The Scroop's European Holiday: Day 20 Munich:

What a day we have had today. It started when we woke up and looked out the window. The sky was clear blue and the forecast is for 20ºC. We started by catching the train and getting off one stop short of the central station. We decided to walk from this stop into the Marienplatz which was about a 2km walk. Munich looks completely different with the sun out. We see a cafe on a street corner just before we get to the Marienplatz and it looked pretty good with all the chairs outside in the sun. We stopped and had some morning tea. I had this apple strudel that was by far the best I’d ever had and the coffee was excellent. It was just nice to sit outside and soak up some sunshine before we continued on our way. We get to the Marienplatz and wander around for a while before finding ourselves a little further on in the Viktualienmarkt. This is a food market with little food huts and beer gardens, a fantastic little joint. The kids grab a snack and we keep going for our next destination, the Hofbräuhaus. This is a very famous beer hall and one of Munich’s oldest dating back to 1589. This is also the beer hall that Hitler used to hold a lot of his meetings including the meeting where he outlined his 25 point program of ideas which were to become the basis of the Nazi Party so this was a must for us and, they serve BEER! We head straight out to the beer garden and find a couple of empty seats coincidently on a table next to an Australian couple in their 50’s from Sydney. We get to talking and by chance they are doing a similar holiday route to us but in reverse. They have already done Switzerland including Zermatt and St Moritz and the Glacier Express. They give us the low down and a couple of tips and we chat for a little longer. After a while they leave so we decide to head inside the hall because there is a lot more atmosphere inside. I’ve heard a fair bit about the famous Bavarian pork knuckle so I convince Kris we have to give it a crack and I tell you what, it was tasty! We end up spending most of the arvo there before making our way back to the underground and a train ride home. Now, as I’m writing this, the kids are chucking bombies in the bath and Kristine is lying in bed reading her book.........with her eyes shut.........and her mouth open. I think the wine has taken its toll!!