After a long day travelling we made our way to our first Christmas market in the centre of Munich on Marienplatz.

This is the biggest and oldest market in Munich and has reportedly been in existence every year since 1642. The group was instantly fully immersed in their German speaking and used practised phrases to order Pfannkuchen mit Nutella, Nüsse in Karamellzucker and Kinderpunsch. Some also took the opportunity to get their Christmas shopping done or bought beautiful decorations.  

On the second day we went to the Olympic Park to go up the more than 290m high Olympic Tower. From the top we could get a feel for the whole city and could see beyond to the beautiful snow covered Bavarian Alps including Germany's highest mountain, the Zugspitze.  We also went to the futuristic BMW-Welt to try driving simulators of the BMW i and sit in a range of minis. For lunch we went to the Viktualienmarkt, a farmer's market with over 140 stalls which has been in its current location since 1807. Pupils had another opportunity to practise their German and ordered a range of food including Bratwurst and more Pfannkuchen. In the afternoon we walked to the vast Deutsches Museum to look at exhibits ranging from flying machines to a series of coal mines you could walk through. After supper at our hotel we went to a different Christmas market at Karlsplatz for more shopping and snacks.

The third day saw us getting the Straßenbahn to the beautiful baroque Schloss Nymphenburg on which construction began in 1664 as the summer residence for the former rulers of Bavaria.  We toured the ornate palace in which the rooms were filled with chandeliers and four poster beds and picturesque grounds with frozen ponds.  After a hot chocolate we then went back into the centre of Munich for lunch followed by early evening ice skating at Karlsplatz and supper back at the hostel.  The pupils voted to stay in for the last evening so we played cards and other games.

On the final day we went into the centre of Munich for the last time to explore the Munich Residenz, the city palace of the Bavarian rulers.  The Residenz is the largest city palace in Germany with 10 courtyards and over 130 rooms open to the public. The palace was badly damaged during bombing raids of WWII but the rooms have been beautifully restored to reconstructions of their original state. Our visit included seeing the Treasury which holds prayer books dating back to 890 and medieval  crowns of English queens. We then went to the Viktualienmarkt for a final Bratwurst and last minute shopping before heading back to the hotel and on to the airport.

I would like to thank Abbie, Sasha, Skye, Emma, Rory, Tim, Archie, Hugo, Adam and Rhodri for being such good company in Munich and Dan Hodder for accompanying the trip; his support was greatly appreciated.