When you see the Tor, you do not go through it -just turn left- to get to our hotel- Motel One-Sendlinger Tor. Unfortunately we went through the opening and wandered around for 30 minutes looking for our hotel.
The hotel was excellent. It was about $60 USD pp (two to a room). It had an excellent breakfast for $10USD pp- well worth the extra cost--see above. The rooms were small but clean. The beds were pretty good. The strange thing was that the TV was on an aquarium channel when we entered- strange, but somehow relaxing.-I guess that was the idea. We took the metro around a bit on day one- but soon discovered that we could walk to everything from this hotel
Too exhausted to wander around and look for a restaurant, we ate at the corner pub. It was called Kennedy's. We had a good dinner and great beer. The place was crowded but the outdoor seating was great.
The salad was terrific, but we should have stayed away from the fried food the first night there- sat a little heavy in the gut. We wandered for a bit after dinner.
We went to Viktualienmarkt to see the Maypole (We were there May 1st- but the festivities were the night before-bummer).
The market was beautiful. We did a little shopping.
Then we went home and crashed.
Day 2
We took the train to Dachau on day 2. We bought the XXL area partner ticket, so 8 could travel for the price of 2 again. You get off the train, buy a bus ticket and head out to Dachau- we thought it might be hard to find the bus, but we just followed the tour groups.
Dachau was a sobering place. We took many photos, but could not smile and pose- which our group is good at. You could feel the ghosts in this place.
Many prisoners ran straight for these ditches as they entered the gates, so they would be killed.
The crematorium was gruesome.
Here is the famous torment sculpture outside the museum.
We left Dachau and returned to Munich with sad hearts.
That afternoon we headed out to Englisher Garden. We took the metro from our hotel to a metro stop closest to the Garden. We couldn't find the garden(it is city blocks huge- but it was hiding). We asked multiple people for directions and they sent us in various directions-we finally found it! we were glad that the walk to the garden was beautiful.
We stopped and had lunch at this street side café. Good food, good wine!
We saw men playing giant chess.
Walked by stunning ponds.
We made it to the Chinese Pagoda Beer Garden inside the Englisher Garden.
We got the giant pretzel and beer- actually Kelley got the pretzel and we all shared it- Glad she got it!
The Oopah band playing in the Pagoda kept taking beer breaks- the longer they played the drunker they got- until they were slurring their notes- it was amusing!
Day 3
We decided to take the walking tour (using Rick Steve's guide). It was great.
Highlights of this walk were the Marienplatz Glockenspiel which goes off at 11, noon and 5pm. Read all about the stories that the glockenspiel show represents before you see it in action- it will mean so much more to you!
Then we climbed to the top of St Peter's tower. It was NARROW- and rickety- not to the point of being unsafe- but much of it was wooden stairs!
The view from the top was amazing- but as you can see we were cold- even though it was May!
We ate lunch at a small pub- that was just okay-hence no pictures!
Next stop was The Residenz Palace in the heart of Munich. We bought our tickets- about 16USD and then paid extra to see the crown jewel room- so about 20USD
The Palace had cool things, like this fountain, that back in the day squirted wine from its boobs.
But on a more serious note- this palace had amazing things to see.
And since Gwen climbed St.Peter's tower with me that morning- I went to see her crown jewels in the afternoon- (famous quote from Gwen.. "I climbed your friggin tower this morning, Jackie- so dammit- you are going to pay the extra money to see my crown jewels" LOLOLOL
That evening we dined at a vegetarian place around the corner from our hotel. The food was excellent, but the hostess was exceedingly snobby- like> I know you aren't vegetarians and you are not cool enough to dine in this place- lol. The name of the place is below.
Day 4
We wandered around the streets and shopped. A few of us braved the weather and took tram #17 from the Sendlinger Tor stop, out to Nymphenburg Palace.
The palace was beautiful- even in the rain.
Kelley requested that we hold hands and fart- actually she said part- but what we heard was way funnier, as is the sign behind Deedee and Val which reads "ausfahrt"- love German!
After the stroll around the palace grounds (free- we didn't pay to go in) we stopped at a small Greek place for some of the worst wine on the planet. It was fizzy. We should have written down the German word for fizzy so we wouldn't make that mistake again.
That evening we went into Old Town again and tried to get a seat at Hoffbrau Haus- the famous beer hall. But after trying to find a seat for 30 minutes we took some pictures and left. The place was beautiful inside- frescoes all over the place.
We ended up eating in a tavern across the street- this is where I had pig knuckle- which I loved- a little tough but tasty!
The evening was beautiful.
So we wandered around and saw some the awesome street performers. They could play almost any song using all kinds of instruments and non- instruments!
Our stay in Munich was over- I was sad that Fraukenkirche was all "scaffolded" up. I guess this is just another reason to return to this wonderful walking town!
If you want me to help you plan travel - contact me at jackiebarnes217@hotmail.com
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