Onto our next stop, Munich! We had a week between the wedding and catching up with our friends in Sicily so we decided to spend it in southern Germany. We stayed at the Hilton at Edinburgh airport so as not to miss our 6am flight (a few friends have had some airport horror stories) but thankfully flew through security and spent a couple of hours “relaxing” at our gate. The flight had a couple of hours stopover in Frankfurt, which was then delayed by an hour and a half more “relaxing” at our gate, but we made it into Munich at around 4pm. We then jumped on the train which took about 45 minutes to reach the city center, dropped our bags at the hotel and went in search of a biergarten!
We wandered from our accomodation in Karlsplatz through the famous Marienplatz dominated by the New Town Hall (Neues Rathaus), then onto the English Gardens which had been recommended by our friends Jessie and Paul. We were getting pretty hangry by this stage, having only eaten an airport sandwich, so were desperate to get our hands on a pretzel and a stein of German beer (zwei halles danke!). We made our way through the gorgeous gardens full of people enjoying picnics and games after Friday knockoff, and found a beer garden at the Chinese Tower site. The ordering process was a bit of a struggle but we made it out of the canteen style servery with our bier, a giant pretzel and the most delicious Currywurst. The place was just as charming as we imagined, full of green picnic-style tables and bench seats, a live band playing big band hits from the tower and gorgeous dappled light - it was the perfect place for some good people watching.
With full tummies and happy hearts, we continued through the English Gardens to the Eisbachwelle, a continuous wave on the man-made Eisbach river where we watched people river surf - crazy - then walked about some more. We later found a little bar for a night cap before retiring to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.
The following morning we went in search of coffee and found a decent cup at Man Versus Machine, a very Melbourne coffee establishment. It was then onto Viktualienmarkt, a Saturday morning fresh food, flower and wares market with a central beer garden. The fear of ordering was still high so after walking approximately three laps and failing to make any decision, I found the courage to order a couple of mixed salami rolls with pickles and two half pints of beer to enjoy - köstlich! A 10am beer is surprisingly enjoyable.
We found Munich to be a great walking city with lots of interesting architecture and abundant flower gardens dotted about the place- the Europeans really know how to do flower beds. There were also mini art galleries as you walked through the arcades, showcasing a mix of fine ceramics, sculptures, prints and textiles.
The galleries are hard to explain, they were both overwhelming in their own way. We accidentally started with the traditional gallery thinking it was the modern one, which started us on the wrong foot, but the building was so excellent we soon found our groove. As always there were so many depictions of dead animals and Mary that they can become a little same same, but there were enough other odds and ends to keep us entertained.
The modern gallery though was a masterpiece of sculpture, installation and ideas. In particular, the olympic exhibition was beautifully laid out across different levels so you sort of discovered new bits as you moved around. However by this time Dave’s feet were giving in so on towards another pretzel and bier!
We made a lunch stop for a Viennese schnitzel and currywurst, of course accompanied by more bier, then walked back to Marienplatz so I could climb the St Peters Church tower for 360 degree views of Munich. I always love seeing cities from great heights and they’re so interesting when the street layouts aren’t gridded. After a spot of shopping we headed back to the room for a rest and a freshen up before finding a cute little bar to enjoy some fancy cocktails to end the night. That’s a wrap on Munich! Next stop, Grainau.
