Christmas in Europe

November 2023 - January 2024

A 43-day adventure by Dr Morbius & Nicola Read more

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Christmas in Europe
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- Nov 22, 2023, 2:01pm
- ☁️ 3 °C
- Altitude: 484 m
- Germany Free State of Bavaria Unterschleißheim Lohhof 48.288369, 11.58109748°17’18” N 11°34’52” E
Day 1
Hello Munich
November 22, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 3 °C
Well, we made it! The flight was good, but sleep escaped me for most of the trip. Which gave me a chance to watch all those stupid movies I never wanted to pay to go see. Nicky had a bit more sleep than me, but we were both pretty buggered by the time we got to the hotel.

It was 2 degrees when we arrived... it's been a while since I've been in the cold like that. Might have to rethink my fashion sense. I brought gloves, but never thought about having to use your phone... so will need to invest in some warm, hi-tech gloves.

Had a quick walk around the local area to get a few photos to prove we were here. It's fantastic to see the autumn colours again... Beautiful!Read more
Traveler Great to hear you have arrived & all is well😃
11/23/23Reply
Traveler Happy travels.
11/23/23Reply
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Christmas in Europe
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- Nov 23, 2023, 10:50am
- ☀️ 4 °C
- Altitude: 526 m
- Germany Free State of Bavaria Munich Altstadt U-Bahn-/S-Bahn-Haltestelle Marienplatz 48.137317, 11.57468348°8’14” N 11°34’29” E
Day 2
München Old Town
November 23, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 4 °C
We slept for 14 hours last night... feel almost human today.

And what a day it was... clear blue sky and the temperature soared up to 6 degrees. A beautiful day to wander the city, but the next 10 days are forecast for rain and snow. Woot!

Anyway, walked into the old town where the Christmas Markets are being set up. They officially open on Monday, so we'll have to go back then.

The Markets are in Marienplatz, just outside the New Town Hall, which is called Neues Rathaus (how appropriate). We arrived just in time to watch the main clock to go off at 11. Quite impressive.

From there we wandered up to the English Gardens, which are quite impressive with the autumn colours. Stopped for a Glühwein (mulled wine) to warm us up before walking back to the hotel.Read more
Traveler Ahhh 6 degrees now. You must be melting in the heat 🥵🥵
11/23/23Reply
I can't believe how warm it is there, bet your missing wurtulla now 😅 [Gracey]
11/23/23Reply
Traveler Lovely.
11/23/23Reply
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- Nov 24, 2023, 11:00am
- 🌧 6 °C
- Altitude: 521 m
- Germany Free State of Bavaria Munich Maxvorstadt Karolinenplatz 48.145292, 11.56752848°8’43” N 11°34’3” E
Day 3
NS-Dokumentationstrum
November 24, 2023 in Germany ⋅ 🌧 6 °C
Let me apologise in advance for this potentially depressing post…

We visited the NS-Dokumentationszentrum today, which is the Munich Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism. It records the events that led to the birth, rise and fall of the Nazi Party here in Munich.

It is a unique museum in that it doesn't focus on the major events of WWII, but rather, undertakes a detailed analysis of the political and social environment that allowed Hitler and the Nazi Party to rise to power.

The focus is not on the major heroes and villains of the war, but the impact on everyday people. Not just the persecuted Jewish and Romani peoples, but the German people themselves who eventually came to realise how they were misled and suffered dearly in the end.

It was very moving and sobering, moreso because the exact same sequence of events is happening again today.

The Nazi Party campaigned as the Far Right with the promise to bring prosperity back to Germany by solving the problems brought on by Socialists and Communists, which was eventually blamed on non-Aryan people in general. Today we have promises to bring back prosperity and protect us from immigrants and muslims. Sound familiar?

In the end, the Centre puts the blame for the rise of Nazi Germany on the unwillingness of the general population to reject and fight against facism.

I think there’s a message here…Read more
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- Nov 24, 2023, 3:14pm
- 🌧 4 °C
- Altitude: 524 m
- Germany Free State of Bavaria Munich Mary's Square 48.137758, 11.58028348°8’16” N 11°34’49” E
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Day 3
A beer at Hofbrauhaus
November 24, 2023 in Germany ⋅ 🌧 4 °C
No visit to Munich is complete without having a litre of beer at the world famous Hofbrauhaus. I didn’t really want to, but thought I should “take one for the team” and check it out.

It’s a massive hall and it was absolutely chockers… but we eventually found a table and ordered some German cuisine. I had German Sausage with mustard and potato salad. Nicky had spinach dumplings in a blue cheese sauce. It was a simple meal, but absolutely delicious.

And then there’s the beer… I don’t think I’ll be able to drink a Great Northern or XXXX again. It is the best beer I’ve had in ages. I can’t put my finger on exactly what the difference was, but it was delightful.

Check out the photo of the men's urinal... obviously a lot of beer to get rid of. I wanted to stand in the centre and see if I could hit all of them, but they frowned on that for some reason... 😂

Unfortunately, the Oompah Band went on extended break before I could get a video, but that was a good excuse to go back the next day. So now we have a video.

Overall, a delightful end to the day…Read more
Traveler Thanks for taking one for the team 💪 So selfless!
11/25/23Reply
Traveler Nice😃
11/25/23Reply
Traveler Team player ❤️💪🏼
11/25/23Reply
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- Nov 25, 2023, 11:08am
- ☁️ 0 °C
- Altitude: 525 m
- Germany Free State of Bavaria Munich Altstadt S-Bahn-/U-Bahn-Haltestelle Karlsplatz (Stachus)48.139403, 11.56620348°8’22” N 11°33’58” E
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Day 4
Snow and Surfing in Munich
November 25, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 0 °C
An easy day today just wandering through the shopping district. I have to say they go all out for the Christmas decorations.

I invested in some gloves and a scarf to help ward off the snow. We had flurries on and off throughout the day, but by late afternoon it was getting quite heavy.

We thought we'd pay a visit to Eisbachwelle, a popular spot on the Eisbach River where people surf the rapids. Quite amazing, but I'm not convinced it's a good winter sport. Check out the video.

Oh, and we might have had another mulled wine somewhere along the way... 🤫Read more
Traveler Randall the fashionista🤣. Wow that surfing is amazing😳
11/25/23Reply
Traveler Snowing ...my favourite. May need a cattle prod for me to leave the apartment but once on the street and with the 50 layers of clobber it looks well worth it.
11/25/23Reply
Traveler Yeah well worth it, always Gluhwein to warm you up
11/26/23Reply
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- Nov 27, 2023, 10:53am
- ☁️ 2 °C
- Altitude: 530 m
- Germany Free State of Bavaria Munich Kreuzviertel St Michael's Church 48.138503, 11.57008948°8’19” N 11°34’12” E
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Day 6
Christmas Markets
November 27, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 2 °C
The Munich Christmas Markets opened today, so we decided to wander around and check things out.

It was a nice day, but a little on the chilly side. So we had to make sure we kept ourselves topped up with the medicinal Glühwein.

The markets were lovely, but being opening night it was absolute chockers. So we went and had another Glühwein... 😁Read more
Traveler Now, that's a weiner!!!!
11/27/23Reply
Traveler Oh cheez, i am lost for words for once😳
11/28/23Reply
Traveler Cool pics as usual😃
11/28/23Reply
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- Nov 29, 2023, 1:19pm
- ☁️ 4 °C
- Altitude: 245 m
- Germany Baden-Württemberg Region Stuttgart Schlossplatz 48.778558, 9.17940648°46’43” N 9°10’46” E
Day 8
Stuttgart
November 29, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 4 °C
Continuing our search for the ultimate Christmas Markets, we jumped on a high speed train and made our way to Stuttgart. And when I say high speed... 250 kph. Take that QR!

The markets don't open until tonight, so we'll have to check them out tomorrow.

So we wandered around the city to see some of the sights. We're using an app called GPSMyCity... Another silly name, but a good app for doing self-guided tours in various cities.

Stuttgart has a large shopping district, Nicky was in her element. I didn't mind, it was a good excuse to go into some warmth. -2 when we got up this morning... 🥶Read more
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- Nov 30, 2023, 9:29am
- ☁️ 1 °C
- Altitude: 225 m
- Germany Baden-Württemberg Region Bretten Bauerbach Hochwald 49.070114, 8.76860649°4’12” N 8°46’7” E
Day 9
A Day in Heidelberg
November 30, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 1 °C
Decided to take a quick train up to Heidelberg for the day. What an interesting city. The old town is a few kilometres from the train station, so we jumped on a bus.

First stop was the Heidelberg Schloss, or Castle. It sits on the side of a mountain overlooking the city. Lucky for us, there's a funicular railway up to the castle. A short ride, but worth it.

The castle was fascinating. It was built around 1214 and had been destroyed and rebuilt a number of times since then. So it's an interesting mixture of rings and renovations. Not a bad view of the valley and town below. We had a good day for it.

The castle has a giant wine barrel that was used for collecting wine as tax. It held 221,726 litres of wine, although it was more of a tourist attraction than a useful wine store.

The castle also has an Apothecary Museum, which has a number of exhibits about medical care back in the 1700 and 1800's.

Afterwards we wandered down to the old town to see the Christmas Markets and have a little Glühwein.

After returning to Stuttgart, we paid a visit to the Christmas Markets there before collapsing in a heap back at the hotel.Read more
Traveler Excellent- looks like you are having a great time
11/30/23Reply
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- Dec 1, 2023, 12:32pm
- ☁️ 2 °C
- Altitude: 137 m
- France Grand-Est Strasbourg 48.581153, 7.74150348°34’52” N 7°44’29” E
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Day 10
And now... Strasbourg
December 1, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 2 °C
Our next stop was Strasbourg, a lovely town in France just over the border on the Rhine River.

It was snowing quite heavily when we left Stuttgart this morning, but it makes for some beautiful scenery.

With a myriad of rivers and canals, Strasbourg is quite a stunning place. There's not much I can say about the place, I'll just let the photos do the talking.

But more importantly, we discovered Vin Chaud... the French equivalent to Glühwein. Prost!Read more
Traveler Looking good guys & happy😃
12/1/23Reply
Traveler Is that pumpkin soup
12/1/23Reply
Traveler Yes, it is... nothing better on a cold day.
12/2/23Reply
Traveler ❤️
12/1/23Reply
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- Dec 2, 2023, 1:05pm
- ☁️ 0 °C
- Altitude: 151 m
- France Grand-Est Strasbourg 48.584669, 7.74930648°35’5” N 7°44’58” E
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Day 11
More Strasbourg
December 2, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 0 °C
Spent another day just wandering around this beautiful city and enjoying the food and drink.

Had a bit of snow last night and it was very cold today, so we were doubly rug'd up.

What would we do without the mulled wine?Read more
Loving the pics guys [Gracey]
12/3/23Reply
Traveler Traded Randall in hey
12/3/23Reply
Traveler What a cute teddy bear🤣
12/3/23Reply
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