#beersbellsandspells

For the past week, we have been lucky enough to host longtime friends at our house in Munich.  K and I met while we were both working part time at Pottery Barn in North Carolina and through all of our moves (hers and ours) we have always kept in touch.  She and her husband B have been trying to make it work to come visit us in each of our various locations but the timing has never worked out.  Until now that is.

They arrived on Monday afternoon and after picking the girls up from school, we headed out to the Christmas market downtown and sampled the Glühwein (the girls was non-alcoholic), had dinner at the Hofbrauhaus, and gorged ourselves on the waffles drizzled in chocolate while taking in the Marienplatz sights (some of us from a shoulder height view)...

Tuesday dawned and we were off again to see a few more sights - the Glockenspiel the Neus Rathaus, Peterskirche and a few more Christkindlemarkts which meant a few more Glüh-drinks and a flammkuchen to sustain us through it all.

We began at Marienplatz where we watched the Glockenspiel do its thing and then walked up, up, up and around and around to the top of the Rathaus (city hall - which is where the Glockenspiel is located) to view the city from on high...

Stairway that leads up and around the many floors of city hall.

It was worth the walk to see the views...down...

and up.

We stopped to take in the city's official nativity...

and taste our first wine of the day.

Our next stop was St. Peter's Church (Peterskirche) which is, in all probability, the first building and the originating point for the entire city of Munich.  Originally built in the 8th century, the church has been at least partially destroyed and rebuilt 4 times.  And it has been rebuilt gorgeously...

Standing in the nave looking from the chancel (bottom of the photo) to the loft (top of the photo).  This was taken in pano mode.

After the church we stumbled upon another Christmas market; this one in the interior courtyard of the Residenz.  We couldn't simply pass it by without stopping to have some lunch and marvel at the giant pyramid...

The largest working pyramid I have ever encountered.

Lunch - traditional flammkuchen (sort of a wood-fired flatbread with ham, onions and a white sauce) and the not so traditional hot Aperol spritz (though very delicious).

And another nativity scene (I take pictures of these for MadHatter as she is fascinated by them)

Bellies full and only about an hour left before I had to go get the girls from school, we wandered down towards the Englischer Garten to see the surfers...

(It had to be freezing!)

And then we stopped by the Chinesicher Turm to visit, wait for it....the Christmas market.

The nativity at the Chinesicher Turm.

And then we wandered our way home just in time to pick up the girls and call it a day!  I think that was the most sightseeing I have done since moving to Munich! And we still had another full day of sightseeing to do.