things i'm grateful for: christmas 2011 and new year's 2012

i'm very, very choosy when it comes to friends.that's why i only have a select few of them.they are the ones who have been with me through thick and thin (and i for them!), who know me inside out, who love me (i hope so!) warts and all.

so i also consider it a blessing that i get to "inherit" mr t's close friends. they are a lovely bunch of people, and although we may not speak the same language, our bond with mr t brings us closer together.

things i'm grateful for: christmas 20121

we have been to garmisch a few times before. i've written about it a lot of times, and i am going to write another post about it as i like that place so much!

baby's godmother, l, lives in garmisch so that's why we always have a reason to visit.

things i'm grateful for: christmas 2011

we are very thankful for the chance to see vienna in its christmas glory and to marvel at bratislava in its quirkiness, but it is always a blessing to come home to somewhere familiar...

things i'm grateful for: christmas 2011

we left for germany on the 21st of december armed with wolly hats, jumpers, gloves and really thick coats. i was kinda giddy at this point as i was excited for baby who will see her first snow. at that time, most of europe was not experiencing any heavy snowfall so i really prayed hard for some kind of snowfall, at least.a light one will do as long as baby feels and sees it.

we were picked up by opa, and as soon as we got out of the airport there was already a trickle of snowfall! danke, i thought. baby slept in the car so she did not really see the snow hitting the windshield.i was excited as well as it was only my third or fourth time to experience snowfall!

christmas and the germans part 4

this will be the last part of my christmas experience in bavaria three years ago.

we went to the marienplatz, my favorite munich spot.

christmas and the germans part 3

just a few kilometres away from fussen is the fairy-tale castle that inspired walt disney to create cinderella's castle in disney theme parks - the neuschwanstein castle.

it looks very, very romantic from afar and from up-close.the neo-romanesque castle was commissioned by king ludwig of bavaria as a retreat and homage to richard wagner.

christmas and the germans part 2

this is a recap of our 2008 december mini-break in munich.

like i said previously, germany has one of the most romantic and charming christmas celebrations in the world.

christmas and the germans part 1

no offense to the christians, myself included, but i have a feeling that the germans invented christmas. well, how to properly celebrate it, anyway.

there's no tackiness, no plastic trees, just real, fuzzy, christmas-feeling.

things i'm grateful for: road trip! (munich)

so our last day in munich was spent at the city centre.

things i'm grateful for: road trip! (munich)

we left the house with opa with the sun shining, and we arrived in tollwood with rain pelting us like there's no tomorrow.

we ran to the nearest tent with a band playing jazz music.there were lots of people, and of course, baby was fascinated with her surroundings.

she was wearing her pink dirndl (a traditional bavarian costume).too bad she could not really show it off as we had to cover her up.

things i'm grateful for: road trip! (munich)

first stop of the day was in the munich zoo!

oh, how i loved that zoo.come to think of it, i was more excited than baby.it was her first time to be in a zoo of this proportion.

i've been to a similar zoo concept in singapore, but the one in munich is bigger.

things i'm grateful for: road trip! (munich)

so we spent the remaining days of our summer holiday in munich.

oma and opa have this camping van which is so convenient for us as baby has all this ample space.it was a nightmare to park, but it was mr t's dilemma.not ours.hehe.

like i said before, the weather was strange.it would be sunny then it would be rainy in no time at all.

a li'l intermission

oktoberfest!

today marks the start of the annual oktoberfest in munich.as much as we want to be there, we just can't.

wah!

why?

things i'm grateful for: road trip! (bavaria)

we were back in the bavarian region.

we stopped by at this magnificent church called basilika vierzehnheiligen or the basilica of the fourteen holy helpers in the town of bad staffelstein.

things i'm grateful for: road trip! (gotha)

and this was the reason why we drove for hours to go to a quiet east german town...

to watch nena live in concert!

things i'm grateful for: road trip! (gotha)

we went back to munich and had a bit of rest.then off we went to...east germany! gotha, in particular.i was a bit taken aback with the surrounding as it almost reminded me of tuscany.

and what brought us to the east? you will know if you continue on reading.hee.

things i'm grateful for: road trip! (starnberg-austria-switzerland)

finally, it was the day to start our road trip from munich all the way to tuscany in italy!

but first, we met up with good couples friends c and j, m and i, in starnberg, an upmarket town near munich.

we went to this lovely restaurant for a breakfast buffet.

things i'm grateful for: road trip! (bavaria)

i can vaguely remember our few days in munich as i think i just slept most of the time! haha.it was drizzling and the skies were dark.sometimes when the sun would peep out, we would head out to the playground near oma and opa's house.

things i'm grateful for: road trip! (wuerzburg)

we took a train to munich, but not without stopping at wuerzburg, a baroque old town.we saw an interesting wedding shop with a "bride" casually for waiting her groom, probably.

things i'm grateful for: road trip! (frankfurt)

zeil is a main shopping street in frankfurt, complete with designer and high-street shops.