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Munich, Germany
Nov 27-30, 2003

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pic picNov 28, 2004 - We took off today for Schloss Nymphenburg in Munich. It was built from 1664 to 1758 as the royal families summer residence. There's a two-story dining hall decorated with frescoes, a room stuffed with Gobelin tapestries, a Heraldic Room, Chinese Lacquer Room and the Gallery of Beauties, lined with portraits of 38 local women who caught Ludwig I's eye.

The Royal Stables feature Ludwig II's unused wedding coach (the engagement faultered), and the Porcelain Museum is housed in the former Nymphenburg Porcelain factory. An English-style park surrounds the palace, with a central canal, a crystal and gilt-bedripped hunting lodge, Chinese teahouse, bathing house, witch's cottage, tropical greenhouses and a natural history museum. It was raining pretty hard, so while we wandered out around the gardens we didn't take any pictures.

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That evening was the official opening of the Christmas Market and lighting of the Christmas tree in Marianplatz square at the Town Hall (with the Glockenspiel). A small band played on the balcony then the Mayor came out and made a speech and lit up the 30 meter tall tree. There were lots of people out for this in the cold cold rain (that's Mackenzie under there)!


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We spent Saturday out around Munich hitting the various Christmas Markets. Our first stop was Theresienwiese (Tollwood) known mostly as the site of the famous Oktoberfest (this picture is heading into Tollwood). This market is known for hippy artisans and lots of international food! On our way to the Chinese Tower in the English Gardens we stopped at the Schwabing Christmas Market which has handcrafted originals created by 120 of Munich's best artists and craftsmen.

pic picThen we wandered through the HUGE English Gardens (Europe's largest city park - 5km x 1.5km) to the Chinese Tower Market (there is actually a chinese tower to the right of Mackenzie but we wanted to get the horse carriage in the pic). This market specialises in watercolours, porcelain and ceramic, Italian china dolls and marionettes, woodcuts, paraffin figures and antiques. There's even a little carousel for kids to ride.

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