Munich

Admittedly, I've been slacking with my blog posts, so now I will make it up with an impressive entry on Munich. Well, I'm not sure that the entry will be that impressive, but Michael and I were sure impressed with the city.

We arrived Friday night with enough time to visit the Hofbräuhaus with my parents before they flew home Saturday morning. We had some schnitzel, sausage, strudel and not to mention, beer, before calling it a night.

On Saturday, we spent some time leisurely exploring the city before joining up with a free walking tour. We decided if the tour was lame, we could always leave. Turns out the tour was far from lame, in fact, we'd both consider it the highlight of our trip. Our guide, Dominik, was extremely animated but also down to earth. He explained the history, culture and great events that took place in Munich while walking past the exact buildings where these historical events took place. Never once during our three-hour tour were we bored or uninterested.

Our tour started at Marienplatz in front of the new city hall (at left), not to be confused with the old city hall (below).

The new city hall is just 100 years old, but it was built in a gothic style to give the impression that it's much older than it really is. We continued to walk through history starting with the Church of Our Lady whose two towers were spared, although damaged, during WWII because they were used as navigational devices (in lieu of a GPS). We continued walking through old and new parts of the city, including the ritzy Maximilianstrasse with designer shops, luxury hotels and fancy cars lining the street. We decided to pass up the 15 Euro shot of espresso.

On Sunday, we finally had a sunny day! We took full advantage by being outside nearly all day. We started by walking to Schloss Nymphenburg, which was the main summer residence of Bavaria rulers dating back to 1675.

We then made our way to Olympic Park, home of the 1972 games, before enjoying the fall colors at the hugely impressive English Garden.

Of course, no trip to Munich is complete without drinking a couple beers. We ended our stay in Munich with a visit to the Augustiner Bräuhaus. They've been around since 1328; I think it's safe to say they've perfected their art.