Munich-Fischen

Day Three
12/22/2008
Fischen-Munich

Today started out hectically with our alarm not going off. Luke got up at 8:10 and was like “oh shit!” because we were supposed to meet Marita and Christian for breakfast at 8am at the hotel. So we jumped out of bed and threw on some clothes and ran down. Then after we made breakfast we headed to the train station to catch the train to Munich. The train trip was two and a half hours and it made lots of stops. So we got into town at about noon and walked towards the Marienplatz, were the Christmas market was at. It was nice walking through Munich there were market booths all throughout the city!
We were going to go to the Hofbrauhaus for lunch but they didn’t have french fries and we wanted french fries well at least Marita and I did so we ended up at the Hard Rock Cafe. After we had a good lunch with great french fries we went back across the street to the Hofbrauhaus so the men could drink their big beers. After they drank their beers we went to Dallymar to get some special Christmas chocolate and Luke got a coffee tin. Then we went to Starbucks to get a hot chocolate for me and some special Christmas coffee for Luke. After that it was getting later so we headed back towards the train station.
We got back to Fischen about 6 and just hung out in the hotel room. We had a kitchen so we made some soup that Marita and Christian had brought and watched Christmas movies.
Picture one is the beginning of the beer, pic two Luke drinking and pic three a completed beer! The last two pics are from the market in the Marienplatz in Munich.

Fischen-Kempten

Day Two
12/21/2008
Fischen

Today began with the alarm going off at 6am!! 6am!! What is Luke crazy? No the cell phone just hadn’t switched with daylight savings time so we got to go back to sleep for an hour. So when the real 7am rolled around we got up and got dressed and went and met Marita and Christian for breakfast. The breakfast wasn’t bad, it was typical German with rolls and cheese and meat and jellies. Now Marita and Christian went to church so Luke and I are just relaxing in our room. The weather is not so nice so when they get done with church we have to decide what we want to do. We might go to Austria or try to find a Christmas market near by who knows!
So I guess that the weather was bad everywhere so we decided to stay closer to Fischen by going to Kempten. In Kempten there is a Christmas fair, we thought that it would be small but it was actually rather large lasting a few streets. We had lunch there, Luke, Christian and I had gyros and Marita had pizza. The gyros were really good, usually they aren’t my favorite thing but they were close to perfect this time! After we ate we walked around the town a little but all of the stores were closed so there was not much to do. We stopped at an italian eis shop and Marita had ice cream while the rest of us had warm drinks. After that we headed back to Fischen. It had been raining the entire day even when we were in Fischen so we couldn’t really go hiking without getting soaking wet. So we decided to take a break and went to our rooms for a short (two hour) break. Which meant napping for Luke, and watching the Ipod and doing homework for me. So now Marita and Christian are here and I think that we are going to walk through town for a bit and then decide where to eat. Then probably walk a little bit afterwards and then maybe play a game.
So we went to this German restaurant here in Fischen and like usual I ordered the the wrong the thing. I ordered this noodle with a local regional cheese, a lady sitting next to us had it and it looked good kind of like macaroni and cheese but with white cheese. I was wrong the noodles weren’t typical noodles they were like between a noodle and a gnocchi, they had weird texture that I didn’t care for. So I ended up eating part of Luke’s meal which was good, Schweinehax and a dumpling. The restaurant was nice there was a person playing accordion in the background. After eating we walked for a short bit then went back to the room and played Taboo, drank wine the Marita and Christian had brought and then watched Rudolph the Red nosed reindeer.
The first two pictures are from Kempten where we went to the Christmas market there. The other two are at an eis cafe in Kempten where we stopped for ice cream and for hot drinks.

Gangelt-Rothenburg o.t.b-Fischen

Today began our exciting holiday trip to Bavaria. Even though looking back I don’t think I would use the word exciting to describe day one! It would be more like want to rip my hair out frustrating. We left our house at 5:30 am dead set on beating all of the other winter travelers. All went well until about 8:30 and the dreaded rest stop, it all went down hill from there. We stopped at a rest stop to get coffee and when we stopped our GPS said it was only about an hour and a half to Rothenberg we were making good time should get there by 10:30. Well we get back on the autobahn and get stuck in traffic, traffic and some more traffic. I really can’t remember being in this bad of traffic before, it was like traffic jams but there was no cause so it never ended. After it turned to 12:30 we decided maybe we should get off of the autobahn. We had already extended our trip by at least two hours just sitting in traffic and the GPS said we still had an hour at least to go! So we ended up driving through towns on the Romantic road, which was nice and probably got us there quicker then staying on the autobahn. Oh and had I mentioned that it rained the whole trip, didn’t let up at all. From the time we left Gangelt to the time we arrived in Fischen....rain!
So finally after seven hours (which normally would have been only 4) we arrive in Rothenberg. We stop to get some lunch at Burger King because we are all exhausted and starving (did I mention that Marita and Christian were with us...probably not). After that we ventured into town to go see the famed Christmas store. We crowd through the store which is packed but we did make out with a few things. I got a winter smoker, they are really cute you put incense in them. Mine is a little egg with snow on it and a bird nest on its head. And we got a Christmas ornament made of glass with a dog bone and a heart. So after we finished wandering around it is about 3:00 and we decide we should head to Fischen because we weren’t sure if the traffic would be bad or not.
The trip to Fischen was actually nice because there wasn’t traffic jams although the rain was coming down heavier then before. We made it there in about two and a half hours. So now we are in our room which is huge! It has two bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen! We are getting ready to go and get some food! I will be glad to get to sleep it has been a long day. I know Luke will be glad to sleep too he was such a trooper driving the whole way and not being grumpy at all!
We went to eat at an Italian restaurant here in Fischen, we knew it would be good because Marita and Christian always talk about it every time they come back from visiting here. I had spaghetti carbonara which was pretty good, wasn’t the best I have ever had but it was above average. We wanted Tiramisu but unfortunately they were out of it! Luke got another animal, a swan this time. When we first got here like the first time we went out to eat with Marita and Christian we went to Il Genios in Birgden and Luke ordered a calzone and when he got it it was in the shape of a fish! It was so funny and no one has ever had anything like it since, we have ordered calzones but never gotten a fish. Then last night Lukes food came out wrapped in a tin foil swan, so it must just be something about Luke and animals and Italian food! So after dinner we walked around the town (which is beautiful BTW). We walked to the train station to check times for Munich, walked to where Marita and Christian got married, walked to an ice skating rink. Then we got home and al went to bed because we were so tired from the long day. Although the day was frustrating with the driving and everything it turned out to be a pretty good day.

The pictures with the snow and mountains are from our hotel room in Fishcen. The rest are from Rothenburg.

Maastricht Christmas Market

Last weekend we went with Marita and Christian to Maastricht to their Winter Wonderland. We had never been there and neither had Marita and Christian so it was an adventure for all of us. We drive through Maastricht when we go to the Antiques market in Belgium but we have never stopped there. It turns out that it is a really nice town, with lots of little shops and cobblestone streets (which is common for Europe). The actual Christmas market wasn’t that big, the area was more geared towards kids. There was a huge Ferris wheel and an ice skating rink. There was also lots of food especially sweets. Luke, Christian and I rode the Ferris wheel and were able to get some good pictures. Then we just walked around Marita and I tried to talk the guys into ice skating but the refused, so we will just wait until Munich then they shall skate!
We stayed at the market for about an hour or so. Then we headed back towards home and to dinner! We ended up stopping at a restaurant in Waldenrath that was so good! I rarely ever eat everything I get but even Luke was surprised that I ate everything and had desert, it was that good!

Crafts with Marita

One of the things I love about Christmas is the decorations and every year Marita and I always do some sort of crafts, which she is much better at then I am! She loves Christmas as much as me if not more. We made some paper crafts and ate way too many cookies! It is sad that this is our last Christmas here because Germany does Christmas so much better then the states.

Local Christmas Markets

A few weekends ago the local towns, Geilenkirchen and Gangelt had their Christmas markets. The towns are small so they only do them one weekend of the year rather then everyday like the bigger towns. On Saturday I went with Elizabeth and her daughter to the market in Geilenkirchen. I hadn’t been before because I have always had classes on the weekends the markets were. The market wasn’t great compared to others I had been too, it was really small and there wasn’t too much Christmas stuff to buy. It is what I now refer to as the ghetto market. I did however get a wreath and a table decoration.

Sunday Luke and I rode our bikes to Gangelt. Gangelt always has a really nice market; we were able to go the first year that we were here. The only bad thing is that it is crowded! The market runs through the town, in and out of the little alley ways. It is nice to look around and we bought a Christmas candle holder. My favorite part of the market is the food I think, we had some Rubekuchen, which is so good, it is like a potato pancake. Unfortunately it started to rain while we were there so we didn’t get to stay too long. We got on our bikes and rode home in the rain, by the time we got home it was pouring!