Munich, Germany

2:57 PM Unknown 0 Comments

We decided to walk around a little, and started getting hungry for lunch. We found a great little place on our way walking towards the park. It had a window out onto the street, but Derek and I went inside so we could get a better look at the food and use the restroom afterwards. I got a bratwurst with mustard, and Derek got a pretzel. They were both delicious, and very very cheap. Derek and I decided that we would come back the next day for lunch again, as they had a lot of the traditional food for cheap.

We walked to the English Gardens, which we had heard about so much on all the travel programs about Munich. The park was beautiful, and was mixed about 50/50 with natives and tourists. We walked around a little enjoying the sites. One site that we were prepared for, but still a little shocked by was the naked men in the park. There were only two, but we were told that nudity is allowed in this park. Perhaps one of the coolest things about this park is the surfing. The water in the river is very very fast. Back in the day, the king thought that if he dumped large cement blocks into the river, it would slow down the current, but instead it created this huge wave in the middle of the park. There were surfers from all over the world surfing there. Derek and I thought that it was one of the coolest things we had seen.

We were exhausted from our overnight train, and so we walked back to the hotel. We got back about 10 minutes before check in time, and told us that our room wasn’t ready, and that we would have to come back in an hour. I was pretty upset with the hotel, as I was exhausted, and just wanted a short nap to refuel. Derek and I decided to go and get some beers to kill some time. We walked 2 minutes down the street and stopped at a little outdoor beer garden and ordered some beers. The time ended up going by quickly, and when we got back to our hotel an hour later, we were able to sleep, shower and get dressed for the night.

When we woke up, it was pouring. Derek checked the weather report, and it was supposed to pour all night. I was worried it would be a repeat of Venice, but we didn’t want to let it ruin our time. So we headed out looking for a good place to eat, with the HB beer house in mind for beer later in the night. We stopped at a beer house for super. In Germany, they sit you at these long tables with other people in beer halls. We got sat next to a couple who were American. The girl was living in Munich, and the guy lived in the states and was visiting. We asked her about what we should check out, and she affirmed all of our plans for us. Derek and I were pretty pumped that we were doing a good job of figuring out the best places to go in the cities we were in. For dinner, I had schnitzel with potatoes and cranberry sauce. It was one of my favorite meals in Europe, in a much different way than the food in Italy. I could eat Schnitzel 5 times a week. Derek got french fries, and we had some beers.

We headed to the HB beer hall, where parents of a friend who had been to Munich said we HAD to go to. We got there and it was really full. Derek said we could come back the next day, but I wasn’t giving up. Just as I was rounding the last corner (the beer hall was huge) I saw a group of people leaving, and I grabbed a seat. Shortly after, this single man grabbed a seat, another, and then a group of 20 year olds from France. It was taking a long time to get beers (it was really really busy) and one of the guys left. The other man got the waitresses attention for us so that we could order Radlers (beer with lemonade). The man started talking to us. He was from Germany, and had a lot of questions about America, and how their school systems run. He wanted to know what we liked the most about Europe. He was very very nice, and showed us pictures of his kids and his house. He said he was on a business trip. Derek and I flagged the waitress to buy a pretzel, and the man (his name was Steve) bought us a pretzel as a wedding present. At first, I was worried meeting him. All the travel websites told us not to trust strangers while in Europe, but this man was kind and sincere, and just wanted some company on his trip. He gave Derek his business card so that we could keep in touch. We headed back to the hotel, happy about our night, and glad that we didn’t let a little rain ruin it, and went to bed.

After a well deserved sleep in, we woke up and went for a walk to the park. We planned to have a restful day in the park, eating, drinking, enjoying the beer gardens and reading and writing in our blog. We stopped on the walk to grab pretzels and croissants for breakfast. The pretzel I got was as big as my face. It was probably the worst one I had while in Europe (stale). Derek also got some apple juice, which was fizzy. We liked it like that.

We kept walking towards the park. We wanted to stop in the area that we had grabbed lunch yesterday so that we could grab some food to take to the park. We stopped at a little place famous for their macaroons. We got two raspberry and two chocolate, and derek grabbed two croissants for lunch. We then walked across the street to the same place we had gotten lunch yesterday, and got a schnitzel on a bun and a white sausage. I took a couple bites of the white sausage before throwing it away and then kept the schnitzel for the park.

When we arrived at the park, we decided to walk a little before finding a place to settle down and relax. We found a little Chinese tower gazebo in the middle of the park on top of the hill. We walked up and looked out at the view and snapped some pictures. We then took off in search of the beer garden. The beer garden was great. It was set up like little snack huts like you would see at a baseball game. Each station was different, some with beer, some with meats, and some with vegetables. Derek and I got a couple Radlers and sat with out lunches. When we were done, we returned our glasses with a deposit coin that we were given when we bought them, and were given a euro back for each beer. I thought this was a really great idea.

We found a bench in the park to sit and read and write in our blog. We ate our macaroons, which were delicious. After a while, I convinced Derek to lay in the grass. We layed out, people watching. Derek and I noticed that everyone’s dogs were extremely well trained. Nobody’s dog had to be on a leash in Europe, because all the dogs listened to their owners.

After relaxing for 3 or 4 hours, we decided to grab dinner in the beer garden. It was very cheap, and they had french fries. I got a half chicken with some sauerkraut and it was delicious. We got some radlers, like we had earlier in the day. The bees were relentless. There were bees everywhere in Europe, but it was the worse here. One bee landed on my wedding rings and was crawling all over them.

• tax on food and drink is sky high 
• beer is usually always available mixed with Lemonade (Radler) 
• bees, lots and lots of bees 
• extremely clean and nice bathrooms 
• you sit at long tables with other people