We watched the Krampus Run in Munich and it was quite surreal! Krampus and his minions are like the anti-Santa Claus; they punish bad children by beating them with brush brooms. Yikes!!
I could just start writing, ignoring the fact that AGMA hasn’t posted anything for nearly 2 (ouch) months. Or I can be chill about it, casually bringing it up and saying,”Time flies when you’re having fun.” And while I have indeed been having fun for part of the time, it hasn’t been all unicorns and rainbows.
But mostly it has…
AGMA’s last post was pictures of Hubs and my trip to France in October. I posted it while I was flying to Germany for a Christmas markets tour. And I just got back last Friday from Italy.
Italy???
Wait, what?
I’ve been telling people that perhaps I got a bit too enthusiastic about traveling in the post-COVID vaccine/booster world. 3 international trips in 3 months.
Ya think?
We also went to Atlanta over Thanksgiving to spend with Son#2. Oh – and I had to squeeze Christmas and 2 family birthdays in between trips to the airport. No stress associated with all of that…
First world problems.
But Germany was great!
AGMA did an Alpine Christmas market tour with Hubs in 2015. Hub’s attitude is that, if you’ve seen one German Christmas market, you’ve seen them all. Not true! There are subtle differences for the discriminating shopper….
So I traveled with a friend from Kansas City. She’s a discriminating shopper.
Traveling with friends is a dicey prospect. AGMA always says, “You really don’t know a friend until you travel with them.” It’s like Forrest Gump says, “Travel with a friend is like a box of chocolates. Sometimes you get you get the one with the marmite filling.”
Luckily, I was pretty sure that K would be a good travel companion. We met on a tour of South Africa in 2016. And she and her hubs went with us on a 2 week trip around France organized by AGMA Travel LLC in 2019. Plus we have visited each other in our respective cities. I was pretty sure that we’d be good travel companions.
She is the chocolate with the salted carmel filling.
It’s been 5 years since AGMA was on an organized tour. Since Hubs needs to travel with a mobility scooter now, he’s not able to go on most organized tours. They specifically exclude folks with mobility devices unless you book through an accessible tour company. And their rates are beyond what we think is reasonable, so we’ve been doing tours through AGMA Travel LLC since 2016.
The great thing about self designed tours is that you can sleep in a bit most mornings. AGMA likes that.
ZZzzzzz…
But nah baby nah with our organized tour through Gate1 Travel. We were up most mornings at 6 or 6:30. And we didn’t really get to bed until after 11 PM at night.
We both travelled light and just took carry-ons. Best purchases for this trip – merino wool long underwear and sock liners – they were life savers for this cold natured AGMA. Cuz It was chilly. It snowed in Berlin on our first full day and also in Munich at the end of our trip.
And that was good since we basically spent about 80% of our waking hours outside. On walking tours, at the Christmas Markets, walking to restaurants & sights, etc.
Lest you say, “AGMA, that sounds miserable!”, it really wasn’t bad.
Really.
You just drank a lot of glühwein (the unofficial “official” drink of the European Christmas Market) and it warmed you right up!
Hic….
The tour started in Berlin, then went to Dresden, Nuremberg (with a side trip to Rothenburg ob der Tauber) and ended up in Munich. K & I extended our trip 3 extra nights and took a side trip to Neuschwanstein Castle, then did a bit more touring in Munich before heading home on Dec 12 to be immersed in Christmas hysteria.
Highlights of the trip – the Penck (penis) hotel, the Krampus Run (more like a stroll) in Munich, our Munich Beer Tour, Neuschwanstein Castle, feuerzangenbowle (flaming wine punch), and the beautiful Christmas Markets at night. Oooo ahhhh…
So without further ado, a tiny selection of AGMA’s fav photos!
Top left & top two right are Berlin. Last two are Dresden.
Top two left & top right is the Dresden Green Treasury. Bottom two left are the Dresden Markets at night. And bottom right was the artwork in the Penck (penis) hotel. The artist was named Penck and so he decided to put pencks in most of his art!
Top left is the Palace of Justice where the Nuremberg trials were held. Bottom two left are Rothenberg. The rest are Nuremberg Christmas market pictures.
The Munich town hall at night and in the day, and the Hofbrau Haus. The bottom two are at the Munich Medieval Christmas market.
Top two are in the town of Füssen, near the Neuschwanstein Castle. See our flaming punch! It snowed and with low clouds so the castle was difficult to see. We did the Hofbrau Haus and the Oktoberfest Museum on the beer tour. Bottom two are random Munich pictures.
Aging Gracefully My Ass 
I wondered where you were. Should’ve know you were off gallivanting, living it up, and just generally seeing the sights of the world. You obviously had a blast. By the way, are you thinking of franchising AGMA Travel LLC?
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Ha ha ha!! AGMA Travel LLC has a very exclusive cliental of 1 – me and whomever else I’m traveling with! I wouldn’t have the patience to deal with travel Karens!
I am going to try very hard to make posting a priority this year and try to go back to once a week (other than travel weeks that is). To be honest with you, I need to discipline of a schedule again – COVID & moving got me all out of whack! Ok – more out of whack than I normally was that is… 🙂
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It’s all sooooo pretty!
You’ve taken… 5?… trips while most, including me, can barely find enthusiasm to leave our homes. Well done!!
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My goodness – you’re right! I’ve done 5 international trips in the last 11 months! That IS kind of crazy and a bit out of control… That Global Entry was a good investment! Ha!
But in all seriousness, COVID, it’s fall out and our almost constant state of political chaos since 2016 has done a number on everybody. I am able to travel (escape maybe?), but there are other things that I am not doing since we moved that I should be – like getting engaged in my new city and making friends. The craziness has impacted all of us differently, but impacted all of us it has!
Here’s to 2023 being the year that we break out of our malaise (or whatever you call it!) and start following our hearts desires!
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I’m with you… hoping 2023 is PRODUCTIVE in a good way!!
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I’ve been MIA for 6 months without an international trip to show for it (much less 3). Thanks for sharing! I hope to travel more “soon” but will live vicariously through you until then. Might have to hit Germany for the Krampus run
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Krampus was surreal! And the only way we knew about it was that a gentleman we met at the skating rink on Karlsplatz suggested we see it. Thank goodness! It really was one of the highlights of our trip! And we found out that Krampus is a Bavarian thing – the folks in Northern and Central Germany don’t do the Krampus thing.
So what have you been doing for 6 months?
And honestly, travel, while still enjoyable, isn’t quite the fun it used to be. Everything’s kind of changed since COVID and when you book a flight, you’re not really sure that it will happen. And I feel compelled to only do a carry on because of all the lost luggage horror stories. And everything is definitely more expensive. But the beauty and history and food and architecture is still there as are the wonderful friendly people. So maybe “soon” should come sooner rather than later for you? 🙂
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What have I been doing for 6 months? TBH I have no idea. Evidently the writer’s block knocked me unconscious or I stepped through a wardrobe and came out 6 months later. I spent time gazing at my bellybutton (which is not half as much fun as international travel) hoping to become a better person. Nothing has changed, so I guess I am as good as I will ever be, and people will just have to deal ;-D
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I so love and enjoy your AGMA travelogs/travel posts. I saw something about the Krampus on some other blogger’s post about Switzerland. My younger daughter and future SIL got back from Switzerland just before Christmas. The photos they allowed me to see did not include a Krampus. They didn’t mention him/it either but they did bring back goodies as gifts from the Swiss Xmas markets.
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The photos they “allowed you to see”?? What the heck did they do over there?? I guess what happens in Switzerland stays in Switzerland – ha!
From what I understand, Krampus is a Bavarian/Alps thing. So the “run” (a parade actually) was sort of like a Mardi Gras parade. Different towns in Bavaria have almost like krewes – organizations that create these elaborate Krampus (and other bad guys/gals) costumes and then parade them. Before every group was a banner holder stating what town the group following was from.
I could have brought back so much stuff from the Christmas markets! It is incredible! What goodies did they bring back for you?
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Chocolate, of course! The other part of their gift I thought was sort of odd but I know my about-to-be doctor daughter had only my health and happiness in mind. What was this item, you ask. A sun lamp to make it easier to get through my 1st Midwest winter!
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