Christmas Eve

We were out this morning to Schloss Nymphemburg. The 17 tram took us on a scenic trip through town to the schloss. We planned our Christmas meal while we were on the tram. The palace was built in stages from 1675. What was most impressive was the size of the gardens and canals, they stretched on for ages, it took us over an hour to walk through just part of them. The trees are bare and there are no birds to be seen. Quite a few Germans out and about, dressed for the cold, sun was out though. The other large Munich park is the Englisher Garten. It is between where we live in Bogenhausen and the river Isar. It is 950 acres!

We came back into town and stopped at the shoe shop again, they were in a hurry to get us out of the shop as they were closing at 2pm. Damian bought a good pair of Eccos, I hope they aren't discounted in the post Christmas sales, though I'm told Germans don't really do Boxing Day sales. We became concerned that the supermarkets might be closing early too. We hurried across town and the first two we found we already closed. We caught the 100 bus back to Bogenhausen, only to get on the wrong 100 bus which was going the other way! Everything closed at 2pm! Germans celebrate Christmas Eve and Munich is a very Catholic town. They call is Heilig Abend (Holy Afternoon, at least thats what it said on the note on the supermarket doors with their opening hours). Everyone greets each other with Gross Gott (Greetings to God). So, we have to make do for the next few days with what is in the cupboards here. I put together a pretty good lasagne for dinner tonight. I'm sure we will manage something tasty tomorrow. I had a few skype conversations with friends in New Zealand. We watched some German Christmas TV concerts and were bemused by how poor their English pronounciation is.

The battery in our camera has gone flat and we don't have the right attachment to charge it while we are in Europe.