“GO ON WITHOUT ME!!!”
We ran as fast as we could through the airport – we’d just flown through security, where Ash set the buzzers off and we left him behind. A man down, my flatmate and I stormed down the corridor to our departure gate, which naturally was right at the end.
“PLEASE LET US ON THE PLANE!!! PLEASE!!” I yelled as we belted through the door, out of breath and definitely out of hope. We were ten minutes past the gate closing, but amazingly we simply received bemused looks and a “that’s fine, people are still getting on the plane” as they ushered us through.
I let out the biggest sigh of relief of my life (partly because I really was out of breath) and turned to check Ash was on his way. He was limping along the corridor, one hand clutching his belt and shoes, the other holding his trousers up. I creased over laughing.
How the hell had we managed to get ourselves into this situation?
It wasn’t even 6am and we were on our way to Munich for the day. And it had started with a disaster because in the freezing cold weather at 5am, my car wouldn’t start. Thankfully, by sheer luck really, we were going with our flatmate whose parents lived close by, and her Dad very, very kindly came to the rescue. At 5am. We arrived at the airport as our gate was due to close, and I was convinced we had missed our flight.
So why were we off to Munich for one day in December? Well, the more I thought about it, the more I really wanted to go to a European Christmas market, and where better than Germany?
After some research, I had one of my “easyJet epiphanies” whereby I found day return flights to Munich in December for £40. It was pretty much the only day in the whole month when they were that cheap, and the flight times were perfect – 6.30am departure and a 9pm return flight.
It meant it would be a super long day, but worth it! I still owned a shop at the time and couldn’t take any time off, especially not in the busy run-up to Christmas, so this was one of my only options and I wanted to take advantage of it.
It’s not the first time I’ve taken a crazy day trip – we flew to Copenhagen for one day and even spent a couple of hours of that in Sweden – and it’s not the last either; the three of us went to Milan a few months later, although I’m yet to blog about that one!
We arrived in Munich to snow, and had a mild panic before remembering that the world outside of the UK doesn’t come to a standstill from an inch of the white stuff.
Plus it really added to the atmosphere of, well, Christmas!
Marienplatz and its surrounding markets were so pretty.
We also took a wander around the nearby parks, and I mentioned that there was a river where people surfed, but OBVIOUSLY we wouldn’t see anyone surfing at THIS time of year.
Welllllll, okay then.
Our wander around the Englischer Garten was really picturesque and although it’s probably nicer in summer, the snow gave it such a fairytale feel. Coupled with the markets, it made it a really magical day out.
We slowly wandered back to the city centre to explore some more markets and indulge in some Gluhwein after our meaty lunch in a huge food hall. Unfortunately I can’t remember which one, but there are plenty around.
As it got darker, and colder, we headed to the “gay” Christmas market, simply called Pink Christmas, which I’d noted down with interest.
It was pink (obviously) and delightful and pretty and we indulged in more mulled wine and I really wanted to buy the mug it came in! In hindsight, I absolutely should have done.
Unfortunately at this point, I didn’t own a good night-time camera at all, and this appears to be the only half decent picture I got of the Christkindl markets in Marienplatz at night (by which I mean not decent at all).
So if you’re expecting pretty fairy-light clad markets photos, you’ve come to the wrong place. 😦 Wahhh!
However, this was probably the most fun day trip I’ve taken! And it only cost us £40, plus under £10 each to park the car for the day, which I’m pretty sure we basically gave to our flatmate’s Dad instead. We could barely have had a trip to London for that!
Have you ever taken a crazy day trip? And would you consider a trip like this to explore some Christmas markets on a budget?
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An Orcadian Abroad 
I took a day trip to Stockholm this summer which was pretty neat.. Would have loved to stay longer but that would totally break the bank xD
I am actually considering going to Lübeck Christmas market this year, it’s supposed to be really beautiful 🙂
Cheers,
Maria @
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Ahhh that’s awesome! I took a day trip to Copenhagen a few years ago and took the train over to Malmo. 😀
I haven’t heard of Lubeck, I just looked it up and it looks beautiful! Hope you get to go!
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I love the German Christmas markets. The best one is in Nuremberg. But
the one in Munich is also very nice.
Lara
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I’d love to go to the one in Nuremberg! I always hear great things about that one. 🙂
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I love Christmas Markets and I do love Glühwein. Did you actually tasted a Glühwein? I am German but currently living in Cape Town. I am flying back to Germany at the end of November and can´t wait to visit a Christmas Market then. Thanks for sharing 🙂
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Ahh awesome! It’s such a great atmosphere. We have mulled wine here in the UK but it was cool to have actual Gluhwein! I’m pretty sure I had two. 😀
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I still haven’t visited a German Christmas market even though it’s been on my list forever but I had never thought to even consider the same day return! I might look into this now.
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Haha do eeet! Yeah it was one of those things that was just there on my list, but a day trip was a really fun way to do it and meant I actually got round to doing it!
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I love this! Usually I try to go somewhere warm for Christmas, but I might have to change it up.
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Thanks! Me too, I prefer being somewhere warm. But if you’re gonna go cold, you might as well have a fun atmosphere at the same time!
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I’ve never taken a trip for Christmas but this is changing my mind. I like your writing style, it has personality, it’s more like reading a letter from a friend than a blog post which is really refreshing!
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Ahh thank you so much Amber! 🙂 That means a lot! Yeah I don’t normally travel much in winter as I used to run a shop that was busy around Christmas so I couldn’t take time off, and most of Europe is cold, so quick warm getaways were off the menu!
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Love this idea of going all the way to Germany for a day trip. We have a great Christmas market in Manchester – it basically takes over the whole city centre. Maybe your next day trip could be to here?
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Oh yeah, I’ve heard about Manchester’s Christmas markets! They sound great! I went to London’s winter wonderland a few years ago and that was good fun too, although a bit commercialised (what isn’t these days??).
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Visiting the Christmas markets in Germany is on my travel wish list! I love the idea of going as a day trip, but living in the US makes that a little difficult 😛
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Haha yeah, I don’t think it would work as a day trip from there!! We are very fortunate in the UK (and Europe as a whole) to have these options, and still not many people are mad enough to think of them! 😉
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I’ve never even thought of flying for a day trip but now I really want to! Crazy to think you can get to Germany cheaper by plane than I get to London by train. ANYWAY train rambles over!
Munich looks awesome and I will absolutely consider going there this year for the markets, even if just for one day.
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It’s ridiculous, isn’t it! Munich is definitely a good choice, I really enjoyed it. 🙂 Thanks for your comment!
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