NoNames Xmas Vacation (A Little Bit Of Everywhere)

[NoName]

Day 4 – Continued………………..


J:

The other two NoNames settled in to row 9 and got ready for their food.



Once again, NoName Jnr refused to eat anything of substance which was beginning to get a little irritating. Mrs NoName on the other hand was more than happy to partake.

He loves the hot towels though!



J menu attached to the bottom of this post.

First up for her the breakfast service which consisted of pastries, fruit and some cold cuts. Looked and tasted pretty good.



Since I was still eating, once done they popped up the back to the lounge to relax for a while. Once I was done with my lunch I joined them for a drink and chill out. NoName Jnr loved the bar area and the benches were great for him to spread out a bit on. We chatted to the FAs for a while, surfed the internet and whiled away the time.




About 3 hours prior to landing and it was time for the J lunch service. NoName Jnr still wasn’t interested so stayed with me in at the bar while Mrs NoName went back to eat.

First up for her was the prawn coughtail which was the same as what I had with the only change being the addition of a salad and what looks to be a quiche.



Main next and getting in to the xmas spirit, Mrs NoName had the roast turkey which she was pretty satisfied with.



Cheeseboard to finish. While not as extensive as the F cheeseboard, this was decent. Washed down with an appropriate drop.



With the dining formalities out of the way and the time winding down before the descent, I had the customary shower. Nicely freshened up, I went back to my seat, watched something that has long since been forgotten and waited excitedly as we made our way down to a very snowy MUC!

 

[CaptainCurtis]

You seriously need to consider going into travel writing/blogging - I absolutely love the way you write!

 

[NoName]

You seriously need to consider going into travel writing/blogging - I absolutely love the way you write!

Thank you, you’re too kind. I do enjoy writing the reports and then compiling the photos. I find it a great way to relive the experiences. This trip was 35 days though so we will see if I can keep up the standard for the whole thing. I write the text in advance of posting to try to have some buffer in case it becomes a drag or if anything comes up that stops me being able to write more. I’m currently about a week ahead of what has been posted and so far so good.

 

[RooFlyer]

Just caught up. Now I'm hungry! Wonderful report ...

 

[NoName]

Day 4 – Continued……………………..





We touched down and I looked out the window at what appeared to be a very cold MUC. Snow everywhere!



Took a while to get through T1 immigration but eventually we did. Grabbed our bags and then made our way into the terminal to look for our hotel. As we had originally been arriving on different flights a few hours we had booked an airport hotel for the first night. We figured we’d be pretty tired and not keen to do too much anyway so this was a good option. Possibly should have bothered to work out how to get there beforehand though to avoid wandering around aimlessly. Eventually I worked out that we needed to go down through a series of underground walkways over to T2 where our hotel was located.

We had booked several 1 night stays at airport Hiltons this trip through Travel Associates. We still had several hundred dollars of Flight Centre gift cards that has been bought a few years ago when AMEX had a cashback offer and since they were coming up to expiry this was a good opportunity to use them. First up was (surprise surprise) the Hilton Munich Airport. Booked a Deluxe Suite as the base level room didn’t allow 3 guests I think due to the bed configuration. Anyway, this room was great. Plenty of room, tidy, nice facilities. Cost was approx. $370.

Views from the lobby;




After a rest for an hour or so we went outside to satisfy NoName Jnr’s scow cravings. He was very excited and keen to touch, jump around in and throw the snow.




Once he had satisfied his desire to play around in the snow (well temporarily anyway) we went for a walk around the xmas markets we had seen when finding the hotel. These were set up in a kind of courtyard area next to T2 and were brilliant. It was a great introduction to what we were here to experience over the coming days. Lots of stalls selling all sorts of different items as well as Bavarian food and of course mulled wine. Loved it!






A couple of hours walking around and eating/drinking and we were done. We were tired and needed some proper rest. Back to the hotel, watched a little of the football world cup on TV and then to sleep.

 

[NoName]

Day 5




We were up and away around 8. Downstairs to the buffet breakfast to fill up. This was a nice venue with a fairly wide variety of options from cereals to omelettes to bacon and eggs and sausages. Unsure of what the cost was if not included in the room price.

Breakfast venue:



From there we checked out and jumped in a taxi to the centre of Munich about 40 minutes away. Cost was around the €80 mark from memory. We arrived at Hotel Atrium Munchen and went to check in. Total cost for 3 nights in a deluxe double room room was $605.22. Room not ready for another few hours which was fine. We left our luggage and went off to explore!

Out into the streets and wow, it was cold. Well around -6 which as it turned out was not comparable at all to some of the other places this trip. We walked through the streets towards Marienplatz which is the centre of the old town. Took in some shops, including buying myself some more cold/wet weather clothing and had a look around some of the xmas market stalls which were beginning to open for the day. The area was beautiful and we were looking forward to returning that night. A stroll over around to look at some of the surrounding area before taking the long route back to the hotel.



Hofgarten – NoName Jnr loved playing here in the show. Making snowballs was the new favourite activity.






The sun began to go down and when it did we were back out and back to the markets. It was even better at night! The area lit up, huge crowds all in the xmas spirt, lots of food, wine and other stalls. We had enjoyed the previous night’s markets but this was on a whole other level. Amazing! We spent a few hours wandering around, looking at the different stalls, eating, drinking the warm wine. Fantastic evening.







As it began getting later it came time to wander back to the hotel and get NoName Jnr into bed. 15 minutes later we were up in our room ready to crash and looking forward to more the same the next day.

 

[NoName]

Day 6




Today was the day to tick off a few Munich sites that Mrs NoName had compiled on her list. But first was breakfast. At check in we had declined to add on the hotel buffet breakfast option however this morning for convenience we decided to eat there anyway - €38 for the 3 of us with a similar, albeit much smaller offering to what we had at the Hilton the day before. It was more than satisfactory though and after a couple of plates each we were ready to go.

We had chosen to jump on one of those hop on hop off bus tours, more as a means of getting around to the places we wanted to see than any real desire to sit on a bus listening to someone provide commentary. I’d bought these online the night before through CitySightseeing. Cost was €58.50 for a 48hr family ticket. A 10 minute walk to the central train station and we were climbing on the bus ready to go. Got a seat up the top a few rows from the front which provided pretty good views as we drove through the city.



Lowenbrau Beer Hall



First place to jump off for us was the Nymphenburg Palace. This royal palace served as the main summer residence for the former rules of Bavaria. It is a magnificent structure, beautiful. We got bought the tickets to walk around a couple of the galleries inside where we enjoyed looking at various artifacts and reading out it’s history.

Once done there we took a walk around the snow covered grounds. We were still quite taken by all the snow and it was still a novelty especially for NoName Jnr. He played around for a while throwing snow around and having fun. I imagine the place would look even more amazing in summer but there were certainly no complaints.

 

[ADLhighflyer]

Absolutely loving this report so far!

 

[NoName]

Day 6 - Continued…….


Next we jumped back on the bus around to the next stop – Olympiapark – which was the site of the 1972 summer Olympic games. I loved that all (or most) of the games venues were situated in the one area. I can imagine this making for a fantastic atmosphere. I also liked that the venues remained in use for sporting events and also the general public to use with parklands for recreation also available. I love watching the games every four years so this was quite exciting for me to visit.







1972 Summer Games Medal Winners

After walking around for a while we headed over the highway towards the next stop which happened to be via the site of an infamous event from the 1972 games – the Munich Massacre where Palestinian terrorists took hostage (and eventually killed) a group of Israeli athletes by breaking in to their rooms in the athlete village.

Memorial on the building where the Israeli athletes were staying



A short distance down the road was the BMW Welt which is a kind of exhibition hall and is across from the actual BMW museum. We had planned to go to both but settled for the Welt. The hall was filled with a bunch of different BMW-related displays of cars, motorbikes etc. We walked around inside for a while having a look, NoName Jnr played a couple of car simulators which was fun for him. It was ok but probably not something we would go back to. If you’re a car buff then I can see that it would hold a lot of interest.

 

[NoName]

Day 6 - Continued……..




It was now late in the afternoon so we climbed back on the bus back to the train station and then back to the hotel for a freshen up. Soon after we were back out and walking to our dinner destination for the evening which was Hofbrauhaus. This is a famous beer hall which has been open since the 16thcentury and is a tourist attraction in its own right. I’ve always found the food an atmosphere in these types of venues to be a lot of fun so we were looking forward to the visit.




Once we got there we walked in to ground floor beer hall called Schwemme and asked for a table. No problem, sit wherever you can find a seat and staff will service you. Easy! We found a table, had a look at the menu and fairly quickly knew what we wanted – Pork Knuckle for me, roast pork for Mrs NoName and nothing of note for NoName Jnr. Think we may have been able to force him to eat some bread.



Had to get a pretzel:



I ordered a drink to go with my meal. Mrs NoName asked why I got such a big beer – is there any other size when in Bavaria?



In short, the food was great and I thought very reasonably priced. All the while the whole venue was in great spirits, loud, fun. They had a Bavarian band playing in the middle which added to the atmosphere. This was an excellent place to visit and I would absolutely recommend.

 

[NoName]

Day 6 - Continued……….





Its fair to say we were pretty full after this. We took a walk back through the same xmas markets as last night for more of a look. It seemed that these extended far beyond the main area we had seen so there was always something new.




NoName Jnr enjoying the hot chocolate!








Come around 9pm and the stalls began to close so this was our cue to call it a night as well.

 

[OZDUCK]

Another one thoroughly enjoying your commentary and photos. After visiting Nymphenburg Palace last September it was fascinating to see the park covered in snow. An awful lot fewer people around than we were there as well.

 

[NoName]

Day 7




Up and ready to go again. Popped down to have the breakfast buffet again and then out the door. More hop on hop off bus today but on a different route.





After a while the bus got around to a stop near the Deutsches Museum. This is the world’s largest science and technology museum and was right in NoName Jnr interests so we thought it would be an enjoyable experience. It was. The museum contains various different exhibits over a few levels – maths, weights and measures, energy, aerospace, engineering, you name it! We spent a few hours wandering around the space and still only saw maybe half of it. It was an excellent day out.

3D Printer

Pi

 

[NoName]

Day 7 - Continued……





We took a walk through the streets looking at some shops and more (yes more) stalls on the way back to the hotel for a rest.






The sun went down and it was time to step out for some dinner. Dinner was nothing worth noting and believe it or not there were plenty of market stalls we hsd not yet seen. Mrs NoName was keen to look at more and who was I to argue? This was our final night here so why not?




Yum!








Like the previous night, things started to close after 9 and again that was our hint that it may be bed time. We took the familiar walk back and called it a night.

 

[NoName]

Day 8





Final day in Munich and we took our time. Got up and went downstairs for the hotel buffet yet again. Not sure whether it would have been cheaper but I guess we should have just answered yes when the staff asked us at check in whether we wanted breakfast. Anyway, again it was a good option. Went back upstairs to pack the bags and then just before 11 we came down to check out. Left our things with the front desk and went out for one last wander around. The weather the last couple of days had been quite a bit warmer than when we arrived and combined with a bit of rain had melted almost all the snow. It was amazing to see the city go from snow everywhere to nothing in the space of a day or two.

We walked around for a while looking at some places we hadn’t yet seen.

Rathaus-Glockenspiel - as luck would have it we turned up right as the twice daily show was about to begin.

Found some fresh food markets which was a nice find. Shame we were unable to take anything with us.








Had a fantastic roast pork roll for lunch. This was seriously good!

 

[drron]

Indeed that is a seriously good roast pork roll!

 

[NoName]

Day 8 – Continued……………




The time came for us to take one last walk back to the hotel and prepare to leave. 3pm came and we jumped in the pre-booked taxi and 45 min later we were at MUC T1 lined up to drop our bags. Grabbed our boarding passes, through security and off to the gate. I have to say we found every European airport experience on this trip to be pretty painless. Very efficient. Got to the gate and sat around waiting for the boarding call which eventually came.

The next series of AY flights were the only ones on the trip where we paid cash. I tried multiple airlines and routes to be able to get to Rovaniemi on award flights but it never materialised. The issue was either an outright lack of availability or where availability did exist it was on unsuitable routing. I played around with the AY booking engine searching for the cheapest way to book what we needed but the flights were expensive, no other way to put it. In the end it turned out that booking as two one ways saved a hundred Euro or so. When I booked in early July 2022, total cost for 2xAdult, 1xChild +23kg of checked bags each was as follows:

• MUC-HEL-RVN: €825.41
• RVN-HEL-FRA: €635.37

Ouch!



MUC-HEL
AY1406
A320
21D, 21E, 21F


We took our seats as the plane began to fill up. They were tight but I guess comfortable enough for a 2.5hr flight to HEL.



Not a whole lot to say here other than the flight was not particularly memorable. FAs brought the trolleys around trying to sell food and drinks which we basically declined. We may have bought a packet of chips and coke to share but that would have been about it. I don’t have a lot of experience travelling intra-Europe but is this the usual Y experience for what I thought was a full service airline? Or did I get AY totally wrong? Are LH, BA etc the same? Anyway, I was not surprised to pay extra for the checked luggage but I had not expected to have to pay for everything beyond water. All good, we weren’t in here for long. And indeed, before we knew it the descent had started and we were touching down at HEL.



Off the plane and to the baggage carrousel where we proceeded to way 20 min or so for anything to come out. It eventually did and we took the short walk to our hotel for the night – Hilton Helsinki Airport.

As previously mentioned we booked all these Hiltons in the same booking using Flight Centre gift cards. Total cost was approx. $210 for a King Guest Room which I thought was reasonable. We also had the breakfast buffet included which again proved to be a masterstroke. The room had 1 king bed (surprise surprise) and a fold out bed for NoName Jnr.





It was after 11pm by this point and we were pretty exhausted. A quick shower, into bed and I think we were all dead to the world within minutes.

 

[NoName]

Day 9





Our flight to Rovaniemi was departing at 9:35am so we were packed up and out of the room by 6:30am and straight into the restaurant for breakfast. There was a good offering here, similar to what we had had at the Munich Airport Hilton. We fed ourselves pretty quickly with a couple of plates of hot food each and a hot chocolate or two then we were filled up and ready to go. We made our way back over to the airport terminal, checked the bags in. Kudos to Finnair’s self check terminals at HEL. These were extremely easy to use, maybe the easiest I’ve come across and in no more than a couple of minutes we had the tags on and our bags were being whisked away. Through a very efficient security we went and off to the gate to await boarding.




HEL-RVN
AY543
A321
26D, 26E, 26F





Another uneventful flight. We took our seats, waited for everyone else to do the same and then we were taking off pretty much on time. Flight time was 1hr25min so it was more or less up and down. They still managed to find the tie to quickly come around and try to sell some food and drinks. We were full so nothing for us today other than trying to contain the excitement of visiting Santa later that day. NoName Jnr still had no idea where we were going. Even with the check-in agents for the last couple of flights making comment that we were going to visit Santa, he was still oblivious. We made up some story about our flight to NYC being changed which he somehow bought although wasn’t happy about. Anyway, the plane landed in what was truly a winter wonderland! Quicky off to get our bags and then out to find a taxi.



Ok so this was really cold. We worked that out in the 5 minutes we were outside finding a taxi. Thankfully we were able to jump in to one quickly and we were on our way to the accommodation. It was only about 3km down but taxi still ended up being €20. Wow! Within 5 minutes we had arrived at Santa Clause Village. This place is excellent! Its essentially a group of independently run businesses all themed around Santa Clause and Lapland culture. Rovaniemi is billed as the home of Santa Clause and this village plays on that with various different places to visit and activities all geared around this theme. Within the village there are several different accommodation options, all (at least at this time of year) very expensive. We went for the budge option (budget being relative in this case) – Santa Clause Holiday Village – which came in at €1,926 for 3 nights. Other options were in the multiples of this.

We completed the check in paperwork however our room wasn’t going to be ready for a couple of hours. Left the bags at reception and decided to get straight into it. We went outside into the main square which was filled with families all here to celebrate xmas the same way we were.



The arctic circle – well not exactly. This one is for the tourist photos. The actual arctic circle is around 500m further north.

 

[NoName]

Day 9 – Continued………..





Next up it was time to meet Santa! NoName Jnr had been sceptical, claiming that this isn’t the North Pole so he doesn’t actually live here. We did our best to explain that he actually lives at the arctic circle because the north pole is just ice and were hoping that coming face to face with the big man would convince him.

We went into Santa’s Office and got a time for our visit – 1:30pm – which was luckily in about half an hour. Walked around again outside for a bit before coming back and taking out place in line. We were told it would take about an hour to get to Santa and this was true. The line snaked back through a series of hallways decked out in displays to make it a realistic “Santa’s Office”.







Wall with photos of various celebrities who have visited Santa:



Eventually we got upstairs and to the front of the line where we were greeted by one of the elves. Paid the money for photos plus an extra amount to get a gift from Santa and after being given a card allegedly written in the Elve’s language which would tell Santa that NoName Jnr was on the good list () we were at the front of the line with just a small wait to go in. Note, that we were under no obligation to buy the photos and the actual activity of meeting Santa in his office is free. That said, I would assume almost everyone who comes does buy the photos.




Ok, this was excellent! Extremely well done! Forget the Santas employed by Westfield each December, this guy was unbelievable! Dressed spot on, very long beard that to be honest I have no idea if it was real or not, very engaging and critically able to answer pretty much any question that came up. He asked NoName Jnr where he was from and then began to talk about the contrasts in weather between Lapland & Brisbane. We talked to him for a few minutes and honestly, I couldn’t speak more highly of this. Absolutely amazing!

The big guy himself!



Emerging out of Santa’s Office – 3pm and nearly dark!

 

[NoName]

Day 9 – Continued……………





Since it was 3pm we went and checked on the room availability again and this time we were in luck. Grabbed the key and listened to instruction on how to get to our room. Thankfully our bags were able to be taken down for us so we didn’t need to drag them through the snow.

The accommodation is set out in a series of duplex studio apartment type rooms. They really are spread out in a village type way. Our room had a queen bed, foldaway bed for NoName Jnr, bathroom with sauna & a small kitchenette. It was very comfortable, fairly spacious and pretty much perfect for what we needed.





After a rest for an hour or so we took off back up to the main part of the village to look around further. NoName Jnr was in his element jumping in snow as well as throwing at me and that was a lot of fun.





The time came for us to grab some dinner and we went to find something quick and easy which turned out to be Santa’s Pizza & Burger which is exactly as it sounds – a pizza & burger restaurant. Its basically fast food style which was perfectly fine for us this evening. Burger for Mrs NoName & I and pizza for NoName Jnr. Everyone was satisfied. Prices were on the expensive side for what this was but we had expected that. Once we’d finished we had a quick look around a kind of snow mobile museum that was attached to the restaurant. It had a series of snow mobiles through the ages starting from maybe 70 years ago or so.