Today we woke up to rain.
Since it was a walking day, we broke down and bought an umbrella. The rain stopped.
I had hoped to take a tour today, either walking or biking,
but since rain was forecasted all day, we didn’t. Instead we just walked all around Munich,
seeing the sights, sampling the food, and shopping.
The Marienplatz was full of people because the figurines in
the world-famous Glockenspiel were about to begin their 11:00am dance. The spectacle is 12 minutes long. We lasted a minute.
The Marienplatz
The Viktualienmarkt is a huge, outdoor market next to the
Marienplatz. We stopped at one of the
butchers to get bratwurst for dinner.
(In our taste test, the white bratwurst won over the regular
frankfurter.) Since I paid 16 euro (1.50
per dog), Greg said I had fallen for a tourist trap.
Anyone for pigs head?
Viktualienmarkt
We skipped climbing St Peter’s church tower (because our
feet didn’t want stairs), which offers the best view over the city. Instead we went inside to check out the
creepy skeleton of Saint Munditia.
Saint Munditia even has a facebook following!
We walked through the Hofbrauhaus so Chris and Kate could
see the beer hall where Hitler gave his speeches. With its live band, and tables full of live
people, it had a contagious energy that beckoned us to stay.
Hofbrauhaus
Munich appears to be a huge destination for hen and stag
parties, and we saw quite a few. For the
most part, they dress up in traditional garb, of course get very drunk, and the
bride/groom carry a box of concessions that they sell.
Hen party
Our stopping point was the huge park in the center of
Munich: the English Garden (Englischer
Garten) and its Chinese Tower (Chinesischer Turm) beer garden. We enjoyed its live band, tender wiener
schnitzel, the best pommes frites (French fries), and of course bier.
Chinesischer Turm
Mmmmm...
The band taking a break
Last time we were here on a Sunday in April there was no empty space on the lawn ... all of Munich was there.
On the way back we found the surfing spot along the garden’s
stream. It was captivating to watch the
surfers maneuver the small space.
All of the stores had a general rule to only allow credit
card for purchases over 20 euro so we went through a lot of cash.
Chris very much wanted a stein from Munich – particularly one
that has the Deutschland crest (a “bird
thing”, which is a black eagle with red feet).
Steins are not cheap – the one he picked was 70 euro.
Kate found some more "Brandy candy"
