Souvenir and Gift Ideas from Munich
1. Beer mugs or steins
2. Christmas decorations – home of the Christmas market and creator of the original Christmas tree, a lot beautiful decorations can be found here.
3. Bavarian Mustard
4. Your favourite Bavarian Beer
5. Vintage bottle opener
6. Beer Boot – Legend says that the beer boot was born when a Prussian General had a glass boot made to fulfill his dare of ‘drinking beer from his boot. The tradition sticks today.
7. Nymphenburg Porcelain
8. Traditional Dirndl
9. Gingerbread
From 2001-2007 I was a store manager. I came back from lunch break one day to some of my staff standing at the back counter looking at something and laughing
. They kept glancing at me but I didn’t think much of it at that moment. When I asked them what they were looking at one responded “I didn’t know you worked as a beer girl in Germany Sara.” (they used the term wench but girl is nicer) I was like, “ummm, what?” and then they slid over what they were laughing at.
I looked down and saw it was a German travel pamphlet with a woman wearing a Dirndl, with two long blonde braids, carrying beer steins…and she had my face.
It was like looking at yourself doing something that you can’t remember doing.
Kind of like looking at photos after a really drunken night. Very surreal.
I read somewhere that every person in the world has at least 6 doppelgängers, and she was definitely one mine. It was so eerie how much we looked alike that it made me think that I have German somewhere in my heritage.
I always thought I was Scandinavian but because of that I wonder. I plan on getting myself the Ancestry.ca DNA test for Christmas so in several months I should know 😉
I kept the picture in my jewellery box for years and somewhere along the line it disappeared.
I keep hoping that I will find it again each time we move, but as time goes by I am losing hope.
The woman holding the beer steins was working at Oktoberfest and that is what I am going to start the list of What to See in Munich, Germany:
- Oktoberfest – Obviously if you wanted to attend Oktoberfest you would have to plan your trip accordingly since it is in late September – October. It is the world’s largest beer festival and travelling funfair. It is an important part of Bavarian culture and this event has been held since 1810.
- Rothenburg ob der Tauber (walled city) – This is right up my alley. Located halfway between Munich and Frankfurt, it is a well-preserved medieval old town surround by a wall from the 14th century. There are many sights and museums within the walls. This would be a day trip from Munich and it is on my bucket list.
- Neuschwanstein Castle – Around a 1.5-2 hour drive from Munich this would be worth the day trip. This fairy-tale castle is the inspiration for Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle.
- Nymphenburg Palace – It was the summer residence for Bavarian Monarchs. The palace houses the Naturkundemuseum Mensch und Natur (“Museum of Man and Nature”), the Porzellanmuseum (“Porcelain Museum”) for the on-site porcelain manufacturer Nymphenburg (which makes a great souvenir or gift), and the Marstallmuseum in it’s wings. It also has a huge palace park. Don’t forget to check out its famous “Gallery of Beauties” which is a gallery of paintings of the most beautiful women from King Ludwig I time.
- Marienplatz – Munich’s central square since 1158. Home to the Town Hall this square is always crowded with people. A huge attraction is watching the Glockenspiel (this is a youtube video) put on its show.
- Munich Residenz – This is the former Royal Palace of the monarchs of Bavaria of the House of Wittelsbach. It is the largest palace in Germany and is open to visitors so that they may view the architecture, room decorations, and displays from the royal collections.
- Deutsches Museum – Founded in 1903 it is the World’s largest museum of science and technology. This place is huge and would take days to see everything it has to offer. It is also one of Munich’s top attractions.
- Auer Dult Flea Market – Held 3 times a year through the different seasons, this flea market has everything for the young and old from antiques, to pony rides and puppet shows.
There is so much to do in Munich and so much to day in short day trips away that it is hard to include everything in the list, so I picked a few that I would really like to see and do.
Do you have any must-have things to do in Munich?
You can subscribe to my Blog via email and/or follow me on Bloglovin’, on Pinterest or check out my new Instagram @livelovesarablog.
