We caught the fields, streams and little towns of Bavaria on the way into Munich, as soon as it got bright enough outside.  There was a low lying fog over the crop fields (what we thought might be "hops") on the last stretch before we hit the homes and box stores outside the city.  As opposed to our leg from Amsterdam to Berlin, we had a much easier time resting and Janie and I both slept well on the 10 hr trek. Very relaxing...

We hit the ground running at Munich Hauptbahnhof... Quickly stowing our bags and heading directly for Marienplatz on foot.  Munich is entirely walkable and we found ourselves not even touching public transport on our first day there.  We took a straight route from Munich HBF to Marienplatz... No more than a 15 min walk. Not many on the move except for shop owners and entrepreneurs setting up their booths and the outdoor beer gardens. We moved through Karlsplatz and through the shop and church lined streets to the Alte Rathaus and the focal square in Munich. The Alte Rathaus is an elaborately ornate / gothic structure that towers over the square.  The "fishy" fountain and a large monument, Mareinsaulle, are also in the main plaza. The Alte Rathaus is also home to Munich's famous Glockenspeil.

Just past Marienplatz is the Viktualienmarkt.  We strolled through here several times during our stay.  The market is huge and opportunities to buy are endless... From all kinds of meats, cheeses, breads (and combinations of each), fruit, flowers, knick-knacks, and especially big 1 litre mugs of beer.  They start selling early and often with the pilsner, lagers and dunkel! We explored the streets surrounding the area and window shopped the boutiques.

We had only one event for the morning which happened to be of a timed nature, as at 10:15 am we wanted to participate in a walking tour that focused on Munich (Munich Walking Tours) and it's specific role in regards to the Third Reich and the rise of National Socialism in Bavaria and Germany during the first part of the last century.  The tour (for €12 each) lasted for about 2:15 min and our host, Juliet, walked us around Munich tracing the steps of the Third Reich through those early days prior to and during WWII.

There were a couple of things that worked very well for me during this tour.  Juliet was excellent in setting the stage and positioning the group around the sentiment in Bavaria both after the First World War and in the prelude to WWII.  This blog is no place for a history lesson,  but it may suffice to say that our walk through Munich with Juliet provoked much thought in respect to a time and a place in history that went terribly wrong.  Being in Munich and seeing, hearing and touching the actual physical spaces that were home to this movement was surreal... In many ways the morning could best be described as profound.

We needed time to regroup afterwards, both from the content and in regards to our 2 hour walk around Munich on a gorgeous summer-like day.  With bellies growling, we found a quiet table (not... We were very entertained by a small group of Italian students that sat next to us) and ordered up several of those big beers and some lunch at Löwe am Markt, neatly straddling the Viktualienmarkt.  Our no nonsense waiter had us fixed up in a flash and the brew house setting, with it's blackened wooden panels, stein table settings, and sausage and sauerkraut was completely cool!  The beer was entirely drinkable as well.

We did however, want to experience the outside Biergarten Viktualienmarkt as well.  After settling up with our guy, we kind of watched for a few minutes to try and get the "lay of the land".  Janie quickly figured out the process to landing a beer, and we jumped at the first couple of benches that became available.  We landed there with a "Bavarian" trio that were also scrambling for the first open table. The open beer garden was full, almost like everyone was out enjoying the first fine day of the spring.  So, with our couple of litre mugs of beer we managed some small talk with the friends at our table (more possible through their English than our German).  Great atmosphere though, with musicians circulating and several more "established" patrons dressed in their best Bavarian garb dancing and cheering.  This was lots of fun and top notch people watching.

At about 3:00 we started to feel the effects of a beautiful warm afternoon, several beer and a night before spent on the train from Berlin to Munich. Thus we decided to get checked in at our Munchen accommodations and grab a quick shower to freshen up and shake out the cobwebs.  Along the way I think we may have even closed our eyes for a bit. While in Munich we stayed at the ArtHotel Munich.  We chose it for the regular reasons... Proximity to transport, breakfast included and wireless. But looking a little deeper... We got great value here with an awesome room/shower, over the top morning breakfast, relaxed atmosphere with staff and buffet, and a great view into the street below.  We thought it was the best bang for the buck of all the places we stayed this time around.

For the evening we planned a visit to the famous Hofbräuhaus München for the eyeful that many tourists flock to for their taste of Germany.  It's a short 15 minute jaunt from the ArtHotel.  When we arrived at about 7-7:30, we found it already full and festive.  We sourced a couple of seats and people watched while listening to the oompah band and grabbing two big steins of beer.  I guess this would be the exact picture of a stereotypical and classic Bavarian brauhaus.  Unfortunately, I think we got the newest waiter in the entire bar... And we could tell he was struggling with not only the pace but the language as well.  It's kind of too bad as everything else was rosy.  Anyway, I hate to sound like a snot, but we think he may have lost my order (as a matter of fact we know he did) and after Janie ate we decided to pick up and find a venue with a tad slower pace.

It wasn't hard... As just a few minutes walk towards home we landed at another brew house, Spöckmeier am Marienplatz, that served the same things only more quickly.  After sampling Hacker-Schorr, a nice sausage dish and some German apple cake, we made our way home.  Big day really... we walked to the city centre and back twice and were thoroughly played out when it came time to hit the pillow.