Germany, Austria & Italy: Part 2

Welcome back for part 2 of our incredible journey abroad! It's been nearly one year now since we've visited so my memory will be a bit hazy, but I'll do my very best! Without further ado, let's dive into day 3!


Before heading off to slumber land that Friday evening, we got in contact with a friend of C's that coincidentally lived in Munich. I had asked C before the trip to drop a bell to his friend to see if he'd be interested in meeting up, saying hi, all of that jazz. Well, the days went by and no word. The trip came 'round and we were in Munich and suddenly, "Hey, let me contact my friend D to see what he's up to Saturday!" Cue eye roll.

Well as it happens, D apparently didn't have anything too pressing to attend to so after much back and forth, he drove to our hotel (out in the country) and volunteered to guide us around Munich. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm very, very appreciative that D was able to drive us around Munich and whatnot, but I'll be so darn happy to never ride as a passenger with him again. It's not that he was a bad driver, far from it, but I'm not used to careening helter-skelter down a lawless Autobahn with the scenery bleeding in to blotchy colours out the window. Sure, some places you need to abide by speed limits, but there are many stretches that you can go five times the speed of sound if you want to.

When we eventually (read: within seconds) arrived in to Munich, we did the tourist song and dance of parking in car parks and walking in circles. Then parking in more car parks and walking in more circles. We visited an amazing geek store that D apparently knew very well, walked through a very crowded market and got lunch.

Really curious what a German KFC serves.

These were pretty common. I don't think there were as many people smoking as, say, the UK, but it was still common.

Before we got lunch, however, we went visited the local palace to walk around.

The back-side of the palace. Architecturally speaking, I found the outside rather boring.

Nymphenburg Palace was a summer residence for the former rulers of Bavaria, the House of Wittelsbach. The palace grounds were opened to the public back in 1792 and today the palace is one of the area favourites for both tourists and residents alike. Audio tours are available for a nominal €2.50 per person, however, we opted to walk around freely this time. Perhaps in the future we'll take the audio tour as I do believe I'll be visiting Munich again, hopefully sooner rather than later.

However they certainly loved their Greek statuary.

Inside the palace.

This particular room had nothing but female portraits. I don't know why.

It's a shame really that throughout the majority of the day it was raining, so we couldn't fully enjoy the gardens or walk around the park portion of the grounds, but the inside of the house was very beautiful and was bestowed with thousands of glorious paintings and sculptures, plus beautiful bespoke furniture and lovingly preserved and restored linens, mirrors and other small additions.

After our tour of Schloss Nymphenburg, we drove to the city centre and parked. One of our first stops was the Item Shop, a great place to find books, manga, comics and toys for every geek and nerd alive. We have a shop called Forbidden Planet much like the Item Shop, but I enjoyed how nicely laid out the shop was. We bought far too many geek items in there. 

After touring the geek shop we began walking around the city, stopping to take photos and listen to our "tour guide", D. We went through the famous Hofbräuhaus and walked through, taking a moment to listen to the live band play Bavarian music. It was standing room only as the restaurant was packed, but it was fun walking through and seeing how beautiful it was inside.

Totally diggin' that ceiling.

Outside after the rain.

Eventually we found ourselves in the market square and came across some amazingly delectable shops. We found one dedicated solely to bees and honey, so we went in. We found every concoction known to mankind that includes honey, so we bought a few things for the road. I personally bought honey rum and honey wine (mead) and both were absolutely amazing. 

That there is a whole lotta tasty meat.

This particular shop had many interconnected rooms from coffee and chocolates to meats and cheeses. It was pretty busy inside so we didn't stay long. It was then that we decided we may be slightly hungry.

I give you Leberkäse! It translates literally to liver-cheese. It's also known as Fleischkäse outside of Bavaria (and when it lacks liver) and that literally translates to loaf cheese. Let me tell you, it was delicious. There was a small dab of sweet Bavarian mustard on the bun and I loved every second. I've since found recipes to make my own plus a deli in Windsor that makes it themselves that I occasionally order from. Apparently, when on a bun such as this it's called Leberkäsesemmel.

Could you imagine the chaos that would ensue if all those had different times?

The market had so many wonders it was impossible to look everywhere and see everything. The gingerbread hearts you see above were everywhere. There were dozens of stalls selling gingerbread "ornament" cookies-had I liked gingerbread I would have bought some! From what I can gather, these hearts are called Lebkuchenherzen. 

Above we have the neo-gothic New Town Hall where the bulk of the local government does business. Pretty impressive architecture, eh?

It was around here that we got to experience the Hare Krishna parade. I tried researching who or what they are, but it's a big confusing so if you're interested in knowing more, check this out.

Finally we ended out our time in the city centre with dinner. We feasted at this lovely little restaurant called Wirtshaus Rechthaler Hof.  

The picture really doesn't do it justice because this was very delicious.

After dinner we re-visited Olympiapark and browsed the BMW museum and showroom. 

I think I'd be right at home in this little blue one. 

While in Olympiapark we also strolled through the residence quarters of the nearby school. 

Very close by were other apartments that really reminded me of either a dream or just a strong feeling of deja vu. 

I've been here before in my dreams. 

Deja vu is always such a strange feeling, isn't it?

All in all it was a very packed and eventful day and we both had a blast. D drove us back to our hotel (at mach stupid no less) and we eventually packed up again to hit the road the following morning. I would have loved staying at the Hotel Ampervilla a few nights longer as the area was very beautiful and I'm sure C would have loved spending more time in Munich. It'll have to be an adventure for another day as we head off to Austria next!




Thanks for reading and stay tuned - the next addition will be a bit back-asswards. I will absolutely finish the Germany, Austria & Italy series (the next day we travel to Seefeld, Austria!) but I want to cover something a bit more fresh - our recent trip to London! 

See you soon!