it begins...

Well, tomorrow is the first Sunday of Advent. Not being a church goer, my grasp of the implications of that is a bit vague.

I do know it means the commercialisation of Christmas ratchets up a few degrees at this point.

So, we went to the Christmas market at Schwabing this afternoon. It's part of Munich. This market is so different from the tourist trap versions (we had to fight our way through the tourist hordes in the city centre market around Marienplatz at one point in the day) it had my jaw dropping. I even saw something worth buying.

I also had Glühwein and Flammbrot . Much more fun.

We also had a lovely lunch in the Paulaner place downtown. Also less touristy than some of the Munich breweries' places.

The day started with 100% culture (I'm able to see past beer & ice hockey occasionally). The Alte Pinakothek for da Vinci, Raphael, Tintoretto, Rubens, amongst others. Half of it was shut for renovation so we could leave early for lunch.