A German Thanksgiving in Munich

"Prost"

Nov26-Dec2

Brrrr...we knew it would be cold, but how could we turn down an invitation from our German friends Carolin and Peter to join them for an American-style Thanksgiving dinner in Munich? (A custom they adopted after living in the US for a year).

 

We always warn people…”if you invite us, we will probably come.”

Highlights of the trip:

"Traditional" Bavarian breakfast (pretzels not show)

Peter took us out for a traditional German breakfast.  He grew up on the German equivalent of “pub food,” and his eyes grew wide as he scanned the menu and saw all his old favorite comfort foods.  It’s pretty hard for Drew to get adventurous as a vegetarian in Germany, so Peter and I made up for him by sharing several traditional dishes.  We had weisswurst, (big fat white boiled sausages) served with a pretzel and sweet whole-grain mustard, washed down with a half liter each of weissbeer (which went down surprisingly easy at 10am).  We also shared a huge bowl of lung stew with a large bread dumpling in the middle (saures-luengeri).  It was kind of tangy and creamy at the same time. 

Here is a link to an entertaining post about eating lungs    http://www.eatmedaily.com/2009/08/offal-of-the-week-lungs/

          

Visit to the Pinokothek Moderne (modern art museum).  I thought that the furniture design exhibition was great;  the story, “The Emporer has no Clothes” comes to mind in regard to many of the other works.  I can’t help wondering how the artist convinced the powers that be at the museum that 4 green strings attached to the wall and floor on a diagonal has any significance, value, or is even remotely interesting (though, here I am writing about it, so maybe the joke is on me). 

3 shades of gray

Pinakothek Modern design

loved the curtain of mirrors at Pinakothek Moderne

functional design exhibit

playing in a curtain of mirrors

Pre-Thanksgiving dinner party with Christoph and Mahin…table of 8, good conversation and delicious food.  It will be great to reciprocate next year when they are in CA for a year as part of the Cal Poly faculty exchange.

Thanksgiving dinner-17 at the table, decorated in red with an American flag as a centerpiece, which gave us a good laugh.  I was asked to talk about the history of this very “American” holiday.  Carolin managed to achieve her goal of having virtually no leftovers (yummy food).  All that work, with no leftovers (how un-American). 

American themed Thanksgiving dinner

carving the turkey like a pro

Deutsches Museum- Science museum…kind of dusty, but charming in a retro way.  They are constantly working on upgrades, but I love the old “dated” exhibits the best…like the history and machinery involved in making textiles. 

Christkindlmarkets- We visited 3 of these charming Christmas markets, and enjoyed 3 completely different experiences.  From the artsy neighborhood market, to the woodsy market in Englischer Garten, to the very touristy but huge market in Marienplatz.  Nope, didn’t buy a single souvenir, just enjoyed the ambience and food.

Christkindlmarkt

a kiss under the mistletoe

Englischer Garten  

Christkindlmarkt Marienplatz

Surprise offer- Tickets to see Mozart’s Requiem in the Church by the Residenze (palace) with Anthony from Florida (another prof on his sabbatical).  After the concert we wandered to several of Munich’s wonderful plazas where we drank hot mulled wine, ate sausages and pretzels, watched ice skaters, and joined the others out admiring the elaborate animated Christmas window displays.

Hofkirche for Mozart's Requium

Marienplatz

Time for a Pretzel

Marienplatz

drinking mulled wine while watching skaters

another window display

Christmas window displays

yet another window display

Mail delivery in Munich

Lowenbrau

Enjoying the neoclassic architecture 

incense filled the air 

Flight home…we got to the airport by 7:45 am only to find that Lufthansa cancelled our flight due to a strike.  Luckily we were able to get on a flight 7 hours later (flights to all other destinations in Spain were cancelled).  The Lufthansa representative helping us reschedule was rather puzzled that we didn’t get upset about the flight cancellation.  I mentioned that we were living in Spain for a year, and she said that the relaxed attitude must be rubbing off on us.

Actually we ended up having had a great time at the airport.  I had a beer with my breakfast, wandered the airports outdoor Christkindlmarkt with food, skating, crafts…even a sort of mini luge track, and did my Spanish homework.  I thought about that movie where a guy lives in the airport (was it Tom Hanks?)

…if it was Munich’s airport, it wouldn’t be too bad.