Seriously? Only in Germany!

Yesterday was my first day back in Munich so I of course had to make some major progress in the Christmas Market marathon. Sadly I only hit 3 for the day, but it was absolutely freezing outside so cut me some slack! We saw the Muenchner Freiheit one, the Residence one, and the Medieval one. In case you are curious the Medieval one had the best food!! AND they had schneeballs (the dessert I have been dreaming of since my trip to Germany in High School!) The dark chocolate covered one was great both times I ate it (no I did not get two, it was the same one but in two separate attempts).

Anyway the best part of the day was something that could only happen in Germany. I still feel like it is a test and someone is collecting data for an experiment on social behavior. Ok, so the story goes like this. There is this ceramics stand that I had seen 2 weeks ago at one of the markets and I just loved the woman's items. I have been thinking about them for the past two weeks and so I dragged Silvia there to validate my opinion. Well, after much deliberation I decided which items to buy, and when I asked if she accepted cards the woman said no. But then she asked if I have a German bank account. I said yes and so she told me I could just transfer the money into her account. So basically what happened is that she wrote down her bank info so that when I got home I could transfer the money and all she asked from me was my address. I walked away from the stand with my ceramics and this woman's trust that I was a good person. I know people who don't trust their friends that much and she let me make up any name with the promise of transferring money at a later date and walk away with the goods?! Only here, only Germany!

9 Pubs in 2 Days, Not a Bad Average

I spent last weekend in beautiful Galway. Ireland, which I had only known as being a rainy and mostly cloudy place, actually turned out to be the perfect host for our weekend trip. It was perfectly sunny the entire weekend, cold but sunny.

We left Dublin and drove the 2 hours to Galway the first night and after checking into the hostel we, of course, headed to the first pub. There I not only got to try a baby Guinness (Kahlua and Baileys, so it looks like a mini glass of Guinness) but I even got proposed to. Unfortunately the kid was drunk enough to not notice he had used the same line when bumping into my friend at the bar. My advice for him was one proposal per bar per night. We ended up talking with him and his friend (who we lovingly referred to as Stripey based on his clothing selection) until the pub closed. Oh side note: I love the pubs in Ireland, they are so cosy and often are these massive establishments with great nooks and wooden beams. It relaxes you just by walking inside one. Anyway after the bar we headed to Supermac's (McDonalds equivalent) with the rest of the city. That is where we saw Stripey again.

Next day was got up and went for my first Irish breakfast. It wasn't bad, bacon sausage, black and white pudding (similar to sausage patties) beans, toast . . . Then we just wandered in the beautiful sun all over. Saw a church band playing to raise money, a fresh and I mean FRESH market (dirt still on the carrots), the bay, and more. Then to cool off we hit another pub for a Baileys and coffee. From there the pub crawl continued. At the next place we experienced an impromptu flute and drum performance and they were fantastic! Then at the next pub we saw our old friend Stripey. Surprisingly enough he didn't seem to recognize us. Sorry to say, but it was no big loss for us.

That night for dinner I had my first Shepherds Pie and it was quite good. Of course it came with 3 different types of potatoes. We are in Ireland don't forget. Then we hit a bunch more pubs (a total of 8 by this point).

On Sunday we drove back via the Cliffs of Moher. We stopped at another pub for breakfast and while to food left much to be desired we did solve the question of where all the cute guys in Ireland are. They are in a pub in a small city just outside of Galway.

After stopping for lots of pictures on the way we finally made it to the Cliffs of Moher. They were so impressive. Straight drop into the ocean. It was breathtaking. Then at dinner we were able to experience the perfect sunset in combination with utter insanity, i.e. surfers. Not only was it sunset, but the air temperature was below freezing and they were surfing with no beach, but just massive rocks to break their fall. Crazy Irish, I love you but you're crazy.

Christkindlmärkte Definitely Beat Oktoberfest

Last night I went to my very first of the long awaited Christkindlmärkte (Christmas Markets) with Kornelia and Hannes! There I had my first Gluhwein (mulled wine) which is sold at every single food related stand. It doesn't matter if the stand sells wurst, kebabs, flammbrot, or anything else, they will all without a doubt sell Gluhwein. It was pretty good too. For example it made me not realize for about 30 minutes that I couldn't feel my toes. Impressive.

I think the markets held up to expectation and I only went to 2 of them yesterday. Lots of lights and Christmas trees and fun stuff to buy and Gluhwein and lots of fantastic food. (Oh did I mention that roasted chestnuts are amazing? Who knew?!) I still have dozens more markets to see in Munich and then all the others in the rest of Germany. That might make for one very busy week between returning from Dublin and Christmas. Even more worrisome is the amount of Gluhwein I would be expected to drink if I went to that many markets. Ok, I'll save some for next year.