Christmahanukwanzika, Part 1: Munich

That's probably enough of a break, now.

Despite my best intentions, and promises that a dark, troubled corner of my mind knew it probably wasn't going to keep, I have once again failed to bring you the bolging you thirst for and deserve.

My bad.

The nature of my "breaks" (read: slovenly vacations) has been such that I haven't had the inclination time to write while they're happening for reasons including, but not limited to, having too much fun, relaxing, refusing to think about anything remotely of import, willful irresponsibility, and gross negligence. But, here I am, back in Sofia for over a week, and I've continued to leave you hungry. But here, come in out of the cold, have something to drink, and lose yourself in the latest of my yarns:

I flew to Munich on the 19th, where I was greeted by subzero (Celsius) temperatures and a blanketing of snow. As it happened, Laura and I would continue to be snowed on almost continuously for the next two weeks.

The first part of my visit will best be described as the misshapen hybrid between a week of pure vegging, pre-Christmas festivities, and a cultural walking tour of Munich. In light of the fact that descriptions of my lazy-day activities would probably not make for very gripping storytelling, let's skip right to the second item on that list.

One of the primary draws for me to come to Germany for Christmas (besides the presence of my beautiful girlfriend) was simply how the Germans do Christmas. A bunch of the holiday traditions we have in the States either come from the Germans or have been completely outdone by them, and they even have a few that we can't even touch. I present into evidence as Exhibit A the phenomenon of Christmas Markets:

Even the Rathaus was dressed up for Christmas

These markets, which, in some instances, can take up 1/10 of a square kilometer, are vast expanses of tents selling all kinds of food, toys, souvenirs, kitsch, and the ubiquitous glühwein, which essentially amounts to hot Manischewitz with spices and fruit. But it is delicious. And warm. And wine.

And it comes in real mugs, which you can steal!

We spent a disconcerting amount of time hanging around these markets, paying exorbitant prices for food and drinks, partly because of the atmosphere, partly because of the crowds, and partly because of the ridiculous nature of some of the larger ones such as Tollwood:

Multicolored tents as far as the eye could see

Nice to meet you

However, on my third day there, instead of hanging out in the freezing cold for hours at a time, we decided to make comfort foods in honor of the season:

NOM

And, after I fried latkes, handcrafted a menorah out of tinfoil, and read Maccabees, we celebrated Hanukkah, as well.

Happy Hanukkah, y'all

But when the fun and games were over, we got down to some srs bsns cultural activities. We made a list, checked it twice, and decided there were 23487645986 things we needed to see in Munich while I was there. We decided to start at the Münchner Residenz, former home of the rulers of Bavaria. It is large.

Incredibly, the only shot I got, the gazebo in the Hofgarten

Across the Odeonsplatz from the Residenz is the ridiculously intricate Theatinerkirche. Almost completely destroyed in the war, it has been rebuilt to be more or less an exact replica of how it once was. And boy, it once was.

Also large.

So much detail

Keeping the church theme going, we also visited the Michaelskirche, this one, interestingly enough, a Jesuit church (What's that?). And also quite magnificent. The interior of the church looked familiar, as it bore a striking resemblance to another St. Michael's - the Serbian Orthodox church we visited in Belgrade. And upon leaving, we found a sign asking us to shut the door - in Serbian. While there is obviously a connection, I have nary a clue as to what it could be.

If you squint hard enough, you can see on the altar a portrait of St. Michael slaying the evil that is Protestantism.

The inexplicable aforementioned sign in Serbian

As the Michaelskirche happened to be a (rather liberal definition of a) short walk from Munich's sole synagogue, and as it happened to be the second night of Hanukkah, we took the stroll, detouring only briefly into the German equivalent of REI. To our disappointment, the entrance is barred to non-Jews. This is something that I can begin to understand in a place with a history such as Germany's, but something I found a little distasteful nonetheless. Judaism is supposed to be welcoming. It's supposed to be inclusive. I've never encountered a congregation that didn't welcome Gentiles among it, so long as they respected its traditions and beliefs. 

Though that got to me, I couldn't help but admire the synagogue anyway.

Impressive

The next day, armed with a combined 20 years out of practice, Laura and I headed over to the Karlsplatz to go ice skating. And I only fell once. Bam.

When those 2 1/2 hours (!) of frivolity had ended, we set off to see one more thing in the waning light, BMW Welt. BMW standing for Bavarian Motor Works, and Munich being the capital of Bavaria, where else would it be? It was pretty cool, with exhibitions of new and concept cars, interesting little diagrams, and even interactive demonstrations. Before I begin to sound like a walking advertisement for it, I'll stop. But here! Pictures!

All futuristic and stuff

Really kind of cool

That will bring an end to my first yarn about how I got to Munich and spent the first four days running around doing all sorts of cool things in an effort to justify my presence there.

Give me a day or so to catch my breath after all this heavy typing and I'll spin you another one about how we made a pilgrimage to Leipzig for Christmas weekend to pay our tribute to Bach and hear all sorts of his music. Read fast.