Frohe Weihnachten!

Und einen guten Rutch (translation: Merry Christmas and a good "slide" into the new year (that's what they say!)

As a christmas greeting to all my readers out there, here is a series of photos of my favorite christmas site in Munich (after all those fancy christmasey markets, of course...): the christmas tree market on Odeonsplatz in the historic center of Munich! It reminds me of how the "olden" days must have been, and of scenes from some of my favorite christmas movies.

Take a look!

there's the market from afar, with beautiful backdrop of the Theatinerkirche

close-up of the pretty trees

tree, all ready for transport! (i've seen quite a few riding the subway)

and my all-time favorite - the mini trees! so cute!!!

Hope you enjoyed! Have a wonderful, happy, healthy holiday season. I'll be posting from snowy Buchenberg soon!

In the mail! And a trip to the christmas market

On Saturday, we sent our first round of Save the Dates out! All the US ones have gone!! Here they are, packed up, front and back – take a look!

Here they are, slipping into the mailbox!

After mailing the save the dates, we went into town to fight the shopping crowds and soak up a bit of Christmas spirit! Of course, being in a wedding sort of mindset, I saw these and thought – wouldn’t a personalized one be beautiful for hanging up my dress (and the ubiquitous dress-hanger photo?)

And look at this delicious stuff – this is Kaiserschmarrn, which will be part of our dessert buffet!

Mr. Schnitzel gobbling it up…

Holiday cheer for all!

Venue Webcam

I just discovered something kind of neat: our venue has a webcam on their site!

Check it out here

As you can see, it's white and wintery up in the mountains right now! Mr. Schnitzel and I are headed down there this weekend to enjoy the Kempten Christmas Market - can't wait to share when I get back! Another mission I have is to gather tourist material for Kempten for our guests.

In the meantime, here's what the Christmas market looked like last year:

pretty!!!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

The Weihnachtsmärkte (Christmas Markets) have opened in Munich! The perfect place to get into the Christmas spirit, even if it is raining (and not snowing.)

I decided to walk over to the Market at the Chinese Tower in the English Garten (the Munich equivalent of central park) during my lunch break today.

the "Chinese Tower" looms in the background

Because of the persistant drizzel, there was hardly a soul there, but it was wonderful - soft music playing in the background, I bought myself a steaming bowl of Sauerkraut and walked from stand to stand, searching for Christmas gifts and just taking it all in. As a treat, I bought myself a Lebkuchen with Marzipan and Cherry Liquor for dessert. mmmm.

What, pray tell, does this all have to do with wedding planning? Well, it doesn't strictly, but I'm always on the lookout for inspiration. Looky what I bought!

see the pretty floating berries? (sorry for the cellphone pic..)

Cassis Liquor, homemade from fresh Bavarian garden berries. My mind is racing over the possibilities of serving a Bavarian version of a Kir Royale at the Wedding?.

Looks delicious, huh?

I'll keep you posted on my finds as I plan to visit each of Munich's ten Christmas Markets on my lunch breaks over the next weeks.

Happy December 1st everyone!