Munich likes me!

Welcome to the land of meat and potato's; where beer replaces water, (I would not be surprised if it was used for bathing), and pretzels are the size of my face, (and I have a big head)! I anticipated that my aquatarian husband would starve for this visit to Germany. But he handled things well as each of the typical Bavarian restaurants that we visited offered a fish dish, (amongst 50 meat dishes).

Munich used to have the motto "Weltstadt mit Herz"; which translates to "Cosmopolitan City with a heart". I like the idea of different parts of the world coming together, especially when this involves food and culture, this would be the perfect place for me. But; there is always a but. This is no longer Munich's motto. They changed it again in 2006. Now it is, "Mùnchen mag dich", which translates to "Munich likes you"! To me this screams 'please be my friend', so to be totally honest, I was not expecting to like Munich.

It rained heavily all day, but this did not dampen our spirits, (just our clothes). Munich was filled with Christmas cheer, beautiful buildings, fantastic shopping, great food and friendly people. It was now reciprocal. I liked Munich back.

Once again we experienced another European kidnapping. (This is where somebody at a restaurant or shop approaches you, smiles, picks up your son, then walks away.) Hubby and I are slowly becoming accustomed to this as it has happened several times in Italy, although I still find it bizarre that strangers presume that this is acceptable behaviour, your average mother would of pulled out the mace spray by now. In this particular instance, my sons flirting got him carried away into the restaurants kitchen by a chesty blond bombshell; (food and breasts, my sons two favourite things), so he was happy. He managed to leave the restaurant with a new toy truck, biscuits and kisses and cuddles, (we checked his nappy for a scribbled mobile phone number when we got home, but he was unsuccessful in his follow through!)

On our way back to the hotel after dinner, Princess says "We are almost home." Soul mate and I smile at each other and realise how lucky we are that our daughter has been so adaptable in our travels, (short term and semi-permanent). "Home is where the hotel is?" Or sweetly she feels that "Home is where the family is"? But most likely she thinks, "Home is where the portable DVD player and buffet breakfast is"?

Similar to Austria, we found Germany effortless to travel, and if we tried to speak the language, the people were not fooled, and would mostly speak to us in English to get us by.

We enjoyed the sights,

We enjoyed the atmosphere,
We enjoyed the people,

We enjoyed jumping in the snow!

(Oh and the beer was realllllly good!)