tables just down a few stairs, so we opted for that section and was led to our table by our waiter. He was not having a "Monday" as he was excellent and gave us menus in English (again with photos - very helpful). Our food came quickly and it was delicious. Guy had schnitzel (veal) and I had some kind of sausage over kraut. We ate pretty much everything but still found some room for apple streudel. So so so good! Good thing my pants have a stretchy waist!
As we left the Augustiner we went back to the train station and headed for a new market, the one at Sendlinger Tor. This was supposed to have people wearing medieval clothing at their shops. When we arrived it was already very dark (6pm) and it was lit beautifully. Even though very small, we still enjoyed the shops and it had a nice crowd that were family types and were either visiting the shops or just sitting around having a fun evening. I sampled their gluhwein and it was good. The mug it came in was a keeper. :) So after an hour we decided to go back to the market close by our hotel - the Saturday night nightmare market. However, Sunday night was some better and guess what...Monday night was PERFECT! This market, Tollwood, has quickly grown from market hell to our favorite place to hang out. :) So many food options, shops, music...it has it all. We compare it to the DuQuoin State Fair on steroids. So I shopped for a new hat and Guy got and sausage sandwich. Since the lines were short at the Crepe place, I got the same thing I had the other night - banana and chocolate. This time I only waited 10 minutes instead of nearly an hour like Saturday night. We also found that the music tent was managable tonight. There was no place to sit down, but we had a small table to put our drinks on (a chopped off tree stump). The band of 14 musicians and singers were rockin' out to 80s cover songs and we were excited we knew the words. :) We stayed for well over an hour as the music was excellent and it was the end to a perfect day (well maybe didn't start out perfect). As the misty rain became a little heavier and my legs were even heavier than the mist, I was ready to head back to the hotel.
Arriving back at the hotel, we warmed up with long hot showers and I started downloading a few pictures. I didn't take a lot today because the museum lacked what I would consider interesting photo ops (Guy would differ) but we still snapped a few fun shots of our day and night. We are looking forward to tomorrow as we hop on and hop off the big red bus and see Munich from the top (it seems like we've seen underneath it a lot) however it is our last day in this wonderful city and our vacation is zipping by! We do look forward to coming back and visiting again. That is for sure!
Night all and yes....I have my alarm set. ;)
Sunday, November 30, 2014
On the third day of Christmas markets...
...my true love gave to me, three guys named Sven...
Ok, I really didn't meet three guys named Sven but everyone has been extremely helpful. Last night I forgot to mention we hopped on a train and a really nice guy and his dog (we'll say his name was Sven) told us we were on a train that had ended. Well, when we went back to look at the train board again it was pretty clear what the German words meant now "zug endet hier". Good thing he told us to get off because as it pulled away empty, at least in my mind, I had a brief vision of a night spent in a cold dark train yard somewhere - with German hobos all sipping gluhwien. :)
Guy fell asleep before me last night, but apparently he was up long before I was. Finally at 9 he told me he was starving so he got up to get ready. He scouted out the restaurant downstairs and we went down to eat about 10:30. Buffet or order off the menu.....it apparently didn't matter....it was 22 euros each. Breakfast at the Sheraton is a one and done. It was good, but I can't eat $25+ in breakfast food. At least our bellies were completely full for our big adventure to the Christmas Market (Christkindlmarkt) at Marienplatz aka St. Mary's Plaza.
This market (according to the Internet...so we know it is true) is the "Original" and oldest Christmas market in the city. The origins date back to the so-called "Nicholaus Markets" of the 14th century. So excited about our day we bundled up and headed down to the train. (We are still working on getting the trains down, but we got there with no issues or wrong trains. Even if we did hop a wrong train, it wouldn't be a problem to hop off and go back the other way. They run every few minutes and seems to be an incredibly efficient way to travel about the city even tho I am not a fan of subways). As we surfaced, it already smelled of gluhwein. Seems like there was someone selling gluhwein about every 5th shop and it looked like they were in competition for who had the best mug (which you can keep if you'd like...or return it for a refund of your deposit). For me today...just smelling it was all that was necessary, but it did smell quite lovely.
I separated from Guy and we used a gold monument in the middle of the Plaza as our meeting spot. I needed time to shop at my leisure and check out what I thought I might like to purchase later. Something this exciting takes time, even for the professional shopper, to soak it all in. I made it around the shops, and though the crowds were big, it was NOTHING like last night. I'm still recuperating from that one. The shops were all decorated a bit different and they were selling anything from ornaments and Christmas trinkets to homemade goodies and beverages of all kinds. (So far the only Christmas song I've heard was Bing Crosby in the nearby Starbucks). As I met back up with Guy he pointed me to a neat little glass shop that had beautiful ornaments. Can I get them home without breaking? hmm.....gonna think on it.
We chatted briefly with the Hop on Hop off bus gal and got the low-down on the city tours on the bus. We actually enjoy them as they are informative and it gives us a chance to see more things around the city than we would see on foot. Since we are only here a few days it seemed like a good option and we are planning on it tomorrow or Tuesday depending on weather. We thanked her for the info and asked her for directions to the Hofbrauhaus, the enormous beer hall that is famous for being the location of Hitler's first big speech. The Hofbrauhaus was originally built in 1587 and the public was not admitted until 1828. In the bombings of WWII, everything but the ground floor was destroyed. Although considered to be "commercialized" it is popular to both locals and tourists. They have all kinds of Bavarian dishes and during regular hours they play traditional Bavarian music. (thanks wiki) We started to eat lunch there, but just weren't quite hungry enough. We did take lots of pictures and recorded the music being played. It was beautiful inside and a really interesting experience.
We headed back to the markets and Guy found a spot to warm up while I made a few purchases. When I met up with him he was standing at the bottom of the stairs of this huge gorgeous restaurant called Ratskeller. No restaurant that starts with "rat" is probably a good idea, but in this case we opted to check it out. I can't really explain it except it reminded me of Patti's restaurant where there were all these little nooks and spaces that were all part of the same building but looked completely different. I almost got lost going to the ladies room but did find my way back. As we sat at our fabulously unique table we were given English menus that had photos. Those always look cheezy, but are really helpful. I took a picture of the menu and of my food and it was pretty much on the money. The food was traditional and delicious and it was a good opportunity for a break. There are several photos of the restaurant in the blog today. It was pretty spectacular. I went to the website to get some information on its history but the English translated site was just the menu. I'll have to check it out further as it seemed like it used to be part of a cathedral.
So feeling a bit tired from lack sleep, Guy opted for a quick nap and I thought I'd get started on the blog. It is just after 6pm and we are not sure of the plans for tonight. I'd like to go back to the market from last night, but I'm wondering if Monday night would be our best bet for fewer people as I can't do a repeat of last night. :) I must be a Christmas market sissy, but I can't do another evening of being a sardine - Germ invasion #60,000.... Have I mentioned yet the booths at the markets do not take credit cards? Oy. Hate to let go of our cash as we assumed they'd take plastic...note to self...never assume.
So stay tuned for more market blogging tonight...or it might be movie night in the room. The jury is still out. :)
Yep, we decided to brave the same market we tackled last night just outside the Theresienwiese station. Sunday night was much better!! We could actually see stuff this time. We bought some rosemary potatoes with sour cream sauce, deep fried apple slices and perused the shops. There were a few fun items we may go back for and since it is so close to our hotel we can go back anytime. Still the no credit card thing is a bummer. :) We were only there for about 1 1/2 hours but got what we went for and a good time. Again today it is a misty fog and no sun at all. Tomorrow looks to be foggy but no mist. :) We will probably do the hop on hop off bus to see the highlights tomorrow just in case there is something we want to go back to on Tuesday. Apparently there is a Christmas market at the English Garden, so I'm ready to take in another opportunity to smell gluhwein all day in GLORIOUS Munich! On a side note before I forget, for anyone wanting to visit the Christmas markets in Munich, the Sheraton we are staying at is perfectly located over a subway stop. So traveling around the city is a snap! Especially on cold wet days! Highly recommened - and the staff is really nice!
Ok, I really didn't meet three guys named Sven but everyone has been extremely helpful. Last night I forgot to mention we hopped on a train and a really nice guy and his dog (we'll say his name was Sven) told us we were on a train that had ended. Well, when we went back to look at the train board again it was pretty clear what the German words meant now "zug endet hier". Good thing he told us to get off because as it pulled away empty, at least in my mind, I had a brief vision of a night spent in a cold dark train yard somewhere - with German hobos all sipping gluhwien. :)
Guy fell asleep before me last night, but apparently he was up long before I was. Finally at 9 he told me he was starving so he got up to get ready. He scouted out the restaurant downstairs and we went down to eat about 10:30. Buffet or order off the menu.....it apparently didn't matter....it was 22 euros each. Breakfast at the Sheraton is a one and done. It was good, but I can't eat $25+ in breakfast food. At least our bellies were completely full for our big adventure to the Christmas Market (Christkindlmarkt) at Marienplatz aka St. Mary's Plaza.
This market (according to the Internet...so we know it is true) is the "Original" and oldest Christmas market in the city. The origins date back to the so-called "Nicholaus Markets" of the 14th century. So excited about our day we bundled up and headed down to the train. (We are still working on getting the trains down, but we got there with no issues or wrong trains. Even if we did hop a wrong train, it wouldn't be a problem to hop off and go back the other way. They run every few minutes and seems to be an incredibly efficient way to travel about the city even tho I am not a fan of subways). As we surfaced, it already smelled of gluhwein. Seems like there was someone selling gluhwein about every 5th shop and it looked like they were in competition for who had the best mug (which you can keep if you'd like...or return it for a refund of your deposit). For me today...just smelling it was all that was necessary, but it did smell quite lovely.
I separated from Guy and we used a gold monument in the middle of the Plaza as our meeting spot. I needed time to shop at my leisure and check out what I thought I might like to purchase later. Something this exciting takes time, even for the professional shopper, to soak it all in. I made it around the shops, and though the crowds were big, it was NOTHING like last night. I'm still recuperating from that one. The shops were all decorated a bit different and they were selling anything from ornaments and Christmas trinkets to homemade goodies and beverages of all kinds. (So far the only Christmas song I've heard was Bing Crosby in the nearby Starbucks). As I met back up with Guy he pointed me to a neat little glass shop that had beautiful ornaments. Can I get them home without breaking? hmm.....gonna think on it.
We chatted briefly with the Hop on Hop off bus gal and got the low-down on the city tours on the bus. We actually enjoy them as they are informative and it gives us a chance to see more things around the city than we would see on foot. Since we are only here a few days it seemed like a good option and we are planning on it tomorrow or Tuesday depending on weather. We thanked her for the info and asked her for directions to the Hofbrauhaus, the enormous beer hall that is famous for being the location of Hitler's first big speech. The Hofbrauhaus was originally built in 1587 and the public was not admitted until 1828. In the bombings of WWII, everything but the ground floor was destroyed. Although considered to be "commercialized" it is popular to both locals and tourists. They have all kinds of Bavarian dishes and during regular hours they play traditional Bavarian music. (thanks wiki) We started to eat lunch there, but just weren't quite hungry enough. We did take lots of pictures and recorded the music being played. It was beautiful inside and a really interesting experience.
We headed back to the markets and Guy found a spot to warm up while I made a few purchases. When I met up with him he was standing at the bottom of the stairs of this huge gorgeous restaurant called Ratskeller. No restaurant that starts with "rat" is probably a good idea, but in this case we opted to check it out. I can't really explain it except it reminded me of Patti's restaurant where there were all these little nooks and spaces that were all part of the same building but looked completely different. I almost got lost going to the ladies room but did find my way back. As we sat at our fabulously unique table we were given English menus that had photos. Those always look cheezy, but are really helpful. I took a picture of the menu and of my food and it was pretty much on the money. The food was traditional and delicious and it was a good opportunity for a break. There are several photos of the restaurant in the blog today. It was pretty spectacular. I went to the website to get some information on its history but the English translated site was just the menu. I'll have to check it out further as it seemed like it used to be part of a cathedral.
So feeling a bit tired from lack sleep, Guy opted for a quick nap and I thought I'd get started on the blog. It is just after 6pm and we are not sure of the plans for tonight. I'd like to go back to the market from last night, but I'm wondering if Monday night would be our best bet for fewer people as I can't do a repeat of last night. :) I must be a Christmas market sissy, but I can't do another evening of being a sardine - Germ invasion #60,000.... Have I mentioned yet the booths at the markets do not take credit cards? Oy. Hate to let go of our cash as we assumed they'd take plastic...note to self...never assume.
So stay tuned for more market blogging tonight...or it might be movie night in the room. The jury is still out. :)
Yep, we decided to brave the same market we tackled last night just outside the Theresienwiese station. Sunday night was much better!! We could actually see stuff this time. We bought some rosemary potatoes with sour cream sauce, deep fried apple slices and perused the shops. There were a few fun items we may go back for and since it is so close to our hotel we can go back anytime. Still the no credit card thing is a bummer. :) We were only there for about 1 1/2 hours but got what we went for and a good time. Again today it is a misty fog and no sun at all. Tomorrow looks to be foggy but no mist. :) We will probably do the hop on hop off bus to see the highlights tomorrow just in case there is something we want to go back to on Tuesday. Apparently there is a Christmas market at the English Garden, so I'm ready to take in another opportunity to smell gluhwein all day in GLORIOUS Munich! On a side note before I forget, for anyone wanting to visit the Christmas markets in Munich, the Sheraton we are staying at is perfectly located over a subway stop. So traveling around the city is a snap! Especially on cold wet days! Highly recommened - and the staff is really nice!
Saturday, November 29, 2014
On the second day of Christmas Markets...
...my true love gave to me - two warm gloves...
Yep it is pretty chilly here in beautiful Munich. As our plane was coming in for a landing the sun was shining and I could see mountains in the distance and what I thought was a blanket of thick snow on the ground. But with a closer look, it was just low clouds ... aka dense fog. As the plane landed, my first sighting of the ground was immediately as our plane touched the runway. Only one other time have I ever experienced landing in such a soup of fog, in London I think, but it is kinda scary once you think about it. The tower couldn't see us and we couldn't see it (or the ground). Kudos to our pilot.
We bought a ticket to ride the train from the airport to Munich. We went ahead and bought a 3 day pass so we can hop on and off the trains as we pleased. The lady at the ticket counter was very helpful. So as we got on the train we started figuring out the routes. Looked like spaghetti to me, but Guy was on it and had our final destination mapped out in a jiffy. The train ride was about 40ish minutes and we stood the entire time as the train was full, but it felt good to stretch the legs after the long flight. As we came to our final train stop, we lugged our suitcases up the stairs of the train station to see our hotel on the other side of the tracks. So down we went and back up the other side. As we came up the stairs, viola! there was our hotel. Pretty darn handy being right above the train station.
When we checked in (about 11am by this time) our room was ready and we went up to check it out. Conveniently located on the 4th floor (could do the stairs if necessary) we unloaded our things and decided to get some lunch. The really nice guy at the desk (who also happened to be quite funny) gave us directions to a nice place for lunch, "a nice stretch of the legs through the park" he said. Well that was fine for me as I had my big coat on, but Guy on the other hand wasn't quite prepared for the misty cold we were walking in. But just like he told us, up the street and through the park. It was a lovely walk and the little park was cute. I'm sure on a warm beautiful day it would be packed with kids and families and sweethearts on blankets.
So for lunch we were given menus translated into English. I chose the "meatloaf" and Guy had pork schnitzel. Both of our dishes came with potato and cucumber salad. When it arrived it looked fantastic. We were expecting the potato salad to be hot, but it was indeed cold. However, being a big fan of German potato salad, I loved it! My main entree was a bit trickier. The menus we were given were translated into English and I ordered the "Meatloaf". German meatloaf is more like a few thick slices of bologna that had been seared and had a fried egg on top. Not ham, not bologna. Either way, it was quite tasty and the apple struedel at the end topped of a delicious lunch.
The walk back to the hotel was again a bit chilly, but we felt sleep coming on and it was only about 1pm. The funny guy at the desk asked how lunch was. We were explaining everything we had (he explained the "meatloaf" as a very traditional Bavarian food and called it something in German) and after we told him we ended it with struedel he said "Well, you can get back on the plane and go back home now" LOL. - When we got back to the room, we took long hot showers, brushed our teeth, set our alarm and out we went for about 3 hours. I know you aren't supposed to do that, but it seems to work ok for us. However, when the alarm went off at 5pm it was a struggle to get up. So a phone call to home and a chat with the parents got us awake and moving.
So tonight was our first Christmas market experience. I guess we were not thinking about it being Saturday night - and I suppose it was kinda cool to see one of these markets in full swing, but my goodness, it was packed. For those with issues of being in big crowds, Saturday night at the Christmas market is NOT for you! We really just got a taste of what was happening, went in and out the some of tents, got some food (potato pancakes, kraut, and a pretzel) and gluhwein (yes it is as delicious as everyone says it is) then headed back to the room. All in all we were there just under 3 hours and I couldn't take the crowd anymore. We went into the one tent with music playing and you literally were smashed up against someone else from all sides. It was unnerving. Two words: FIRE CODE. There obviously isn't such a thing at the market. I did stand in line for a crepe for 45 mintues. It was ok for a couple of reasons... they smelled soooo good and it was nice to take a break from the crowds. So we totally understand it was a Saturday night and Guy was amazed by the crowds, but we are looking forward to checking out some of the shops during the day and experiencing it again on a Monday night. (and perhaps a few other smaller markets) I've already spied a few items I'd like to purchase, but tonight was not the night.
My photos are slow to load, so I'll add them in the morning. Even tho I'm not really tired, it is almost 12:30 pm, so I better work on getting my internal clock straightened out. Good night from Munich, will report back tomorrow.
Yep it is pretty chilly here in beautiful Munich. As our plane was coming in for a landing the sun was shining and I could see mountains in the distance and what I thought was a blanket of thick snow on the ground. But with a closer look, it was just low clouds ... aka dense fog. As the plane landed, my first sighting of the ground was immediately as our plane touched the runway. Only one other time have I ever experienced landing in such a soup of fog, in London I think, but it is kinda scary once you think about it. The tower couldn't see us and we couldn't see it (or the ground). Kudos to our pilot.
We bought a ticket to ride the train from the airport to Munich. We went ahead and bought a 3 day pass so we can hop on and off the trains as we pleased. The lady at the ticket counter was very helpful. So as we got on the train we started figuring out the routes. Looked like spaghetti to me, but Guy was on it and had our final destination mapped out in a jiffy. The train ride was about 40ish minutes and we stood the entire time as the train was full, but it felt good to stretch the legs after the long flight. As we came to our final train stop, we lugged our suitcases up the stairs of the train station to see our hotel on the other side of the tracks. So down we went and back up the other side. As we came up the stairs, viola! there was our hotel. Pretty darn handy being right above the train station.
When we checked in (about 11am by this time) our room was ready and we went up to check it out. Conveniently located on the 4th floor (could do the stairs if necessary) we unloaded our things and decided to get some lunch. The really nice guy at the desk (who also happened to be quite funny) gave us directions to a nice place for lunch, "a nice stretch of the legs through the park" he said. Well that was fine for me as I had my big coat on, but Guy on the other hand wasn't quite prepared for the misty cold we were walking in. But just like he told us, up the street and through the park. It was a lovely walk and the little park was cute. I'm sure on a warm beautiful day it would be packed with kids and families and sweethearts on blankets.
So for lunch we were given menus translated into English. I chose the "meatloaf" and Guy had pork schnitzel. Both of our dishes came with potato and cucumber salad. When it arrived it looked fantastic. We were expecting the potato salad to be hot, but it was indeed cold. However, being a big fan of German potato salad, I loved it! My main entree was a bit trickier. The menus we were given were translated into English and I ordered the "Meatloaf". German meatloaf is more like a few thick slices of bologna that had been seared and had a fried egg on top. Not ham, not bologna. Either way, it was quite tasty and the apple struedel at the end topped of a delicious lunch.
The walk back to the hotel was again a bit chilly, but we felt sleep coming on and it was only about 1pm. The funny guy at the desk asked how lunch was. We were explaining everything we had (he explained the "meatloaf" as a very traditional Bavarian food and called it something in German) and after we told him we ended it with struedel he said "Well, you can get back on the plane and go back home now" LOL. - When we got back to the room, we took long hot showers, brushed our teeth, set our alarm and out we went for about 3 hours. I know you aren't supposed to do that, but it seems to work ok for us. However, when the alarm went off at 5pm it was a struggle to get up. So a phone call to home and a chat with the parents got us awake and moving.
So tonight was our first Christmas market experience. I guess we were not thinking about it being Saturday night - and I suppose it was kinda cool to see one of these markets in full swing, but my goodness, it was packed. For those with issues of being in big crowds, Saturday night at the Christmas market is NOT for you! We really just got a taste of what was happening, went in and out the some of tents, got some food (potato pancakes, kraut, and a pretzel) and gluhwein (yes it is as delicious as everyone says it is) then headed back to the room. All in all we were there just under 3 hours and I couldn't take the crowd anymore. We went into the one tent with music playing and you literally were smashed up against someone else from all sides. It was unnerving. Two words: FIRE CODE. There obviously isn't such a thing at the market. I did stand in line for a crepe for 45 mintues. It was ok for a couple of reasons... they smelled soooo good and it was nice to take a break from the crowds. So we totally understand it was a Saturday night and Guy was amazed by the crowds, but we are looking forward to checking out some of the shops during the day and experiencing it again on a Monday night. (and perhaps a few other smaller markets) I've already spied a few items I'd like to purchase, but tonight was not the night.
My photos are slow to load, so I'll add them in the morning. Even tho I'm not really tired, it is almost 12:30 pm, so I better work on getting my internal clock straightened out. Good night from Munich, will report back tomorrow.
Friday, November 28, 2014
On the first day of Christmas Markets...
...my true love gave to me - a ticket to Munich Germany. I hope you sang this as you read it. It will count down the same way every day. Cheezy? Yep!
We drove to STL to park at Rosalie's house (she is cheaper than the Parking Spot). Since Rosalie's house was locked and we had no key, I had to visit the ladies room at the Walgreens by her house. Seemed like a good idea until the restrooms were located next to the little urgent care clinic. Germ invasion #1. So as we arrived at her house the cabbie was waiting for us in her driveway. He said he had been there on 40 seconds - the meter must have been running for him to be so precise! But as we loaded into the car he said "This place reminds me of my ex girlfriend". Hmmm...I looked at Guy with a look of I hope he isn't looking for revenge but I'm not sure he picked up on my expression. So as we headed for the airport, our driver was quite talkative and told us of all the local "Celebrities" he had given rides in his cab to. Mostly sports figures, so he and Guy talked baseball and other sports talk. When we arrived at the airport I went ahead and walked on in as he and Guy we still chatting it up. Luckily he was laughing as he came in and wasn't mad I abandoned him with chatty cathy.
Check in was nice and the lady behind the United counter came around to help us as the kiosk and basically said "you don't need to answer all this stuff" and buzzed us to the end. I'm pretty sure it was the part where we were supposed to say we didn't have explosives, knives, guns, we packed our own bags and haven't accepted any packages from strangers. We must not look too suspicious today. As we went down to the gate we got to go through the express lane because we recently applied for Global Entry. We didn't have to take our shoes of, take our electronics out or our liquids. Ok...well kinda. I did have to take my boots off because my fancy buckles did set the alarm off. Note to self - fashion gets me stopped. So we went to our gate and made a few calls to the big guys, Verizon and Chase so they knew we'd be out of the country and not send us warnings or heaven forbid put a block on our credit cards!
So we boarded the plane, one of those tiny little suckers, and that is when sneezie suzie began her series of uncovered sneezes. Germ invasion #2. I held my breath for what I thought was the appropriate amount of time, but as the 3rd and 4th sneeze flew past me, I figured either I needed to let it go and just take my chances or hold my breath til I passed out. I chose option 1. Note to those reading this blog COVER YOUR MOUTHS WHEN YOU SNEEZE AND COUGH. But it could have been worse, one of the little germ factories that were everywhere on the plane could have been yaking. So I considered it a win.
As we got to Chicago we thought we'd hunt up a big deep thick cheezy Chicago style pizza as our last big meal for hours and hours. Pizza Uno is in several locations, but only little kiosks, so we were told of the closest sit down restaurant that had pizza was called Tuscany. They are bound to have Chicago style pizza, right? As they brought out our cracker with cheese on it we chuckled and sighed and ate. Oh well, we will get plenty of food in the next 12 days. Plus we knew the United club would have cookies and other kinds of snacks. Guy is filling up on some cheese and crackers as I type. Almost forgot to mention this, but the couple sitting behind us at the restaurant were visiting with the waiter and they were telling him they were getting ready to fly to Germany to see the Christmas markets. :) I think they'll probably be on our flight.
To my dismay, a friend of mine, who is a medical professional, said new findings are showing a possible link of Alzheimers from the use of Xanax. Hm... so ya'll come by and visit me in the home, even though I won't know who you are. I just don't think I can pull off the long flight without it! Oh yes, the long flight. 9+ hours of sneezing, coughing and who knows what other kinds of airborne contagions. Germ invasion #3-10. :) Excuse me for a second while I chew on a few of my a
Airbornes.
Well I'm going to sign off for now. I need to go back to my Tuscany blog and re-read the instructions on how to correctly power up my iphone to connect to European phone companies. Looks like we should be boarding in about 30mintues. For those of you who are aware of my redneck airplane pillow, the answer is yes, I did bring my beach balls. I'll snap a selfie before the Xanax overcomes me. ;) And as always...prayers have started for safe travels, but feel free to join in at any time over the next two weeks! We are truly blessed and look forward to this excellent adventure.
We drove to STL to park at Rosalie's house (she is cheaper than the Parking Spot). Since Rosalie's house was locked and we had no key, I had to visit the ladies room at the Walgreens by her house. Seemed like a good idea until the restrooms were located next to the little urgent care clinic. Germ invasion #1. So as we arrived at her house the cabbie was waiting for us in her driveway. He said he had been there on 40 seconds - the meter must have been running for him to be so precise! But as we loaded into the car he said "This place reminds me of my ex girlfriend". Hmmm...I looked at Guy with a look of I hope he isn't looking for revenge but I'm not sure he picked up on my expression. So as we headed for the airport, our driver was quite talkative and told us of all the local "Celebrities" he had given rides in his cab to. Mostly sports figures, so he and Guy talked baseball and other sports talk. When we arrived at the airport I went ahead and walked on in as he and Guy we still chatting it up. Luckily he was laughing as he came in and wasn't mad I abandoned him with chatty cathy.
Check in was nice and the lady behind the United counter came around to help us as the kiosk and basically said "you don't need to answer all this stuff" and buzzed us to the end. I'm pretty sure it was the part where we were supposed to say we didn't have explosives, knives, guns, we packed our own bags and haven't accepted any packages from strangers. We must not look too suspicious today. As we went down to the gate we got to go through the express lane because we recently applied for Global Entry. We didn't have to take our shoes of, take our electronics out or our liquids. Ok...well kinda. I did have to take my boots off because my fancy buckles did set the alarm off. Note to self - fashion gets me stopped. So we went to our gate and made a few calls to the big guys, Verizon and Chase so they knew we'd be out of the country and not send us warnings or heaven forbid put a block on our credit cards!
So we boarded the plane, one of those tiny little suckers, and that is when sneezie suzie began her series of uncovered sneezes. Germ invasion #2. I held my breath for what I thought was the appropriate amount of time, but as the 3rd and 4th sneeze flew past me, I figured either I needed to let it go and just take my chances or hold my breath til I passed out. I chose option 1. Note to those reading this blog COVER YOUR MOUTHS WHEN YOU SNEEZE AND COUGH. But it could have been worse, one of the little germ factories that were everywhere on the plane could have been yaking. So I considered it a win.
As we got to Chicago we thought we'd hunt up a big deep thick cheezy Chicago style pizza as our last big meal for hours and hours. Pizza Uno is in several locations, but only little kiosks, so we were told of the closest sit down restaurant that had pizza was called Tuscany. They are bound to have Chicago style pizza, right? As they brought out our cracker with cheese on it we chuckled and sighed and ate. Oh well, we will get plenty of food in the next 12 days. Plus we knew the United club would have cookies and other kinds of snacks. Guy is filling up on some cheese and crackers as I type. Almost forgot to mention this, but the couple sitting behind us at the restaurant were visiting with the waiter and they were telling him they were getting ready to fly to Germany to see the Christmas markets. :) I think they'll probably be on our flight.
To my dismay, a friend of mine, who is a medical professional, said new findings are showing a possible link of Alzheimers from the use of Xanax. Hm... so ya'll come by and visit me in the home, even though I won't know who you are. I just don't think I can pull off the long flight without it! Oh yes, the long flight. 9+ hours of sneezing, coughing and who knows what other kinds of airborne contagions. Germ invasion #3-10. :) Excuse me for a second while I chew on a few of my a
Airbornes.
Well I'm going to sign off for now. I need to go back to my Tuscany blog and re-read the instructions on how to correctly power up my iphone to connect to European phone companies. Looks like we should be boarding in about 30mintues. For those of you who are aware of my redneck airplane pillow, the answer is yes, I did bring my beach balls. I'll snap a selfie before the Xanax overcomes me. ;) And as always...prayers have started for safe travels, but feel free to join in at any time over the next two weeks! We are truly blessed and look forward to this excellent adventure.
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