Munich and lovely Bavaria!

December 26, 2013

Welcome to Munich! After meeting our host and settling into the studio apartment we rented, we were off in search of the old town without a map. 15 minutes later we were in Marienplatz Square, the heart of Munich´s old town. Nearby we watched an entertainer/comedian amusing his crowd, in English, with jokes and popular American songs, but it was cold, so we continued on. We were looking for the perfect place to eat and found a beer hall. Unfortunately it was just before closing so we had time for a beer, but no food. On the way home we found a Doner Kebab place and got some tasty pizza bread. (These restaurants are everywhere in Europe.)

First beer hall of my life!

We actually saw a mouse run across the floor at closing time.

 The next morning I had scheduled a free 3-hour tour, so we got an early start and a good introduction to the old town by 1pm. The tour included a stop for lunch and I had delicious roasted pork sandwich and a beer.

Unfortunately, uploading videos isn't working, so this is a link to Youtube.
Glockenspiel in Action

 

Our guide showing us where'd we walked on
a small replica of the old town.

After the tour ended, we wandered the town, Englischer Garten and then found a nice indoor market for some dinner snacks. We bought little sausages, cheese, a spicy dip and crackers. It's too bad I don't remember what the sausages were called, but it's not like I could pronounce it anyway.

Outdoor market, year-round

Costume idea for Halloween !

Englischer Garten - a huge park, near downtown

We missed the party! Beer garden in the summer and Christmas
markets in the winter. We got there a day too late!

 

The following day was the day I was most excited for. The Neuschwanstein Castle. We had signed up for a tour because with the 2 hour bus ride to Fussen where we get a bus to Hohenschwangau, etc, plus the entrance fee, it seemed to be comparable in price and nice to have a guide. We had a (dry) funny English guy as our guide and an Australian family of 5 among the group. We loved this family and spent most of the train ride getting to know them. They're traveling Europe for 9 weeks!

View from train, hard to get good pics.

Quick lunch. Apparently they don't care about the presentation
of their sausages, as long as it's meat and bread, it works!
Another example if you scroll down.

Reminds me of Leavenworth, Washington!

  

On the way up to the castle, finally some hiking, kind of.

On the bridge

Another view from the bridge

From the top!

NO PICTURES ALLOWED ON THE INSIDE!

Our tour guides took us down the "Do Not Enter" route. 

After a long day trip, we deserved a treat and found our way to the Hofbrauhaus, the most famous beer hall in the world. We were a little overwhelmed at how it worked when we got there, but you just find a spot to sit and order. Easy! We met some more Australians, ordered some large beers (2 options - large and larger), and ate the biggest pretzel of my life.

Here's some background on the Hofbrauhaus, one of the oldest beer halls and a meeting place for the Nazi Party. More about Hofbrauhaus. Just press Play.

In a couple days, we saw a lot of cool stuff. On our last full day, we relaxed and checked out new parts of town and then went to the movies! It's been so long since I've seen a movie in a theater and since they were showing The Hobbit in English, we couldn't pass it up.

Here are a few pics from our last day. Enjoy!

This is a hot dog sandwich. Notice again the size of the meat
compared to the size of the bread.

Next post...Salzburg in a day!