Munich

From Munich, Germany

Our next stop on our itinerary was Munich, the city of beer, and other stuff. We checked into the hotel and headed out into the great city of Munich in search of food and this said beer. We ate dinner that night at a hidden place in a museum which offered pretty good food. I tried ordering in German, but our waitress quickly informed me that she spoke English. This of course made me feel like an idiot, but Mike tells me this is a good thing, I at least tried.

After enjoying a liter of beer with dinner, we meandered off in search of our first beer garden for more. The Hofbräuhaus is one of the most famous beer gardens in Munich and is a popular tourist hot spot. Even so, it serves delicious beer and has nice ambiance. We ordered another liter of beer each and I managed to hunt down a pretzel girl who was wandering around in dressed in dirndl to get my perfect pairing.

From Munich, Germany

The following day we went to downtown to the Marienplatz to see the town square and some churches. St. Peter's was in the middle of ceremony, but the Fraunenkirche was open. This church, along with many other sites in Munich, were bombed during WWII. While the church sustained substantial damage, the two onion domed tops remained in tact. The church's structure has since been rebuilt, although, it's interior is emptier now than before the war. This church contains the crypt of the Archbishop and some members of the Wittlesbach family. This crypt used to hold a prominent position in the church at the altar which demonstrated how close royalty was to religion in those days.

From Munich, Germany

After touring around the church, we made our way back to the Marienplatz to watch the Glockenspiel which tells the story of the marriage of the local Duke Wilhelm V (who also founded the world famous Hofbräuhaus). In honor of this marriage, there is a joust between the Bavarian knight (blue) and Lothringen knight (red). The blue knight wins, and then the townspeople in the lower half rejoice (spin around). This was way better than the show in Rothenberg.

From Munich, Germany

We decided to take a break and look for somewhere to eat lunch. We managed to find a soup place in the market square close by that was actually really yummy. Of course, we ordered another half a liter of beer to wash it all down with. About half way through lunch, Rob decided to snap this awesome photo. I wasn't mad, I was just caught off guard, but I think it's a hilarious photo of me.

From Munich, Germany

With our bellies full, we pressed onward to the Residenz, which is the Wittlesbach family palace, once ruling family of Bavaria. To be honest, when I first read the description in the Rick Steve's book, it didn't seem that interesting, but boy was I wrong. I think this family defined opulence. The palace is broken into two parts, one is for their treasury and the other for their home. The treasury holds the most lavish jewels, gems, stones, rock crystal, and china. Some I wouldn't mind having myself! The Residenz was unfortunately bombed during WWII as well and therefore was reconstructed in places throughout the palace. Some rooms were almost empty which depicted the loss they suffered from the bombings.

From Munich, Germany

When we left the Residenz, we decided to head to another beer garden in Munich; The Chinese Beer Garden located in the English Gardens, the largest green spot in Munich. The walk there was pretty nice as we went through the park. Once we were there, we ordered another liter of beer and sat down to enjoy the nice weather and pondered the next activity while giving our tired feet a much needed break.

From Munich, Germany

After our break we went back to town to look for dinner places and enjoy the rest of the city with shops and such. After dinner we went to our final beer garden in Munich, St. Augustiner Beer Garden. While we were quite pooped and this was on the other side of the city (read lots more walking), it really was quite worth it, but Rob and I were running out of steam. I would reccommend anyone going to Munich to put it on their list. This completed our beer tour of Munich with a consumption of 4.5 liters of beer in a little more than 24 hours. Not too shabby.