Munich with the Boys

I've heard Munich is a modernish, clean and fun city and one that I must visit in Germany, so I was excited to go. Although my departure for this 5 hour train ride came only about 5 hours after I arrived in Vallendar after a 6 hour journey through RyanAir from Milan. But I guess it was now or never. It was great because Oscar had his cousin who lived in Munich so we had someone to stay with. A first on this trip for me.

So the train left late, about 8, but it was a great ride down south right next to the Rhine River. It was beautiful to see the sunset along the river and highlight each little castle located on the hills on the way. It was crazy how many small castles there were dotting the hillside of the Rhine, way above all those tiny towns.  I watched till the glare of the night didn't allow me to see out the window anymore. (I also was feeing Bertan and I McDonalds ah! 2nd time in Europe so its ok).

So we got in pretty late and just had a beer with his cousin the first night. This is when I discovered that his cousin has the most ultimate salsa music collection I have ever seen. And it was all on vinyl! He also made me dance with him "salsa". But honestly I couldn't follow anything that he was doing and it didn't look like salsa lol. But it was still great to see somebody had a passion. So the next morning (spotted and awesome blue and orange 69 Porsche) we went out the the New City Hall to see the Glockenspiel. This amazing clock that at a certain time danced and jousted. Although kinda strange now, it was a great idea and I could imagine the crowds back in the day. It was such a nice sunny spring day outside. We went into a great church nearby that had the "Devil's Footprint" which I thought was a great story! We continued to walk around the town (my outfit looked like Sandra Dee lol) and discover small things such as another Juliet statue and chicken on a stick. Us 3 then grabbed some half liters of beer and hit the road. Checking out the places where Hitler used to have his speeches and drinking beer in public in front of a church. We posed with some lion statues that were just powerful. What has Europe done to us?

But it was great being with the two boys! We then wandered into the Hofgarden where a quant band was playing under the pavilion. It was great to hear that music fill the space. The Hofgarden was small and well organized with the State Chancellery at the top/ We saw the tomb of the forgotten soldier, ran about the garden and just enjoyed this sunny sunny day. Then it was off to the English Garden, a more disorganized but more relaxing and popular place. There were thousands of people out! We found a great spot to sit for a while next to the river waiting for Oscar's cousin. It was my time to roll around on the grass as I've always wanted. There was a perfect little bridge and stream and bicycles. Next the English Garden was littered with people finally able to enjoy the weather. Thousands! You would think the way people were dressed we were at the beach. So after some intense people watching we arrived at the Chinese Pavilion  Pagoda. strange..but it was PACKED! so many people having lunch and just chillin! So we got in line for the famous sausage and pints of beer. What a pint! What a lunch! I could feel my hear stopping! although my beer was awesome because it was mixed with lemonade. Then we walked on and discovered another pavilion. They had the largest pretzels in the world here. So we got 2 and half a pint and sat by the lake. It was a great afternoon! I also had a casual leiterhosen sighting, and a small fat pub sighting. awesome.

We  back down through the garden, saw fish on the grill and all the happy people. I also encountered an awkward conversation with Oscar's cousin's gf about her bring pregnant lol. I didn't have much to say about pregnancy since I didn't know much! haha Moving on we came out through the University area which was really cool. They had new and great trendy shops and then past the giant walking man and then eventually to the Triumphal Arch which seemed just like Paris. The main street was lined with beautiful displays of flowers.  Then we saw a gorgeous tree all lit up in lights in front of a bar, but we were falling apart. Soooo tired! I could have fallen asleep walking. So we hit a coffee shop but that didn't seem to help. we did make it to the Lowenbrau brewery though and had some terrible cheese with whole onions phew! Although it was cheap, but I'll never forget Oscar eating a small radish with the largest hunk of cheese I've ever seen.

The next day Oscar's cousin took us on a road trip south of Munich. It was great to be in a car! They were parked to efficiently in the lot, 2 stacked on top of each other! The drive was great but me and the two boys could barely fit in the back seat of the small car. After an hour we arrived in Tegernee, which reminded me of Lake Como. What a serene lake and I watched the ducks swim. We walked around and hiked a nearby hill overlooking it. Then we had some lunch/ice cream and the nearby brewery. It was so hot! After we headed back to Munich. It was so nice of them to take us around. Then we went out to dinner and had a GREAT Kebab plate with the best white rice I've ever had. Then it was off to the spa. Oh the spa. We. were. naked. haha its true! together. It was so hot in our first room, and I felt like I could breathe. The room was dark and wooden and had forest music with birds chirping. It also had great lights on the wall of green that resembled falling rain. great to watch! Bertan was sweating like he was about to die, because of all his toxins he has.  Every room was great. One was SOO hot I thought I was going to die, I kept watching the clock counting down our minutes. Then the steam room was full of naked people, and they love to be wafted with a towel. It makes the steam so much hotter. This guys  kept doing over and over and it was too much! I couldn't breathe when the gust of hot air came my way. We also got to spear honey all over ourselves. weird. The water to cool ourselves which was so cold but I enjoyed dumping in on Bertan's head. We swam in the pool which was fun. I still can't believe I did that naked.. hm...by the end we were so used to the heat is was enjoyable. I remember sitting with 10 naked people in the small wooden room thinking where the hell am I? lol afterwards we I got a crappy grapefruit drink to "hydrate me".

The next day was the BMW factory which was cool! And then touring Olympic Park which was not. It was outdated 1972, and it also was a cloudy rainy day. But the BMW factory was great to see some cars, ride some motorcycles and see some robots.  especially the small italian car. We trained back to Munich and had a great lunch in the market. Mmmm Pork Back, sauerkraut and something mashed..and Coke.

Next was the Deutches Museum which I really wanted to go to. Great aeronautics exhibit and space exhibit. The music one was my favorite along with the atom section. Great find for free I might add! At 5pm when it closed we walked around the outskirts of the English Garden and around a building I just can't remember. Then back down the famous shopping street.

Our last stop was the Hofbrauhaus. The most famous brewery in Munich. We went in kinda early, stalled at Starbucks, but we were too excited. We sat at a great spot in the mall hall, opposite a table obviously full of regulars. All men dressed up in German gear with their own private steins and sign. amazing. We sat next to a nice couple the Oscar talked to the entire time! haha. There was a great band inside.  I had about 2-3 1/2 pints and the boys had 4-5, I wanna say more though.  The boys ordered pork knuckle wow, and I had a sausage plate that I indulged in. I remember having a mouthful of beer, pretzel, sausage, and sauerkraut. I was going to die in heaven.  We all got pretty tipsy and it was a great time! (expect for when that guy tried to hit on me and Bertan went nuts haha). We were some of the last people to go, oscar, the drunkest lol.

The next day, our last day, we headed to the Glockenspiel to watch it dance. Great, but after 5 minutes of cramming my neck up I was ready for it to end. Then danced and jousted and finally the bird chirped to end the party. We trekked through the English Garden one more time with our luggage to see the "surfers riding the river" but no luck. Then it was back to Vallendar! 
Munich was such a pleasant clean city, my favorite in Germany by far.