Munich for Christmas
Another reason for staying in Dachau was to visit the concentration camp. It was a 3km walk from our hotel and gave us the opportunity to see more of the town It’s very well signposted from the main railway station (follow signs for KZ-Gedenkstatte) so we had no problems finding it. Although it isn’t something everyone would wish to visit, it is none the less part of our recent history and is very well presented. It’s possible to take a guided tour or self-guided audio tour, however there is a vast amount of information available so it’s possible just to wander around at leisure. Dachau was never an extermination camp; however, its working methods were used as a template for many of the concentration camps which existed during WWII.
Dachau has a very pretty old town with cobbled streets with restaurants and shops. The Christmas market in the town was possibly the smallest I’ve ever been to in Germany, however it has the same smells and Christmas ambience as the many others we’ve been to.
We spent a full day in Munich; the main pedestrianised area is between Karlstor (medieval gate) and Marienplatz, the central square of the city. This is where the town hall (or Rathaus in German) is located. There is a glockenspiel in one of the towers of the Rathaus where visitors gather at 11:00 and 12:00 to see the historical German figurines twirl on two levels. An exhibition of Nativity Scenes was interesting and also gave us the opportunity to get away from the biting wind and warm up! There’s a very pretty Christmas Market in Marienplatz (one of many in Munich) where the hot Gluwhein helped to keep us warm.
Even though I don’t drink beer I enjoyed our visit to the famous Hofbrauhaus. We sat on a big wooden table with our new friends from Russia, even though we’d only just met them. The waitresses dressed in typical Bavarian clothes and carried four or five huge steins of beer with ease. The food available is typically German with pretzels, sausages and chicken. The oompah band had everyone swaying from side to side and the wonderfully happy atmosphere was infectious.
The Olympia Park is just a few stops on the U-bahn (underground). We walked around the outside of the stadium where the 1972 Olympics took place and went to the top of the Olympic Tower. On a clear day there are fantastic views of landmarks in and around Munich – unfortunately it wasn’t a clear day when we visited, however it still gives a very interesting view of the city below. For car enthusiasts the BMW museum is very close by and it’s free entry. For those of us who’s only interest is cars is getting from A to B – there was an opportunity to get out of the freezing weather and have a sit down with a warm drink!
Munich is a lovely city for a weekend visit – my advice if you’re planning on visiting for the Christmas markets is to take plenty of layers of clothing, hats, gloves and scarves. Outside it was bitterly cold – inside beautifully warm. However, the welcome from Bavarian people was definitely very warm – definitely Germany how I imagined it! Zum Wohl (good health)!