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| First Trip to Munich |
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Friday, Kyle took a day off before he starts his real work
schedule so that we could take a day trip to Munich
(Munchen in German). The day started of
with a drive on the autobahn, which was a trip in itself. This was the first time either of us had been
on the autobahn for any length of time, and it was kind of nuts. Luckily, Kyle did the driving. In and around busy areas there ARE
speed limits, but once we got out of Stuttgart the speed limits were gone
(except for this HUGE, really annoying construction project.) It was a gorgeous drive through pine covered
mountains and rolling green farmland.
We even saw the Alps on the horizon as we neared Munich. Kyle
maintained a speed of about 85-90 mph on the no speed limit stretches, and we
still were passed many times as if we were Ma and Pa out for a Sunday
drive. The cars flew past so fast it was
really startling. It took a while for me
to stop gasping as cars flew by, scaring the crap out of me. Don’t get me wrong, I love driving fast, but
this was pretty unreal. (We were very
pleased at the smooth, unshaking, and quiet ride of the new Jetta
:-)
The first thing we did once we got to Munich
was of course, have some sausage and beer.
I read about a really fabulous open air market, so we headed in that
direction for lunch. There were vendors
selling great looking produce, meat, cheese, flowers, wine, etc. After checking out the market, we wanted to
see the main attractions in Munich
since it was our first of hopefully many trips there. We did a self-guided walking tour to see all
of the sights. We took our time
strolling through the streets and plazas, stopping at outdoor cafes and
biergartens on the way.
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| Some dried chilis at the Viktualienmarkt (famous Munich market) |
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| Outdoor biergarten at the Viktualienmarkt |
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The Neues Rathaus at the Marienplatz and Lori inside the Courtyard |
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| Alter Peter |
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| Church of Our Lady ("onion domes" are the city's trademark) |
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| Germany's most famous beer hall: the Hofbräuhaus |
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| Inside the Hofbräuhaus |
Our favorite part of the day was walking through the English
Garden, which is much more than a
garden. It’s more like New
York’s Central Park with
walking and biking paths, ponds, streams, and people-watching galore. It was a beautiful 85 degree day in the
middle of a string of cold, rainy days, so everyone was out with their
friends. There were people playing
soccer, tanning, riding bikes, playing guitars, and swimming in the
stream. There’s a part of a river that
runs through the park where there is always a big wave because of the
currents. Surfers line up there to take
their turn riding the wave in the middle of a land-locked city.
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| Surfing in Munich at the English Gardens |
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| Chinese Pagoda--Great Stopping Point for Rehreshments |
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| Dog Playing Fetch into the River |
We’re definitely going to need to go back to Munich
many times to be able to see everything that we want to see. Saturday for our 5th Wedding Anniversary
we headed to Triberg and the Black Forest. Sunday we’re heading back to Stuttgart
for the last day of the Spring Fest.
More pics and stories on those trips are coming soon!
