Christmas in Bavaria

Our guests left for Canada on the 23^rd and later that day we left for Germany where we spent the night of the 23^rd in Munich before taking the train to Bad Endorf on the 24^th where we stayed with Leanne’s friend and her family for 3 nights and experienced a Bavarian Christmas.

Munich is where my Dad’s family comes from (or there abouts) and I grew up hearing about Munich, cheering for F.C. Bayern Munich, eating weisswurst, and yes, wearing lederhosen. Our first night in Munich (we will return for 4 more) we stayed at a hostel close to the train station and to the Marienplatz where they have a famous Christmas market. We ate and drank our way through the streets and found our way to our first F.C. Bayern Fan-Shop. Here the warm wine is called Gluhwein (dots over the ‘u’) and we added cups to our collection. I should point out to any (are there any?) younger readers that the drinking is done for enjoyment of the beverage, we aren’t getting drunk, and what seems a bit surprising is that despite the fact that all around us people were drinking I don’t think we saw many who were drunk. To accompany the Gluhwein we ate sausages and sauerkraut, fried potato patties with apple sauce, something we called german pizza (a flat bread with sour cream, bacon, and green onions), and roasted chestnuts (maroni). It was the best possible way to start a Christmas vacation.

The next day (after a quick return to the market because we had to see it again) we were on the train to Bad Endorf, a one-hour train ride east out of Munich. Here we spent three nights with a family who treated us as though Leanne was their daughter and our children their grandchildren, we weren’t allowed to do anything to help because we were ‘on vacation’, which apparently means they pay for everything too. Their house was built 30 years ago in the traditional Bavarian style and Gus proclaimed it to be the most beautiful house he has ever been in. The view from the windows is spectacular, a picturesque town with a lake in the background all framed by mountains. Our Christmas was a traditional one and we were impressed by how calm Christmas is when the traditions are tied to religion rather that consumerism. The air was cleansed by the burning of frankincense, and we ate a simple and delicious dinner, the Chriskindl (Christ child) came while we were on a walk before dinner (he usually comes while the children are in church but Jesse expressed his opinion that church is boring…oops), and when a bell rang after dinner it was time to go into the tree room where we sang Silent Night (I felt like I was in the old Saturday Night Live Skit where Tonto, Frankenstein, and Tarzan sing. I know my kids don’t know the words and I wasn’t too sure myself), and then opened presents. I’m not sure it is an appropriate way to describe it but it was all very chill and I liked it a lot. We gave very few presents to the boys (a pair of socks was the big ticket) and they seemed to be okay with it. Santa Claus was nowhere to be found.

Christmas day we learned more about the town name. ‘Bad’ is the German word for ‘bath’ and on Christmas day we spent a couple of hour floating on our backs looking up at the stars from hot spring fed pools. On Boxing Day we went to two islands on a nearby lake, the women’s island and the men’s island. The women’s island is so called because of the cloister on the island and we visited the church and had lunch before moving onto the men’s island where there was once a monastery before it became known for the castle built there by King Ludwig II of Bavaria, our guides enjoyed calling him the crazy king and delighted in telling us stories of his eccentricities.

Not a Boxing Day sale in sight.