When we arrived in Munich, we took a taxi to our hotel, the Platzl, centrally located. It is, of course, too early to check in, so we drop our bags. The person who checked us in had a warning for us, though. The Marienplatz (central) square would be the location for the FC Bayern (football club Bavaria) team's championship celebration starting at 1pm with the team arriving at 2pm. This is a big deal, almost like winning the super bowl, I would guess. So we decide to avoid the hubbub and walk to Munich's Englischer Garten, kind of like their Central Park. The rain has stopped for the most part, but I don't think we will be seeing any sunshine. It is a pleasant walk through the park; here is a photo I took:
We are starting to get hungry for lunch, and I hear music in the distance (a good old German oom-pah band!). Where there is music, there will be food! I was right; we stumble upon a bier garten. Germans love these: tons of tables set outside for communal eating. A place to buy liter sized beers in giant glass mugs, plus food. We check out the food (pork knuckle seems popular), and get a half chicken, roasted, plus pickled cabbage salad (not cole slaw), and potato salad -- plus beers, or course, but only 1/2 liters. The food is great, and it is a treat to be among the Germans on a typical Sunday afternoon. Rob has a pretzel, too:
After lunch, we return to the city center, just in time to see the team bus arrive:
It is going to be a zoo. The police have so many streets blocked off that I am not even sure we will be able to get back to our hotel, but somehow we manage to dodge the barracades and make it. Later I learn that this the teams 25th German championship; they have won 7 of the past 11 years. Maybe it is not such a big deal after all.
Back at the hotel, we take a rest, then decide to go for a walk to the south. A New York Times article that I had saved described a neighborhood called Glockenbach that would have trendy restaurants and shops. Since it is Sunday, though, all the shops will be closed. No matter, we can still stroll by and look in the windows. We walk through the Viktualienmarkt (open air food market, also closed on Sunday) to get to this neighborhood. It is really charming, and there is a traffic circle with a fountain in the middle that seem really pretty. Even though we are only a few blocks from the touristic area, we seem to be the only tourists walking about the area. As noted above, all the shops are closed, but a few cafes are open today. We continue exploring the area and find ourselves at a bridge crossing the River Isar. Looking down from the bridge, we see all kinds of people walking along the riverbank below and biking along trails. We decide to join them. It is a very pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon out with the locals. After reaching the next bridge up the river (which is flowing very fast, by the way), we decide to make our way back. One final observation: it seems almost everyone is walking a dog, and the dogs are very well behaved off their leashes (and they even understand the German language).
When we return to the traffic circle, we decide to stop at a nice outdoor cafe for a glass of wine. I have to say, this cafe's clientele are some of the best looking people I have ever seen. Rob and I are the oldest people here. Apparently, this is the place to be. We just sit and enjoy the ambience. A young lady sits down at the next table with her dog, who we learn is named Frida, because she has the unibrow of the artist Frida Kahlo. Soup is very popular here, as almost everyone seems to be ordering it.
We walk back to the hotel to drop our bags / camera and head out to dinner. We have decided to eat dinner at the traditional German restaurant near the cathedral where we ate on our first night in Europe (which seems like a long time ago). We order a large salad to share then each have pork and potatoes with blauekraut (braised red cabbage). It is very good, again, then time to turn in.
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