Day 7 means time to go to Munich! What I now would like to think of as the beer capital of the world. We woke up relatively early and tidied the apartment and then headed for the train station. Six hours on the train was a pretty long time but we managed with some healthy rations and our kindles and nap time.
And then we were in Munich! We checked into the hotel and then headed to Marienplatz and then on to the famous Munich beer hall--Hofbrauhaus! We ate dinner, grabbed some beer and then walked around a bit more before heading back to the hotel.
The view from the train windows as we traveled from Prague to Munich was beautiful! And Carissa thought it was funny that I spread the cheese on my crackers with my fingers... but I didn't have a knife so a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!
This was my haul for the trip: cheese, crackers, and candy bars. The 3 Bit being my favorite from when I studied abroad so I was more than happy to indulge myself and eat a BIG one :) Eric especially loved the long train ride. Especially when we had a little boy reading and then trying to make up rhymes. He wasn't annoying at all.
But we finally made it! And our hotel had a sweet message for me on the TV when I got into the room. Nice touch, Le Meridien. Now just make your wifi cheaper. Then we decided to make our way to Hofbrauhaus, the famed bier hall of Munich. Eric and I both got Dunkels, which are the dark beers. They came in 1L sizes so yeah, these are some large mugs.
The beer hall was pretty crowded even though it was relatively earll. But what I really loved was this table of old men who had a reserved table because they came so often. Apparently you can get a table if you have a group and you come once a week for three years. Then you get your table, a picture of your group on the wall and your own beersteins. And if a spot opens in the lockers of beerstiens, you can even store yours at the Brewery! Pretty cool if you ask me. But what do I know, it took me forever to finish this liter.
But we had a good time!
Then we went to the Hofbrauhaus gift store... some interesting things you can buy there.
Spotted on our walk back, these fabulous sculptures. The first is a hog--maybe someone in Munich is an Arkansas fan? And then we have the great catfish, whose whiskers we decided to grab. That's why he looks so unhappy.
And even better, Eric and I wearing typical German hats? In the store that only sold liederhosen. We tried to get Eric to buy some, but he unfortunately refused.
For our first full day in Munich we did a free walking tour of the city and then went to the Olympic Park. Our tour guide was an English bloke who apparently moved to Munich for a girl that it sounds like he is no longer with, sad for him. But he was hilarious, lots of good jokes and very knowledgeable about the sights of the city! Much of the info you'll find with the pictures is from him.
The New Old Town Hall that looks older than the Old Town Hall. This building is in the city center square of Marienplatz, which translates to Mary's place. It's also the home of the glockenspiel.
Mary's pillar which apparently has never been stolen, although people have tried. We also saw the Australian family that was standing behind us at New Years in Berlin--small world! And next is a picture of the famous glockenspiel, or as our guide mentioned, the second most overrated attraction in Europe behind the Astronomical Clock in Prague. (My response, the glockenspiel is from the early 1900s, Prague's is from the 1400s so... what could they even do then?) But the Glockenspiel is a 12 minute long performance where the two levels rotate and the characters dance and there's jousting with Bavaria beating the Austrians. Pretty entertaining yeah?
Then we walked on to Frauenkirche, one of the old cathedrals of Munich. The footprint is said to be the Devil's footprint because the man responsible for building the church apparently made a deal with the devil to get it done on time. Accordingly, the church has vaulted ceilings and you may not be able to tell but has little men coming out of the pillars to represent some of the men who worked on it.
The Frauenkirche is known for its two towers (one of which was being renovated) and during WWII much of the church was destroyed except the towers. This is despite the fact that a shell did break into the right tower but it never exploded thus keeping the towers intact. Next we walked to another Memorial, this time for.... Michael Jackson! The Germans and their love for some American icons is truly humorous to me. And the fact that there is a group who maintains this memorial. Not even kidding.
Another side to the MJ shrine. And then this is the Royal residence of Munich and then the Feldherrnhalle, a monument to the German military. Our guide told us that the two statues are Bavarian war heroes and they had quite a difficult time deciding who to put up there. And not because they had too many but rather a lack of war heroes because apparently the Bavarians were better drinkers than they were fighters--shocking. So the man on the right is indeed Bavarian but the man on the left is not, but he did lead some Bavarian troops during a time as a general so he counts, right? Right.
Then we went inside the Theatine Church, which was really gorgeous inside I thought. The attention to detail and all the carvings reminded me of some of the churches in Italy and I loved how light it was inside. This church was built as a gift to God from Ferdinand and Henrietta because of the long-awaited birth of a male heir to the Bavarian crown. Quite the way to give back.
Then we have the National Theatre Munich, home to the Bavarian State Opera. It was home to many world premieres because of the plethora of German composers. And then we took a break from the tour and sampled our second of the big 6 brewers--Augustiner, which is said to be the best of them all. And I would not disagree.
Photo opp with the beer maids of Hofbrauhaus. Our guide was telling us that some of the maids can truly hold that many beers in their hands and its quite the coveted skill during Oktoberfest. And we have this lovely figure welcoming us to Munich. And one of my favorite pictures is this little girl with the Juliet statue. Verona is a sister city of Munich so they sent this statue over. It's said to that you'll find a new love if you touch her--so women normally place flowers in the crook of her elbow and men... well I think you can tell what part of Juliet the men touch. And this little girl decided she wanted to get to first base with Juliet as well.
A view of the Old Town Hall which is actually newer than the New Town Hall because it had to be rebuilt after WWII. And the May Pole of Munich--which shows you what Munich is all about with the images on it. And apparently if you steal a city's May Pole, you can hold it for ransom--and apparrently most often the ransom being asked for is beer. The Bavarians love their beer.
Next is was on the Olympic Park! Where you can see the cool architecture of the main buildings and then the Olympic Tower. The last picture is of the swimming hall, which we could have gone to if we had carried our swimsuits with us. Bummer.
We decided to take a tower of the Olympic Stadium so we got some cool pictures.
Carissa and I walked from the bottom of the steps to the top, but Eric pretty much stayed put as shown in the second picture. He was just thinking back to his year of birth, when this stadium was used for the Olympics, 1972.
The view from the first row isn't exactly a great view... but the second picture is because I'm in it :)
Panorama of the stadium, and then Carissa pointing out where we left Eric.
Random swan paddle boat on the grounds of the stadium. There is no water nearby. So random that we had to take a picture. Then me in the reflection of the pressbox at the stadium. And a picture of the park map, apparently the Olympic Park was built on top of the rubble of Munich after WWII--pretty cool if you ask me. And, you might not be able to read it, but there's an MLK street. Goes to show that the impact of MLK even reaches as far as Germany.
Then it was dinner time!!! We went to this really good Greek place, which was rated the #1 restaurant in Munich. The grilled octopus was excellent as was my souvlaki and gyro.
The ouzo shots that we got for free though... not good. But we felt like we had to take them or it was rude. And we got them before the mail AND after. It's like they were punishing us. Uck.
But then it was on to the apartment because we had an early morning because we planned to go to Neuschwanstein to see the famous castle the next morning! A successful first full day in Munich!
No comments:
Post a Comment