Christkindlmarkets- Munich

I'm catching up on blogging this week and here is the recap in pictures of this past weekend in Munch.  Three countries in a week with Iceland, the UK and Germany!  We are working on filling up our passport stamps!

Big T loves trains!  This was the train from Munich airport to the city

Our first night at the markets on the Marienplatz.  Tyler has really developed a distaste for me taking photos of him.  The cute little "cheese" face has been replaced with a screaming, "NOOOOOOO!" every time I try to take a picture of him.

Mmmm gluhwein - mulled wine is tasty!  There was a gluhwein stop every few stalls.  They have you pay a 2 Euro deposit for the mug and then you carry the mug around town and can refill it.  You can keep the mug if you don't want the deposit back.  The mugs were the best souvenir so we HAD to drink quite a few of those little mugs!

This market stall had a train running around the top.  Tyler didn't want to leave.

Christkindlmarket!

Big T loves bratwurst.  We ate every meal outside at the markets.  It was festive, but cold. 

We attempted to go to the Hofbrauhaus to warm up, but it was very busy and Tyler made it clear that he had about enough of Munich for the night so we ended up heading back to the hotel.

Marienplatz markets during the day

Tyler loved the gingerbread waste baskets.  It was hard to tear him away!

Mmmmm - apple strudel 

I totally forgot to pack his stroller bundle or a blanket so we "borrowed" the hotel crib comforter.  T stayed nice and cozy!

You could keep the beer mugs too!  These were from Augustiner

Markets at the Residenz- this was not as busy as the main market and more geared toward kids.

Singing angels

Singing Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel & Gretel.  They sang in German - it was cute!

Tyler loves to say ho, ho, ho!

Market windmill

Market in the Residenz courtyard

JJ loves sweet nuts!

Our last night we decided to check out the Tollwood Festival at the site of Oktoberfest.  This was a really cool atmosphere but not great for kids.  By now Tyler again had enough of the markets!

He did get to sample some Kinderpunch before we left - hot juice mix that they put in a mug.  Some day I'm totally going to host a Christkindl party and have Kinderpunch for kids and Gluhwein for the adults in my official mugs :)  The trip was fun, but the markets were very busy and people were everywhere in Munich.  I'm glad we did it but it definitely wasn't our best trip!

Poor Tyler has had a cold for what seems like forever.  We probably aren't the best parents for keeping him outside at the markets all weekend.  He had some trouble sleeping in the hotel.  For starters he was far too big for the flimsy crib they gave us and the hotel was very dry so Tyler kept coughing.  He ended up coughing most of the night and we were all up from about 3am to 7am.  Lazy bones then kept snoozing away in our bed after his late night party until we had to wake him up at 9 to go to the airport.

Lufthansa is perhaps the best airline, ever.  They had this dedicated family check-in line, they gave Tyler a boarding pass for his stuffed animal, they gave us a whole row to ourselves in the front of the plane even though we didn't have a seat for Tyler, they gave Tyler a toy and gummy bears upon boarding, and even gave us a sandwich for our 1 hour flight!  JJ and I both realized during this trip that the European airports in general are so much better and more efficient than the airports in the US.  We have never had to wait long at all for check in or security (that is probably a statement that I shouldn't write down for fear of a jinx!)

Whoa! Tyler gets up close and personal with an airplane!  They had us board this one from a bus so Tyler got his closest view ever.  He was so excited!

The kid loves airplanes!

He was very determined to carry this luggage all the way to the car at the airport. 

Before we left for Munich we celebrated Thanksgiving with JJ's coworker's family at their home in Clapham Junction in London.  They are Americans from Chicago too and they have 3 older girls.  Tyler loved following them around - we didn't really see him the whole time.  Their youngest, Annie was happy to watch him - here they are playing with the bear.  Notice she has Packers gear on - they are all Packers fans so we made sure Tyler dressed in his Stafford jersey for the big win.  It was really nice to spend Thanksgiving with them, although we really missed our families back home.