Yup, that title deserved all caps. Because it was that good. Christmas vacation has never been so fun, okay it has, but still, this one was special. After getting over my extreme homesickness and staying in bed for a week weeping and talking to all my friends I decided that it was time to get off my bum and be happy that I’m in Spain and have the opportunity to travel during Christmas break instead of being “stuck” at home in the cold weather battling snow storms and high ways. While I missed my family dearly I was very glad, later on, that I had the opportunity to travel and see some good friends. After a hectic two weeks leading up to Christmas vacation that involved moving, losing my keys, losing lots of money and watching all my friends leave for home I finally headed off to Munich Germany on December 24th to meet my friend and her family at their home.
I stayed with my friends sister and her brother in-law in Munich. Jessica is from Peru but is studying her Master’s here in Huelva and her sister is married to someone from Munich. So in true European fashion I celebrated Christmas in Germany with a German, two Peruvians, a baby 1 1/2 year old and one Unitedstatesian (that’s the Spanish word for us, isn’t it funny!). Needless to say the house was full of laughter, babies laughing, us laughing, us speaking Spanish, English, and German! There were so many languages in the house and such good food. I honestly spent most days sleeping in and waking up and “sight seeing” in the afternoon for a few hours, only to return home, have a delicious dinner and relax for the rest of the evening with Jessica playing a memory game or Spit. Either way, pictures were taken, good times were had and here’s what I have for you.
Me at the Palace of Justice (Everything is a palace in Europe). This was Christmas Day so everything was closed but it was still nice to see
Glockenspiel! I didn’t realize that word was German and meant clock…but now I do. Anyways, this part of the clock actually moves.
This is in front of the city hall…yea…most city hall buildings look like this. It was really pretty, and behind me on the street is what remained of the famous Christmas Markets….they close after December 24th :(
Standing in front of a cool museum with Greek architecture.
Baby carriage that I imagine was pulled my ponies
The first night we played a rousing game of matching cards…but that’s for 4 year olds, so the following night I decided to teach Jessica one of the most beloved card games of my childhood…..SPIT. When she later asked me what the game is called I just looked at her and said “it’s weird, so don’t laugh, it’s called Spit” and after I translated it she was just like “I don’t get it, why!?” and continued to laugh for the next minute. Either way, after teaching her the rules and doing a couple of slow rounds for her, she caught on pretty fast and we spent the next 3 nights playing some really intense games of Spit. We went back and forth winning each round, and eventually I came out the ultimate victor, but she put up a really good fight. We even got yelled at by her sister to be quiet because the baby was sleeping, but we were SOOOOO into it! It brought me back to the days of waiting around backstage for a play, or just hanging out with everyone in college playing card games while we were hung over until it got dark and we got hungry. I miss those days….
Later on in the week we decided to go look at the Palace in Munich, since pretty much every major city in every country of Europe has old palaces that the royalty once used. And we were lucky where my hosts had never actually been there before, so they were willing to enter with us. So all five of us made our way to the Palace via car (thank goodness for wonderful hosts with private transportation) and spent the day looking through the museums that were inside and exploring the beautiful rooms within.
Jessica, Giovana and baby Nicole!
Schloss Nymphenburg (don’t ask me how to pronounce that)
Me outside :)
Just a snapshot of the beauty within. The walls, and ceiling were covered in murals like these
I wish I could say I did more exciting things during my time in Munich, and I did. But these are pretty much the most exciting things are did. For me, this vacation was truly a vacation. Rather than run around from city to city in 14 days I took my time, got to know each city in a unique way and all around relaxed! Which meant waking up no earlier than 8:30 or 9 every day, taking my time getting ready, enjoying the good company of good people and just enjoying being in another country.
Oh yea, I went ice skating, outside! Jessica had never ice skated in her life because she lives in Peru, and who ice skates there! And I had never actually done it outside and had always wanted to do it in an arena like NYC or Munich. So we decided that I would teach her and enjoy the good weather. So we joined in the fun, rented some skates and went out on the ice. Jessica’s sister was severly disappointed because Jessica didn’t fail epically at learning and only fell once. although the one time she did fall it was quite spectacular and really funny. She literally fell flat on her back with her arms spread out! I laughed my butt off, and then helped her up. :P But I didn’t get a picture, sorry world!
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