Um, obviously kirsch means cherry... Didn't you know that?

Besides the transportation hassles that have plagued us regardless of where we are, Germany has treated us well.  I think I would be less enamoured if it was February right now, but in December it is the next best thing to visiting Santa's Workshop.  The food has really won me over- Flammanator and I have tried to pick up a few words of Spanish, Portuguese and German along the way.  However, a reflection of our acquired German vocabulary has revealed a particular tendency.  We only know German words for food: kirsch, dampfnudel, currywurst, gluhwein, kartoffelsuppe, lebkuchen, rittersport... Speaking of rittersport, there has been a coup d'etat in the flavour rankings.  Hazelnuss has been dethroned by Nuss in Nougatcreme.  I know.  I know.  No one thought this was possible, but it's new on the scene and it's making headlines.  Another surprise for us was discovering the existence of a Christmas Market food that is not delicious.  It's some kind of sauerkraut/noodle dish, which I disliked for the sauerkraut and Larissa disliked for the noodles.  In the tasty beverage category, kinderpunsch now has apfelpunsch to keep it company.  And we also sampled the beer favoured by the current pope, Edelstoff.  I think it would be very refreshing after a long, hard day of pope-ing.

I'll leave food and the Xmas markets aside (just for the moment) to look at Munich itself: A+ for intrigue.  It has historical sites and museums which make it as interesting as Berlin, without being as cold.  Munich was particularly significant in the time leading up to and during the Second World War.  It is the city where Hitler first came to power in the Nazi party, and the location of events such as the Beer Hall Putsch and several assassination attempts.  Larissa and I took a tour to Dachau one day - having been to Auschwitz before, it was really interesting to see the difference between a death camp and a work camp.  Although choosing to see Dachau meant that we were not able to make it to Neuschwanstein Castle, I think LB and I made the right decision... even if our tour guide was from Minnesota and preferred to speak to the two of us in a Newfie accent.

Our stay in Munich also presents an excellent example of the highs and lows of traveling.  We've found that things seem to either go wrong all day, or all right.  The day of the yogurt explosion was an All Wrong day: for the first time so far, we slept in and missed breakfast and the walking tour we wanted to be on.  It poured all day long, soaking and freezing our feet and causing us to cut out, for the first time ever, on the walking tour we did catch.  That tour was terrible anyway.  To complete the afternoon, LB and I missed the last entry to the Residenz by 10 measly minutes.  The Residenz was Megan's top recommendation and the one thing I really wanted to see.  Finally, there was a hearstopping hour when we thought there was no possible way to get to the Memmingen airport as early as we needed to be there - luckily that one turned out to be an error.  We paid our dues though, and the next day couldn't be more different.  This was Dachau Day, and we caught every bus and train we aimed for, were handed free crepes at a grocery store, found a bank right when we needed one, had an excellent tour in the glorious sunshine, and feasted on the Pope's beer and sausages at the Augustina Brewhouse.

We definitely ran out of time in Munich.  I guess that just leaves something for my next trip!