It’s that time again… Christmas! I love being here in Munich during the holiday season… all the shops are decorated and full of Christmas trinkets, snow is falling, and Marienplatz is full of people bustling in the streets wandering through the Christkindlmarkt.

Bavarians love Christmas time. Actually I think Bavarians love every season or period of the year. They seem to always have festivals to celebrate during the year. Oktoberfest is probably the most popular, but they also have the Auer Dult, Tollwood Winter Festival, Strong Beer Season, and the list goes on. You can see a full list of highlights for Bavarian festivals and activities for the entire year on Munich’s official website. I love all the festivities because since we live in die Stadtmitte (center city), we are right in the thick of things. It’s neat to see all the changes to the city and unique characteristics of each season.

Sendlinger Tor also has it’s own Christkindlmarkt. As soon as we pop out of the Ubahn station, Joe and I are greeted with the sights and smells of Christmas… with lots of people standing around and cheerily talking. They even have Christmas music live everyday in the square at 3:00pm.

I’ve enjoyed wandering around all the different vendor’s huts. There’s all sorts of things you can buy at the Christkindlmarkt. They have everything Christmas- ornaments, nativity sets, crosses, nutcrakers, figurines, santas, toys… to name a few - but they also have lots of good food particular to this certain time of year. Of course they have lots of Wurst (sausage) and Breze (soft pretzels)… it is Bavaria after all! The drink of Christkindlmarkt is Gluehwein- a spiced wine served hot in a nice souviener mug (well, that is if you don’t turn the mug back in. You have to pay a “pfand,” or deposit, on the mug). I highly recommed trying out the recipe for Gluehwein this holiday season… brew up a pot for your family and friends, or just for yourself!

Lebkuchen, or gingerbread, is another culinary treat. There are tons of little Gingerbread Huts around the markets with all sorts of gingerbread to choose from. And there’s all sorts of roasted and candied nuts… Heisse Maroni (roasted chestnuts) can be found in little huts all over the city. You can also find chocolate covered fruit on kabob sticks (this is one of my personal favorites). White chocoalte, dark chocolate, milk chocolate… the chocolate is very, very good here. Bavaria is a chocolate lover’s paradise.

Another really festive change to the city during winter time is the open air ice skating at Karlzplatz-Stachus. This square is right next to Marienplatz, so it is right near the Christkindlmarkt. You can always find people skating here, and the kids who can’t skate well on their own are pushing these little polar bear statues on skis to help them keep their balance. It’s so cute! And of course, all the parents are standing around drinking Gluehwein while their kids wear themselves out skating.

Despite all the Bavarian festivities, I am very happy that I’ll be home for Christmas this year in North Carolina. I leave to go visit my friend Gina Voci in Phoenix, Arizona next week. It’ll be nice to get some warm weather training in! Then I will be headed to good ol’ North Carolina to stay with my parents until mid-January. Joe is going to be able to take off 2 weeks from work, which will be really nice. With all that time at home we’ll be able to visit with friends and family that we haven’t seen since our move to Germany six months ago. I can’t wait! It’ll be especially great to see Deb and her husband Bryan again!!! She’s going to take me out on some off-road ridin’… here we go!