Travelog for: Klaus

I went strolling around town - oh god, there were masses of people doing their Christmas shopping. So I prefered just to take a photo of the Stachus (Karlsplatz) where there was a skating rink set up and later some more photos of different  market places in the dark

On Sunday we went for a walk along the Ammersee (lake south of Munich). After 2 hours we decided that it's time for a mulled wine at the Dießen Christmas market. This Xmas market is held only at one weekend at Dießen. And there is no electricity allowed and the goods sold are solely hand-made. It was great when it was getting dark and everything was lit by little candles. In the middle of the market a real blacksmith was working on the metal. It's a pity that the camera could not take photos in the dark.

Visited the famous Nuremberg Christkindl market.

Today my host said that I should have a mulled wine to taste. The usual mulled wine is made with red wine and spices. For this occasion I got a special one - made with elderberry wine! Mmmmh, delicious 

Yesterday we went up all the way from Munich to Wilhelmshaven - a seven hour train ride. Today we all go on a ferry to go onto one of the East Frisian Islands in the North Sea - Wangerooge.

We had a nice New Year' party last night. Today we just have an easy day walking around the island.

Today the weather was really nice so we all went to Munich's city center, Marienplatz and Neuhauser Straße. Lots of people were out to celebrate carneval - it's called "Fasching" here.

When we came close to the Stachus we saw a strange creature flying --- we had a nice chat and talked about toyvoyaging. But no way this creature will become a toyvoyager, the postage would be enormous 

I passed the German Museum (a science museum) when I went shopping with my host. We all sat in front of a big part of a turbine which is used in hydro power plant. Imagine, how big this plant is!

There was a knock on the door and when we looked outside there were two little packages sitting on the doorstep. Visitors! Sylphide, Tenderheart Bear and Snegovik!

Today Barthélémy wanted to visit the "Alter Südfriedhof" (Old South Cemetery) so I just came along.

This is what I read about the cemetery:

It is a little known fact that Munich's oldest green area is 450 years old, that it's in the heart of town and that it's a cemetery - the Alter Südfriedhof. The cemetery is something of a conservation area and bears unique testimony to the city's cultural history. Its romantically overgrown graves, tombs and mausoleums pay homage to distinguished Munich figures - artists, architects, master builders and scientists.

In the plague year 1523 graveyards within the city walls were so overfilled that a new cemetery - the "Äußerer Freithof" - was opened outside the city gate at the Sendlinger Tor. The cemetery wall and all the buildings were later destroyed as a preventative military measure in the Thirty Years War. Well into the 18th century the cemetery was looked on as a poor man's burial ground. In 1844, a new section designed by Gärtner was added and it continued to be Munich's central burial ground up to 1868.

The cemetery suffered severe bomb damage in 1944-45. Today, only a quarter of tue graves are identifiable and many are in urgent need of renovation. Work is underway.

Even if the cemetery is not in use anymore many people were walking there. It is like a park nowadays. We saw little spring flowers blossom and sat on a bench in the sun.

Some of the graves are inside the back wall of the houses. And windows pop up between the statues on the graves.

Our host had bought red cabbage ... because she could hardly eat 2 kg of it on her own we decided to prepare and preserve it. Sylphide did the research and found a nice recipe. Then our host had to cut the onions and red cabbage. We sprinkled everything with salt and now it has to rest for a whole night.

After one night we washed and dried the cabbage, filled it in glass and filled the glass with vinegar (prepared with oranges and spices - mmmh, great smell). I helped to close the lids. Now the cabbage has to rest for 3 or 4 months - too bad, because I'll travel and not be able to test the taste.