Goodbye Kaiserlautern. Hello Munich!
We headed off to Munich by train. A very easy and scenic ride (once we figured out where our seats were). Once in the city we settled into the Deutsch Eiche Hotel which is a really cool hotel where Freddie Mercury used to hang out. He liked to have the classic German Schweinshaxen (ham knuckle), but for breakfast not dinner!
I can’t say enough about the hotel, staff, and location. It is in the perfect spot near the center of the city, is dedicated to social justice issues, and meets folks with complimentary champagne on the roof terrace!
While in Munich we could not help but start with beer and pretzles at the Hofbräuhaus. Sarah and I have always loved Munich and told stories to Tommy about the most famous bar in the world (no offense to Speedwell!). While drinking giant beers Tommy made sure to make references to Chevy Chase and European Vacation (especially when the town bells rang).
Tommy and I also took 3/4 of a day to visit the Deutsches Museum. This is one of the biggest science and engineering museums in the world. As someone who loves Planes, Trains, Boats, Tractors, and Music, this was one of the coolest places I have been. It may be smaller, but it rivals the Smithsonian in terms of the sciences. And, it lets you get up close and personal with the aircraft and other exhibits. There was even a Moog synthesizer! Once again Tommy demonstrated his love of learning as he read every post and spent a lot of time really getting to know all the exhibits. Our brains were saturated by the time we got home.
Munich is such a good city for walking and exploring and all three of us put on some miles. We regularly walked down to the food market in the center of town. Known as the Viktualienmarkt, this is a great place to grab coffee and a pastry in the morning, a snack in the afternoon, and one night we even went to a little place that had enclosed seating and we had sausages, beer, and of course some more schnitzel. I am pretty sure Tommy and I are going to turn into schnitzel and beers!
Bavaria really is a wonderful part of Germany and we are discussing coming back in March to celebrate my birthday! But, first we are heading into the German Alps to see some castles!!
