I’m now patiently waiting on my Clark Griswold badge to arrive in the mail. Our Christmas this year was spent in Germany. More on that shortly, but first; we’ve hit London, Paris and Rome this year. The visit to Germany means we have now completed the Pig-in-a-Poke itinerary. Oink Oink.
We left out on an early Thursday morning. We waited at the airport with two more expat families who were heading out for the holidays. We also saw our dentist. At least Greene did. The rest of us had no idea who she was, because we don’t think we’ve ever seen her with her mask off. Our flight left Yanbu at 6 a.m. and a short layover in Istanbul meant we arrived in Munich right after lunch. We had a transfer to our flat and met our wonderful host, who lived right next door. She showed us around the flat and gave us several recommendations. We rested a bit and then headed out to explore Munich. The flat was a peaceful 10 minute walk to the nearest subway station. A few stops later, we emerged from underground into the middle of the Christkindlmarkt at Marienplatz. It was already starting to get dark, and the enormous Christmas Tree was a sight for sore Saudi eyes. The market bustled with activity, with every Glühwein stall overflowing with people and every type of ornament and homemade crafts in sight. We walked around the stalls and took in the beauty of the Rathaus.
We then headed towards dinner and chose to go full Bavarian immediately. Hofbrauhaus was pretty full but not overly packed, and we were able to find a gentleman who was collecting his bags to leave. He had the entire table to himself, and must have been drinking for all those who couldn’t make it out that night. He stood up slowly, got arms into coat with a Herculean effort, then bent over the bench to pick up his bags. His inertia carried him past the point of looking undrunk, and he had to catch himself on the table before teakettle and body parts switched places.
We started out with our most anticipated meals; schnitzel for the other four, wurst for me. Und ein bier. A traditional band started up around the time our food arrived, and we enjoyed our meal while taking in those walking around in endless circles waiting for a table to open.
We left out and explored a bit more of the old city before heading back to the flat, as the time change left us ready for bed at an early hour. Greene and I made a trip to the grocery store down the street from our flat for some basics (bacon) and some extras (water and such).
The next morning was spent sleeping in and taking our time getting ready. We decided to skip the short subway ride and make the walk all the way to the old city. We passed the Gasteig, where the girls would be attending Das NussKnacker the following day. We crossed the Isar and took in Isartor before looking for a hair salon. This is vitally important on our trips, as the salons in Saudi are hit and miss, without the hit to this point. We found a Toni and Guy, but no appointments available. We searched Google for some more, but stomachs beat out stylists. We tried a couple of restaurants that were packed, tried a Mexican place that wasn’t Mexican for lunch, and finally walked a little further to Züm Dürnbräu and some excellent Bavarian fare.
We then made the walk to the Viktualienmarkt. The timing was perfect; full stomachs saved many Euros. The normal market stalls had pig in every form, sugar in every way, and flowers in every color. The additional Christmas time stalls added ornaments and evergreen everything. We bought some Gummis and black licorice before stopping for some candy apples. Macy grabbed some mistletoe and started smiling at us. We kissed under it while Macy made for the most memorable picture of the trip.
We then walked up the small hill Peterskirche. Greene’s aversion to tight spaces and Drew’s aversion to physical activity left me, Macy and Cade as the trio that would ascend Alter Peter. The climb was much different from St. Peter’s Basilica, with most of it being wooden steps and platforms built on old massive beams. The climb felt much shorter than it looked from the bottom. We spent a few minutes locating Greene and Drew, then took in the views of the city. The trip down was actually the same stairs as the trip up. There was more traffic than when we ascended which resulted in more stops and standing against the wall while others slid past.
We spilled out on the street and went to look for the rest of the party. I visited a whiskey store that had many tempting options, but with the considerable price tags and the short time in Germany, I couldn’t reconcile spending the cash and not nursing the bottle for a long time. Greene and Drew finished their shopping, and we strolled Kaufingerstraße and the multitude of market stalls. Glühwein, wursts, nuts, ornaments, pretzels, sweets, rinse, repeat. We passed by Frauenkirche and St. Michael Kirche on our way to Karlsplatz. There was a skating rink set up and the beverage flowed freely in the temporary viewing decks surrounding the skaters. We walked around the corner to another Toni and Guy and found them to be booked solid also. Greene started making phone calls to every friseur within the Munich metropolitan area. Fractured conversations resulted in dead ends on every attempt. We took a long route back to Marienplatz and stopped for some chocolate covered marshmallow balls the size of basketballs and hot chocolate to wash it down with. We grabbed a spot to sit a spell and then made for the flat. The early sunset was keeping our clocks out of wack, and we had done a lot of walking through the day.
The next day was Ketron Family Tradition Day. The girls have attended the Nutcracker Ballet for the past several years. When they started going in Houston, they always visited the Hard Rock Cafe right across from Wortham Theater. Finding tickets in Munich was a little more difficult than normal. There is no local dance company that performs on a regular basis, so shows are hit and miss from outside companies. Searching for Nutcracker yielded no results, but NussKnacker found a few options and we made plans around the time. The boys go somewhere to spit, cuss, fart and scratch.
Greene and I made a breakfast of bacon and. I forget what else. Bacon. The girls got gussied up and we took the S-Bahn into Marienplatz again. We arrived early to watch the Glockenspiel in the Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall)(new as in finished in 1907, old town hall was built in the 14th century). We found some candied apples for the kids and a skewer of chocolate covered nuts for Greene to munch on and squatted in front of the Swatch store, which had a convenient ledge and perfect view.
After the chimes stopped and the jousters jousted and the coopers danced, we made our way to HRC. We arrived about 15 minutes before the restaurant opened, so we visited the Rock Shop to kill time and budget. We were the first ones in and had the normal HRC experience. The music was good as was the food. I asked for the check and our server said, “Yes, habibi”. When he brought the check, I paid and said shukran. His initial reaction was a little dismayed, asking how we knew he spoke Arabic. I told him where we were living, and he and Cade had a short conversation in Arabic. He told Cade he was a better Arabic speaker than his son. It seemed to make his day and it made ours too. One thing that continues to amaze me here in Saudi are the everyday blue-collar people who can communicate in multiple languages. I know as native English speakers, we are a little spoiled in that the global business language is typically our mother tongue and the need to learn a second language isn’t as important. The Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshi, Malaysians, Filipinos, and others who work regular jobs here in Saudi can communicate in at least 3 languages. A Moroccan in Germany speaking perfect English makes me envious of those with the aptitude and drive to be multilingual.
We left and made our way back to the S-Bahn station at Marienplatz. Along the way, I captured a picture of the most heavenly display of Schweinhaxen roasting in a restaurant window. As we walked on, the porcine daydreams were shattered by the crash directly behind me. We all turned around to see Drew doubled over next to a sign in the middle if the sidewalk. Everyone around us turned around to see Drew doubled over next to a sign in the middle of the sidewalk. People on the other side of the street turned around to see Drew doubled over next to a sign in the middle of the sidewalk. There was 5 seconds of gruesome images running through my head…Drew looking up with a gash on her face, Drew taking her shoe off to display a mangled set of toes…then she raised her ruby red face covered with a mixture of embarrassment and self-deprecating laughter. Once everyone watching, from Munich to Nuremburg, realized she was okay, life carried on. We stood and laughed and posed for pictures with the offending sign until we could no longer laugh.
It was time for us to split up and go our separate ways. The girls went east to the Gastheig and Cade and I made northwest for the BMW Museum and Welt.
Cade was amazed by the museum. His biggest surprise was that the Bayerische Motoren Werke started by making airplane engines. They had many samples of the engines, cars, and motorcycles the company had produced over the years. He was most impressed by the wall of motorcycles from 1923 to present day. We then made our way across a bridge to the BMW Welt, which is basically a huge indoor showroom with test track. Those who chose can pick up their new BMW at the Welt delivered from the factory a block away and get the champagne treatment while doing so. We sat in BMWs and Coopers, straddled a few motorcycles, and circled a roped-off Rolls Royce with the other broke saps. We left the Welt and climbed a small hill to take in Olympic Park before making our way back to Olympiazentrum station. We made our way back to the flat and stopped at the grocery store to grab some snacks and dinner.
Guest writers Drew and Macy for the ballet update.
The theater was different than the past ones we went to. This one was more modern, and it had a freestanding stage. We had to decipher what we could, because the narrator at the beginning spoke all German. The story was a little different because the setting was in her house the whole time, but they still had all our favorite scenes. We really enjoyed the different costumes and choreography, and was even more cool because it was a Russian dance group (where the Nutcracker story originates). It was especially cool that day, because it was negative 1 degree Celsius outside (thanks for the pun Macy).
Guest writer Cade for the BMW Museum.
It was so cool! I didn’t even know that they used to make boat and plane engines! It was so modern, the building. I really liked the future car that they had designed and the motorcycles too! It was all so cool, all of it!
When the girls got home, Macy had enough high heel miles to last a lifetime, so Greene and I made a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up essentials and restock our breakfast supply. We discussed going out for a movie, but an early train the next morning made the decision for bed much easier. We ordered pizza and watched a bit of The Sound of Music as preparation for our next day.
From Tennessee To Texas to Saudi Arabia 