Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Despite there being everything on offer for breakfast — and I mean, EVERYTHING! — I stuck to my usual muesli and fruit, youghurt and a couple of small pastries whilst Michael devoured Eggs Florentine and a variety of savoury foods, along with some sparkling wine and several cappuccinos! Towards the end of our feast, Alisha called on Messenger, as Marlo had apparently asked for us again! We went back to our room so that we could talk with our little Munchkins without annoying the other hotel guests. Gretl and Nola joined the conversation — the first time Nola has seen us since we left just over two weeks ago. She smiled a lot, but who knows if she really recognised us! Marlo definitely knows who we are — she says our names and waves enthusiastically.
It was well after 11am when we set off on our walk into the city, taking the side streets to avoid the long, busy road our hotel is situated on. It was another hot and sunny day, and so I did my best to keep to the shade as much as I could, even though I was covered in sunscreen.
As we explored the different streets, we popped in to a couple of shoe shops — I bought some Ecco walking sandals on sale (I had planned to replace my old sandals on this trip). Michael almost bought a pair of shoes, but they didn’t have his size.
I had read on the internet that the best place to get a birdseye view of Munich is from the tower of St Peter’s Church which is located just off the main square (Marienplatz). We popped in to the church first — one side was quite light due to the sunlight streaming through the windows — it was quite beautiful. Amazingly, outside at the entrance to the tower, there was no queue — we paid our €3 each and began the ascent up a very narrow staircase. There was no room to pass anyone, and so one has to wait at either end of this first segment before commencing to ascend or descend. From then on, the stairs were timber — still quite narrow, but you could see ahead to the small landing area where the stairs changed direction. People just automatically work out who should go and who should wait, with passing each other taking place on the landings.
On one website, I read that there are 299 steps to the top, but another stated that there are over 300. Given that my left hip/thigh had started to give me trouble again, I was relieved when the end was in sight.
From the room at the top, you can step out on to the balcony through one of two doors. The crowd then just slowly moves in an anti-clockwise direction around the top of the tower — VERY slowly! There is no room to pass — mounted telescopes in each corner block what could have been overtaking points — not that you’d want to hurry the experience, but some people seemed to want to while away the hours conversing with each other! The views over the city, particularly looking down on Marienplatz, were excellent.
The descent was, of course, so much easier! From there, we ambled across to the market area we had seen from above, and then headed towards the Englischer Garten via the Hofbräuhaus, the famous beer-hall built in 1589. The building was completely remodeled in 1897 when the brewery moved to the suburbs.
All of the rooms except the historic beer hall ("Schwemme") were destroyed in the World War II bombings, with renovations being completed in 1958. Our approach was from the rear of the building where we noticed there were some ‘free’ toilets! (We had already been to a shopping centre facility where I had left a tip for the young girls on duty there (even though I had to clean up the paper off the floor in my cubicle!) I had a few coins in my bag and so just picked one, not knowing its value (probably 50c), because I’m hopeless without my glasses on these days!)
The restaurant of the Hofbräuhaus was very beautiful, but with pretzels being sold by the young women dressed in traditional Bavarian costumes costing €4 each, we didn’t even bother checking out the menu. We continued on towards the garden.
The Englische Garten (English Garden) is very extensive. With an area of 3.7 km2 , It is one of world's largest urban public parks. The name refers to its English garden form of informal landscape, a style popular in England from the mid-18th century to the early 19th century. Hundreds of people were gathered around the edge of the small, shallow river flowing through the middle of the park. A few were allowing the water to wash them downstream, whilst others were sitting or lying in the sunshine. We sat down to rest in the shade some distance away from the water. It was time to eat my banana and left-over portion of pastry, take some painkillers for my hip, and reapply my sunscreen.
A few naked old men were sunbaking or wandering around this area of the park, and so I had to be careful as to which direction I aimed my camera!
Once revitalised, we continued on, stopping at a pavilion on top of steep mound overlooking some of the park. Our meanderings took us as far as a large lake — the park extends a lot further, but we figured we had seen enough. Thankfully, the Ibufprufen tablets had relieved the pain in my hip to a significant degree, but we still went at an easy pace, enjoying the beauty of the park. The only negative was all the bike riders, many of whom we thought rode much too fast. Every time we crossed a path, we had to have our wits about us so as not to be bowled over!
By the time we were back into the city centre, we were in need of another toilet stop — luckily, we knew exactly where to go! :-) We explored a few shops, including those in the underground world servicing commuters o the underground railway system. It was then time to head towards the central railway station to check out the lay of the land in preparation for our train journey the next day.
We shared a small bratwurst with sauce and mustard and then began the walk back along the long, busy road to our hotel. Along the way, we checked out a couple of restaurants, eventually finding a small cafe that sold inexpensive food for around €8 ($12.60) a dish. Chicken and salad was exactly what I needed, whilst Michael opted for another Wienner Schnitzel which came with delicious potatoes.
By the time we arrived ‘home’, having walked for over 7 hours, I was exhausted. I then noticed that I had developed another ‘heat rash’ on my upper legs, despite having taken an antihistamine in the morning. (My dermatologist has diagnosed it as being toxic urticaria — an allergic reaction that can be associated with heat and exercise, and also with autoimmune conditions. The antihistamine no doubt helped a lot, as previously such long walks would have led me to developing the shakes and a much more extensive rash.) I wanted to fall asleep straight away (8:30pm), but decided to push myself to stay awake until 10, as I didn’t want to wake up too early. As it turned out, this was not necessarily a good plan!
Ah! The joy of uploading photos with an upload speed of almost 100 Mbps (faster than the 90 Mbps download speed) — such a contrast to the slow speeds we have experienced recently! The other day, it took over 5 minutes to upload each photo. This time, each photo seemed to take only a fraction of a second!
Lisa
2018-07-27
My friend told me of his adventure on the St Peters Church staircase when he was there at the beginning of the year. I think you might have had a better experience than him! That's a great idea checking out the railway stations too. I've noticed on the trip I'm taking I don't always leave from the same station in the city!
Alisha
2018-07-27
Marlo is now saying “Ni-Ni” or “Pa-Pi” everytime she gets in her high chair. It’s become expected that she get to see you both for every meal. Time to explain to her about time difference ;-)
Tom
2018-07-27
Ahhh, here we are in beautiful Munchen. So good to see you both again after being unexpectedly delayed in Austria. The photos look fantastic, and I've especially enjoyed your very handy tips on some of the public toilets. What is the going rate to tip the attendants? (is tip the right word?) Not only uploading your beautiful pics, but enhancing my vicarious trip with very useful explanatory links!! Loving the tour guys, and the amazing street scapes, buildings and greenery. One thing: is the Lowenbrau brewery in Munchen? Might be worth a visit and a taste. I think it was one of the first sponsors of the South Australian "Schutzenfest." Happy travels.
Carina
2018-07-30
How wonderful. I laughed about you cleaning the toilet paper off the floor. I thought I was the only person who did that lol. sorry to hear your hip is playing up. Annoying when you need to do so much walking. Thank goodness for ibofrufen. You certainly are seeing some magnificent places. xxx
Ian
2018-08-03
What a magnificent view you saw on reaching the tower of St. Peter's Church of Marienplatz and extensive views of Munich itself. I was interested in magnifying your photos of buildings in the Marienplatz, especially of the figurettes on the clock tower. Your photos of the English Garden in Munich contrasted with the layout of this area as it was when Mum, Shirley and I saw it in 1983. At that time, it had a huge area devoted to depicting a traditional home and garden of native flowers of various nations in Europe, including England. From the photos of yourselves, you appear to being tickled pink from the enjoyment of each aspect of your magnificent tour. It is a well thought out and comprehensive exploration of both country scenes and city buildings. Your bus travelers have caught your enthusiasm. Glad to learn that you are looking after your left hip/thigh problem as best as you can on this very busy sight-seeing European tour.