MUNICH, Germany

Chinese Tower

Steins, locked up in the Hofbrauhaus. Customers can leave their personal steins for use on their next visit.

While sister was here, we planned a little surprise trip down South, if you will. :) J & I had not yet been to Munich, Bavaria or Austria, so we planned a little trip to see the aforementioned. 

In Munchen, or Munich as we Americans know it, it was recommended that we take a bike tour with Mike's Bike Tours. We spent 4 hours exploring the gorgeous city of Munich on bicycles. Seriously in love with back break cruisers. I need one, stat! We biked all about and had lunch mid-tour at the Chinese Biergarten. I had currywurst (one of my favorite things to eat in Germany!) and we tried obazda, a Bavarian specialty, a cheese spread topped with onion rings and usually served with bread or pretzels. I washed all that down with a delicious Radler! The size of those beers are crazy! In the English Garden (basically Munich's Central Park), there were people surfing. The water that flows from the river is pushed underground, feeding all the fountains in the park, and comes out at a certain point in the park, causing it to be pressurized enough for people to catch waves on.

After our bike tour, we walked about and shopped a little in the center of the city, before heading back to the hotel to freshen up a bit before dinner. Where does one have dinner in Munich? A brauhaus, of course. We decided on one of the oldest and best, according to many. Hofbrauhaus Munchen. We might have ordered obazda again, you know, just to make sure it really was good. ;) For dinner, I had the sauerbraten (marinated pot roast) served with a bread dumpling and cranberries and I ordered a side of sauerkraut. I love that stuff! For dessert, we ordered the apple strudel and the Kaiserschmarrn. I don't honestly have a translation for Kaiserschmarrn, other than bread something that was very tasty, served with raisins, sugar and applesauce. (I feel I should mention, there were 4 of us, I just don't post photos of everyone, as I don't want to invade their privacy by posting photos of them all over the internet.)

I like Germany and living here provides some amazing travel and life opportunities, but it wasn't until this trip that I really loved a city in Germany. Munich is definitely one of my favorite cities, yet. 

Stay tuned for the rest of our Munich trip and a couple of late posts from the Riviera and other things I am behind on. ;)