When we awoke this morning, the temperature had risen to above freezing. However, along with the warmer temps came a steady rain. We eventually got going around midmorning, having to wait for hot water for a shower as the water heater had gotten turned off last night instead of set on “Night”. After a quick stop to deposit the rent money for the apartment, we hopped the tram to Karlsplatz for a stop at Karstadt and Galeria Kaufhof, the two big department stores, to do some gift shopping. After finishing here, we headed down the main pedestrian street toward Marienplatz. Pushing the stroller was a bit easier as most of the snow was gone, but I think I would have traded the rain and temps in the upper 30s for snow and temps in the 20s as we had been having. We stopped by to visit the inside of the Dom (cathedral), which was nice. We continued our walk, through Marienplatz, and around the Viktualienmarkt (food market). Somehow, we missed this on our trip in 2000. It was pretty nice, and we took advantage of our visit to pick up a donut for Kyle and a couple of pretzels for us as a snack. Back toward Marienplatz, I grabbed a last glühwien while Suzanne and Kyle ran into the bookstore for a gift for one of Kyle’s friends. We next stopped by the other Galeria Kaufhof branch where I finally managed to find a wallet to replace my current one which is falling apart. An S-Bahn, tram ride, and a stop by the supermarket (for lunch and more gifts), and we ended up back at the apartment.

After a rest, we headed out to dinner. Given the weather and the amount of stuff we had to get done tonight before leaving in the morning, we decided to try the Italian place (Natales) a few minutes walk from the apartment. Kyle was able to get plain ziti, which he enjoyed very much, eating the entire plateful. Suzanne and I had pizzas, both of which were pretty good. (Kyle’s meal, a small salad, two pizzas, one beer, and two other drinks was €35.) After one last quick stop at the supermarket for a few items we forgot earlier, it was back to the apartment to start getting things together for tomorrow. While I helped Kyle with his bath, Suzanne packed up our stuff. Unfortunately, we did end up with a third bag to check. We’re just hoping our larger suitcase is not overweight.

It’s hard to believe the trip is over. It’s been great to be back in Germany after three full years. (For that trip, we spent only three days here before heading to Italy.) The Christmas markets were as wonderful as we remember, especially with the snow. It would have been better if it wasn’t quite so cold, but I decided I’d rather have the cold and snow than the rain we had all day today. Traveling with Kyle wasn’t the easiest, especially given his picky eating. It was much easier once we were in the apartment since we could make plain pasta every morning. We’ll definitely return to Germany at some point, but it will likely be at least a few years. (It will also likely be when the weather will be warmer.)

Another late morning as we didn’t get going until 10:45 or so. Our first stop was the medieval market in Odeonsplatz. The market itself wasn’t that big, but it was very nice. Everything is supposed to feel like the middle ages including the workers there being dressed in costume. They also have a really full schedule of events. We watched the magician and then watched the “comedy juggling” group. Even with our limited German, we still very much enjoyed them, even Kyle. By the end of the second show, the knight in armor had arrived. Kyle was impressed, but a little scared. We purchased a couple of items and then grabbed a snack consisting of meat on a skewer with dough wrapped around between the meat and then grilled. It was very tasty.

We were getting a bit cold by this time, so we headed toward Marienplatz and wandered though the department store for a bit. It was very busy. After getting warmed up, we headed to the big toy store on Karlsplatz. Suzanne managed to find something that we had been looking for all week and Kyle picked up another few cars. Kyle was getting antsy by this time, so we hopped the tram back toward our apartment, stopping for a few things at the supermarket as it will be closed tomorrow.

After spending a bit of time hanging out at the apartment relaxing, we headed out to dinner. We wanted to check out an Italian place in the Rick Steves near Isartor, but never did. Instead, we ended up at the Weisses Brauhaus, home of Schneider Weisse. It was very busy, but we were lucky to find a table after a few minutes. (We shared with two other couples. One kept to themselves, but we talked with the other, from Frankfurt.) The food was excellent as was the beer. They had at least five different hefeweizens on tap. My schweienehaxe was much better than Augustiner am Platzl and Suzanne’s saurbraten was equally good. (The total bill for two entrees, one “kids” meal, two beers, two other drinks, and a soup was €42.) We took another walk through the main market and down the main shopping street, catching our tram home at Karlsplatz. For tomorrow, the plan is for me to head out early to visit the Dachau concentration camp memorial (about an hour from our apartment). Suzanne and Kyle will sleep in and spend the morning/early afternoon at the Deutsches Museum’s transportation museum.

It was a late morning. We didn’t have anything time critical, so we simply got up when we awoke. This turned out to be around 9:00. It was probably a good thing to let Kyle sleep until he wanted to get up as he was fairly well behaved today. Once we got going, we hopped the tram and the S-Bahn to the Deutsches Museum. This is a very large science and technology museum. Our first stop was the recreations of the a few types of mines. Kyle really enjoyed this as one of the new DVDs we got for the trip was a Mighty Machines about a salt mine, which one of the recreations was. After the mines, we headed to visit the ship section. Kyle really wanted to see the submarine (U-1 – the first German U-boat). Next we headed to the kids section. Kyle loved playing on the real fire truck. He also loved the water play area until he stepped off the edge and ended up ankle deep in water. This wouldn’t have been a big deal in summer, but given the temperature outside was hovering around 30, it wasn’t good. Amazingly, the area has a clothes dryer in the baby changing room as well as extra clothes. After some drying time for his socks and pants and some time under the bathroom hand dryer for his shoe, we managed to salvage the day. (It helped that Suzanne had packed a pair of tights to be worn as long underwear when we went back outside.)

Once we were finished in the kids section, we headed to their cafe for lunch, which wasn’t bad. Next, we headed to the pharmacy/health section. This was brand new in 2000 when Suzanne and I were there before, but was still pretty good. Kyle really loved being able to walk inside a cell. For our trip, Kyle insisted on brining along his “science” kit, which consists of a magnifying glass, a ruler, a notebook, and a pencil. He used it all inside the cell. After the pharmacy exhibit we did a few more sections, but Kyle was getting tired. (He walked for our whole visit, five hours or so.) Another 20 or so minutes in the play area and it was time to go.

After leaving the museum, we headed to the Praterinsel Christmas market, which is on the island just north of Museuminsel, where the Deutsches Museum is located. Getting there involved a nice walk though a snow filled park. The market itself was very small, maybe five or so stalls and another five or so stands inside a building. After leaving here we ended up heading to the market at the Residenz. This turned out to be in a very nice setting, being in the palace courtyard. They also had a series of stalls depicting various fairy tales/Santa scenes with animated figures ala Disney. The only problem with this market is that was very busy as it was evening. Next we headed down past the Rathaus to the second major department store so Suzanne could look for warmer socks and Kyle could take a turn through the toy department. We then headed off to dinner, deciding to check out Steinheil 16 near the apartment, figuring if it wasn’t good, we could stop by the supermarket. It turned out to work well, though luckily we got the the last free table. Kyle ate the noodles we had brought, but both Suzanne and I had had excellent, and huge, Wienerschnitzels. (Total bill for three drinks and two meals was €30.) Then it was back home as we had to finish our laundry and were hoping to get Kyle to bed at a reasonable hour. For tomorrow, we’re not entirely sure what we have planned. We’ll likely hit the Viktualienmarkt and the Middle-Ages Christmas market. Aside from that, who knows.

The alarm went off early again at 8:00. After a quick breakfast, during which Kyle had nothing aside from drinking a cup of hot cocoa, we did our final packing and dragged our luggage through the snow to the train station. (Yes, at points I had to literally drag the suitcase as the snow was piling up and preventing it from rolling.) Once there, many trains were delayed due to the “heavy” snow. (The area did get probably 6+ inches and it was much earlier than normal.) Our train ended up being about 20 minutes late out of Nürnberg and 40 minutes late into Munich. However, we were better off than the earlier train to Munich that was 90 minutes late or the train to Munich that was canceled. It turns out that the reservations I had gotten on Monday were actually for Tues and not today. Oh well. I thought about going out last night, but decided not to as it was only a hour. Luckily, the train was not the least bit crowded and we even got a four-seat place around a table.

Coming into Munich was fine, though I felt bad for people who had connections when they announced we were too late to hold them, including the train to Budapest. After trying one of the tram/strassenbahn stops, we found the one we needed. The tram came quickly and it was a short ride to our stop. We are very happy with our apartment so far. It is clean and good sized. We are just down the street from a good-sized (especially by German standards) supermarket and right next door to a bakery. The view is so-so for us, but Kyle loves it as we are very near a construction site.

After relaxing a bit and having lunch, we headed out to visit the Christmas market. The tram right across from us drops us at Karlsplatz, which is the very beginning of the main pedestrian shopping street. Suzanne and I were here on our first European trip in 2000, but only for a day and half or so and didn’t really see much. (We kept meaning to return during our time in Marburg, but never quite made it.) We walked down here for a bit, arriving at Marienplatz and the main market in front of the old city hall. It’s quite nice and fair sized. (There are several others in town we plan to visit.) We walked through it, grabbing a glühwein and a snack for Kyle while doing so. After hitting the main bookstore, which had a very nice view over the market from their elevator, and the department store, we decided to start thinking about dinner early. A few of the places I had recommendations for were near by, so we decided to check them out and found a couple of promising ones. We walked some more, taking a quick trip through the very quiet Viktualienmarkt, we decided to head for dinner. It was only 5:20 or so, but Kyle was complaining he was hungry. For dinner, we headed up to the Augustiner am Platzl brauhaus, which is kitty-corner to the Hofbrauhaus. The food was decent, though Kyle didn’t like his wiener sausage. (We weren’t surprised, but figured we’d give them a try. He at least ate some of the fries.) I had the schweinehaxe which was pretty good. The service wasn’t great, but the waitress did have another huge table. After dinner, we headed back to the apartment, stopping for a couple of items at the supermarket on the way. Suzanne had to put some laundry in now that we had a washer and dryer and we’re hoping to get Kyle down a little early since he was not happy about having to get up this morning and didn’t get a nap. I think tomorrow we’re going to head to the Deutsches (science) Museum which Suzanne and I really enjoyed in 2000.