Munich

The next day after our Alpine adventure, we decided to venture out into Munich, especially that it would be the only day that things are open since everything would be shut down on Easter Sunday and Monday.  To think of it, I have never been to Munich when it was not a holiday.  The two previous times were Christmas and New Year holidays and now it is Easter.  Of course the city was PACKED, but it was a lot of fun anyways.  

First thing we did was to climb to the top of Old Peter.  St. Peter's Church is the oldest church in the inner city of Munich.  It was build even before Munich was founded in 1158.  Remember the all over body sourness from the hiking, well on top of that I had to climb, I don't know how many narrow, claustrophobic, filled with tourist, steps.  The view from the top was well worth it.  We did not stay there long at all because it was getting more and more packed every minute.  

Alter Peter/Old Peter tower and the views from the top.

At 11 am and noon the Rathaus-Glockenspiel chimes and reenacts two stories from the 16th century.  It is a huge tourist attraction and of course I got to see it.

Rathaus-Glockenspiel in the Marienplatz.

Then, of course it was time for a little local snack.  I had bratwurstsemmel, easy enough–a sausage on a bun.  Ludwig had a leberkässemmel.  Okay now I have to explain what it is exactly.  Leber means liver and käse means cheese, but there is no cheese or liver in it at all, go figure.  It is basically a meatloaf made completely out of sausage meat on a semmel/bun.  

We went to a real butcher at the Viktualienmarkt to get those warm snacks.

After walking around Ludwig decided to take me to a Dallmayr, a luxury delicatessen store dating back to 17th century.  They have everything–caviar, coffee, truffles, bread, cakes, meat, vegetables...EVERYTHING.  It is a fascinating place, especially for a person like me, who loves fancy things and fancy foods.  Of course we could barely walk through the store because once again it was packed.  But I could not leave without one purchase, a little desert.  It was of course divine and I shared it with Ludwig.

Dallmayr pastry.

Then we walked and walked and walked.  Thankfully, we wandered into more remote areas of Munich free of crowds and noise.  It is the most perfect spring over here, not too hot or cold, all you want to do is stay outside.

Munich

After walking for many hours we got very hungry and the next thing on the agenda was to go to Biergarten Chinesischer Turm/Beergarden at the Chinese Tower in the English garden.  

Potato salad, cabbage salad, roasted potatoes, bratwurst, pork knuckle and of course a mass beer.

English Garden (1.4 sq mi) in the center of Munich.  It is larger then the Central Park in NYC but smaller then Richmond Park in London.  

We spend a few hours in the park walking around, laying on the grass and people watching.  My feet were so swollen from all the walking that I was glad we could just lay down somewhere.

Our last stop was another beergarden, a bit outside the city centre called Hirschgarten.  There we got a pretzel with obatzda (camembert cheese, cream cheese, butter and paprika spread) with a side of radler (sprite and lagerbeer mixture–very refreshing).  Real beergardens are completely self-served and it is customary to be able to bring your own food and they only ask that you buy the beer there.  Usually, only one, maximum two kinds of beers are served.  At this beergarden they served only Augustiner lagerbeer and you could also mix it with sprite to make a radler.

Pretzel, obatzta and radler at Hirschgarten.

I really liked these beergardens, they are so relaxed and you can stay there forever, bring your own food, have large gatherings, and you are outside.  I think when we go there next time we will prepare our own foods and snacks and just buy the beer.

It was a great 12 hour day spend completely outside.  We took the train home biked from the train station to the house and by that time I was completely done, dead, barely moving, or having any ability to make complete sentences.

Next time I want experience Munich on a regular day without the holiday crowds and before it gets too hot in the summer.