Weihnachtsmärkte Woche 3: Märchen

We’re slowing down a little bit–it got unseasonably cold! Scheißklimawandel.

Weihnachts- und Wintermarkt am Münchener Flughafen (state, on-going)

My favorite part of the market at the airport? The people attempting to barrel through the Glühwein Zone with giant wheeled suitcases, huffing and snarling at the merrymakers. Sure, they could use the empty walkway clearly designated for walking between the terminals, but then how will the rest of us know how grimly self-important they are? Heh.

Anyway, this one is pretty standard, with the usual foods, gifts, and activities, but it’s at THE AIRPORT! so it’s more fun, and a bit more sheltered from the wind. We’ve been here a few times, but this year we took the special Lichterfahrt, the tour of the tarmac after dark, because we are geeks like that.

The animatronic moose betrayed me; I got Wham!ed while drinking my Glühwein.

Special food: “Original Spanish Churros” with Nutella.

Freisinger 44. Caritativer Christkindlmarkt (city, third Advent weekend)

Freising’s annual market at the Marienplatz, with all stands run by local businesses and charity groups. This year it snowed! We met some friends and spent a pleasant hour chatting before it got too crowded. On the way home, we were serenaded by a brass quartet.

Schloss Kaltenberg – Magischer Advent (private, weekends, tickets required)

Schloss Kaltenberg is an actual castle that houses the brewery that makes König Ludwig Weißbier. There is a descendant of the last King of Bavaria in residence, and he’s built it out into a permanent Middle-Ages festival grounds, with an arena for jousting that hosts tournaments in the summers. The Wintermarkt has a Grimms Fairy Tales theme, with many of the same performers and vendors, but also some nice light displays.

We enjoyed exploring the grounds and admiring the handcrafts for sale, but it was very crowded, and thousands of families had trampled the day’s fresh snow into ice.

Also, there were more hot drinks stands than food stands, and at dusk the food lines were incredibly long. We managed a venison bratwurst from “the Poacher”–we were promised the animals had never seen a fence–and caught a waffle on the way out so at least we didn’t go home hungry. My suggestion is go to earlier in the day for a grazing lunch.

That said, the Kirschmet–cherry mead–was outstanding.