I haven’t written about our trips in Europe so far, but we’ve done quite a few ones which were really nice and I really would like to share our experience here. I’ll start with our latest trip which was Munich and then start going back in time. Most of our trips around here are short ones (usually daytrips or 2-3 days away) and most of the time I’m by myself with my 3-year-old son during the day since hubby is on the trip but for business reasons. I can say that being in Luxembourg and not being working allowed me and my son to travel and enjoy a lot more this European experience (but I do miss working!)
We’ve stayed in Munich for 3 nights and it was cold:
I’ve never been to a Christmas market before so my first item on my to-do list was to visit the Christmas markets in Munich. We visited two (out of 20 that exist in the city):
Christkindlmarkt
Munich’s Christmas Market – whose roots go back to the 14th century – is held on the Marienplatz in the heart of the city centre. It was a cold and snowy night but we had fun going through the stalls, eating bratwursts and drinking glühwein (“mulled wine”) and kinderpunsch (an alcohol-free version of the glühwein). My son’s favorite stall was the one selling puppets and a candy house that reminds him of the Hansel and Gretel story. And he also loved to see the nativity scene at Sternenplatzl.
We finished the night by having a very German meal at Augustiner am Dom. It had good food and it was a warm place to get out of the snow close to the market.
Das Weihnachtsdorf im Kaiserhof der Residenz München
The second Christmas market we visited was the one in the Munich Residence. It was a much smaller market but it had something special for kids: a fairy tale section with singing animals and different characters. This was my son’s favorite market, for sure! He didn’t hesitate to ask me to come again the next day when we were walking nearby in Odeonplatz.
You can see more information about their program, including a puppet theater at: Das Weihnachtsdorf im Kaiserhof der Residenz.
BMW Museum and BMW Welt
I didn’t really know the difference between the two until we got there. We asked the cab to drop us off at the museum and there one of the employees explained to us: the BMW museum was about the history of BMW brand while the BMW Welt is a showcase of the current cars of the BMW group. The museum entrance is paid while the Welt entrance is free.
Since we were already in the museum, we decided to start with that. The museum seems great but with a 3-year-old, that was a bad idea. He was not interested at all and we had to rush through the whole thing.
After our visit to the museum, we had lunch at the museum cafe which was simple but quite nice. We were almost leaving without checking out BMW Welt but we decided to take a peek. Oh boy, that’s the only place we should’ve gone! My boy went crazy since he could enter the cars, play a racing game or enjoy the activities in the junior campus (actually aimed at older children but he had fun nonetheless). He didn’t want to leave the place. And the architecture of that building is fascinating!
All in all, it was a great trip and I wish we had more time to enjoy the city a little bit more and visit some other places like the medieval Christmas market and the Deutsches Museum.