One day in Munich
A dizzying array of experiences in less than 24 hours (we're so American)
Munich is our first major city in Europe after a week of visiting the smaller towns along Germany’s Romantic Road. We worry that it’ll be “too much” as we drive through congested streets and then park illegally next to our hotel so we can offload our luggage. But we’re not that bad as this whole building is parked illegally.
Then we drive into town and drop off our car at the Avis garage and walk into downtown. Immediately we see something delicious: a giant rottisserie with rows and rows of pork knuckle. We love shops that only sell one thing: in this case, sliced pork knuckle in a sandwich. Yum!
We visit the Viktualienmarkt which has a dizzying array of restaurants and stalls. The choice paralysis results in lots of sampling with little buying. I’m on a hunt for traditional Apfel Strudel, but most here don’t look that great. There are, however, dozens of types of pickles and herring on display.
Then we make our way further into downtown. We discover that the famous Lederhosen, which literally translates into “leather pants”, is ridiculously expensive (as they are actually leather shorts). Not a simple souvenir. Also, they have our favorite cheese store (so many free tastings) and bakeries with Mama Bear’s favorite raspberry cakes.
Next we travel to the main square (Marketplatz) and find that they’re prepping for a big festival tomorrow. Then we visit all sorts of churches. I’m always fascinated by the diversity in architectural and design elements in churches. Within a few minutes walk, we find many amazing churches. The Theatine church displays a rococo interior with elaborate white stucco.
Another, the Frauenkirche, is known for the “Devil’s footprint” from where the devil is tricked into believing the church has no windows.
Saint Michaels and Saint Peters are all very nice.
But my favorite is the Asamkirche which has Italian-like colorful paintings with opulent gold flourishes. It just looks like another building nestled amongst the rest, but inside, it’s lavish.
We then rush back to the main square for the nightly Glockenspiel Show. There is a famous glockenspiel (little figures that dance to the chiming clock tower like a giant German cuckou clock) that only goes off a couple times a day. However, I also haven’t had my Apfelstrudel yet, and Google Maps tells me there’s a good one at the Glockenspiel Cafe nearby. So we try to squeeze in some Apfel Strudel first.
Luckily, it turns out the cafe is up a couple floors, directly across the square, and has an amazing view of the Glockenspiel, so we’re able to get our cake, eat it, and see the show (without the crowds). To be honest, the Glockenspiel show is a bit underwhelming (old machinery moves so slow), so it’s nice that we could enjoy an excellent hot apfelstrudel (with vanilla creme sauce) while watching.
On the walk back to the hotel, we find a Lego store that is amazing. It has all the attractions of Munich crammed into two floors of Lego goodness. It’s much easier to get photos of everything when they’re 5% of full size.
We finally get back to our hotel, do some work, and then late at night we find a nice surprise to end the day. There is a sauna in the basement of the hotel (Eurostar Book Hotel, highly recommend) that is open 24 hours a day. There are even nice fluffy white bath robes. We’re so fancy.
The next morning before our train ride out of Germany, we decide to squeeze in some more eating in Munich and walk back into downtown. We hit a bakery on the way in and then find ourselves at Benno fest (St. Benno is the patron saint of Munich), a small kids-oriented local festival. The biggest thing advertised is that “Children named Benno can go up the church tower for free”. Maybe today all kids are named Benno? There are nuns hosting games, some local performers, and even a local wood company sawing up a giant log. I manage to hammer in a nail with the wrong end of the hammer and win a prize!
Then we reach the main square where the stage is finally set up and there is some great live music playing. Surrounded by fair food, we decide that we’d rather eat something less beer-hall-ish. So we find ourselves once again in Viktualienmarkt where we make a mad dash to grab some lunch at the Nordic fish place and a local meat and sausage shop so that we can eat on the way to the train station. Bye bye Germany!
