Snow in the Park

Following lunch we wandered back to the other side of the river & headed for the train station, but not without some play time at the park next to Mirabell Gardens

And then back to the train with 6 minutes to spare (otherwise it was another hour wait) and home. 

Where even the Hauptbahnhof looks festive for the season.

Salzburg Markets

Crazy busy.  That’s the only thing I can think of when I think of today.  There were people everywhere!!  The vendors were not the nicest (if you don’t want it touched don’t put it at a child’s eye level!!), and the average age of the shoppers was easily into the 60s if not 70s so things moved a little slower than we normally do. 

We did buy a couple of Nutcrackers for the girls, and some ornaments, but then it was lunchtime, and we really needed food & a Stiegl (beer) so we headed up the hill to the Stiegl Keller & the view of Salzburg.

Christmas trip to Salzburg

We took the train to Salzburg today, along with thousands of other people, and checked out the Christmas markets that line the area around the Cathedral.  We thought the train would be better than driving because the autobahn between Munich & Salzburg often gets jammed with traffic (stau) and we were thinking it would be more relaxing.  However nice it was, it was also a little stressful dealing with strict punctuality with 2 children. 

The train was packed, and people were so desperate for seats that one woman even asked if she could sit with us four in the FOUR seats that we had, and when I told her there was no seat available she questioned me?!  Like anyone would want to sit with energetic children for a 2 hour 20 min train ride if they didn’t have to?  Plus I just didn’t want to be told by a stranger to keep my children still when she chose to sit with us.  Anyway, she left…

But Salzburg was beautiful.

Evening of Entertainment

Sophia & I went to the lower school musical yesterday at her school, the Tempest, with a cast of thousands, and so she was home a bit earlier than usual with lots of ideas about Theaters.  So she spent a good 30 min setting up the audience for her puppet show, and then put on a 5 min performance for us.  The idea of having a story line isn’t really important to her right now, she just likes the “surprise” of the puppets.

Sophia finishing up the audience, and Alexandra having a go in the spinning chair.  Troy & Alexandra are thoroughly entertained!

Preparations for Christmas

We’ve been trying to keep the Christmas spirit going in the evenings with lots of different activities & craft projects (I’m trying to get more creative!!). 

Of course Alexandra cried thru her St Nicolaus Party at school…

She saw me & wouldn’t go anywhere near the rest of her class.  Halo & all…

But the room looked great, and one family from the school owns the Indian restaurant down the street so they brought lots of yummy food – Alexandra ate it all!

Sophia has done her Gingerbread house for the table, Sophia painted Salt Dough Ornaments, and we discovered that water colors – although safe for our kitchen, are not good when trying to keep the dough ornaments dry… and the painting turned into finger painting, and then a colorful bath. Alexandra & I got in on the fun as well. But the paint brushes were too difficult, hands worked much better.

St Nicolaus Day

Sophia made sure that she & Alexandra both had their boots out (boots rather than shoes because they could hold more sweets) when she went to bed last night.  And there was joy to share before breakfast this morning when the chocolate left by St Nicolaus was discovered.

Sophia was a little confused about the name of the saint, she kept calling it “St Martin’s Day” and why the boots weren’t under the tree!

Decorating the tree

Sophia picked out a wonderful Christmas tree tonight, and we have been working hard on decorations.  Unfortunately, there were two unexpected problems; Alexandra freaked out as Troy carried the wrapped tree in from the car & had to be put to bed immediately, and we only have one string of lights, and a couple sleeves of ornaments, so this will be a continuing project this week. 

But Sophia had a great time getting things started, and it only fell over twice before we got it settled down into the stand.

Chinese Tower Market

A few views of the Market stalls. 

Another Schloss, then to the markets!!

We set out for another castle in the Munich area today – Schloss Furstenreid.

However this is as close as we could get to it.  (and a side reminder to look up opening hours before taking a drive in Saturday traffic with Children)  The schloss is currently a private retreat center for the Archbishop of Munich, so no entrance for us noise makers.

So we drove over to the Christmas market at the Chinese tower in English Garden for a bit and found the bishop himself, Actually it is the feast of St Nicolaus on Dec 6th, and in Germany the children place their cleaned shoes or boots outside their door and he brings them sweets, and an orange, inside.  It’s a fun way of getting the festivities started, and I like the fact that the girls see an alternative, more religious side to Santa Claus.  This Saint was walking around in his full bishop regalia, and even shared his staff -very impressive!

Of course our girls were more impressed with the Playmobil Play hut – and it was a great place to warm up for a bit.  Not that cold here yet, but really damp.     And no visit to the tower would be complete without a ride on the carousel!

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