There is always time for culture and beer

Starting later today as we are expecting to be out on the town for New Year's Eve, breakfast was as usual in the B&B.

After crossing town Katie and I made our way into the impressive Cuvilliés-Theatre for the matinee festive performance.

Before the concert even started we were amazed by the beauty of the
theatre.

In this case, we selected pricier tickets and we got a semi-private booth up in the lofty heights of the theatre.

The concert was amazing and we followed the music along with the program handed to us on entry, or we thought we did.

It was when we went to the cloakroom to collect our coats that we were informed that we had only seen part one of two parts, we were having an intermission!
A little embarrassed we stopped for a drink and then headed back to our seats. In all, the concert went for a little over two hours.

Here is a couple of snippets from the concert.

After the concert, we walked through Hoff Garden and visited the war memorial, a fairly uncommon sight in German towns.

From here it was a short walk to the edge of English Garden to see Eisbachwelle where the locals can get their surfing fix. It is here that the river reappears after transversing under the city. engineering methods have created a surflike wave and locals queue in all weather to have a chance of surfing.

 The afternoon was spent having a little lunch and dropping in on Frauenkirche.

After a few hours resting in our B&B, we were off again to Augustiner-Keller a beer hall famous for its outdoor garden and Bavarian dishes.  I was not expecting much of a meal but thankfully both Katie and I were pleasantly surprised, it was much better than expected.
We got to the hall around 6:30pm and started our meal, along with a beer each. By 7pm it had started to fill and by 7:30 all tables were seated, by now also the band had started playing, mostly English tracks with some Bavarian accordion between.

And a snippet from the beer hall.

Around 9:30 we were feeling uncomfortably hot and as we had finished our meal decided to depart and return to the B&B for some R&R before the fireworks spectacular in MarienPlatz at midnight.

Happy 2018 to all from Katie and Shannon

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Let it snow

This morning we were welcomed to our first breakfast at Pension Lindener.  Thankfully it was what I expected, German.
Of course, it had the standard B&B items like a selection of cereal along with tea and coffee, but as I have found on previous trips there is always some items I wouldn't expect in the European bed and breakfast.  These include, cold cheese omelette, a variety of cheese and baked loaf cakes dusted with icing and sliced.

I do find it strange that someone would

like a sweet cake for breakfast.

For the morning we didn't have any particular activity scheduled, over the years I have learnt to allow time for wondering and discovery.

Katie and I decided to get out and explore the inner city of Munich on foot, with our first stop at the Isar Gate, one of the three remaining gothic gates.

It was just after this we received a very welcome dusting of snow as we passed through the alleys and laneways,

Heading back toward the centre of town we passed by Hofbräuhaus one of the largest beer halls in town. Initially, I thought it would be closed so was pleasantly surprised the door pushed open. 

Katie and I entered the massive complex comprising of three floors - this place is huge. At this time of the morning, there were a couple of men reading the paper and having a beer. With so few in the hall at this hour, we were able to explore unhindered.

Next stop was to return to Viktualienmarkt, and see it in the daylight, it is an impressive market for all types of food. You name it it's here.

Finally, before heading out of the city centre, we checked out St. Peter's Church.

Munich has a great underground service and we jumped on a train to take us out to Olympiaturm an impressive tower in the Olympic Park of 1972 with a revolving restaurant.

By now the snow had changed to rain but didn't in any way dampen our spirits.

Lunch was started with a soup each and then Katie had a main of Veal Meatballs and I had a Weiner schnitzel with potato salad.

After dining at such heights, we descended to BMW Welt (world), where we were both impressed by Mini, Rolls Royce and BMW.

Then it was time to get back on the U Bahn (underground) and return to city centre.

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Making magical memories

Up up and away. I'm writing this part whilst waiting for our plane to depart Heathrow airport.

This morning we had a fond farewell to our hosts. It was such an honour to participate in their family Christmas traditions over the last week.

There are just a few differences I have noticed that I would
like to mention. Christmas Bon Bon's are

called Christmas Crackers. These are also cracked all at once whilst each person is crossing arms and making a circle around the table.

Christmas morning presents are handed out and opened one by one, where with my family we hand them out and collect a pile each and then open in a bulk lot.

We sampled Brandy Butter for the first time, a mixture of butter, sugar and brandy. This is put on top of plum pudding along with whipped cream and vanilla custard.

Breakfast on Christmas morning consisted of bacon sandwiches and Bux Fiz. The bacon was sliced much thinner, almost shaved, then (as there was so much to be cooked) placed in the oven where it was cooked and become crispy. Jamie performed this task and then each was left to own to build each sandwich.  Bux Fiz is a commercially produced and bottled mix of champagne and orange juice. Very nice.

We have now landed at Munich, passed customs and collected baggage. It is now that Katie and I are on the train to Munich city centre, a 45-minute journey.

As the plane came into the airport, we were greeted with blue skies and a warming sun that was illuminating the snow-covered fields and villages. Now we are passing through these fields on a new and modern electric train. There are many conversations around, few in English many in German and others, well who knows.

W have now returned to our accommodation, but we have done much since the last photo and paragraph.  Katie and I disembarked the train at Marienplatz, the centre square of Munich and after a short walk over the icy streets found our Pension (German for B&B).  It is very clean, we have our own bathroom, TV with all German-speaking channels and good WiFi.

As we were in awe of Munich's nighttime beauty whilst walking to our accommodation we immediately dropped the bags after check-in and were out in to the icy streets to explore. The inner city is so pretty at night with may Christmas lights in place.

 After walking around for about 1 1/2 hours we went to our pre-booked dinner at Donisl.  This family-friendly beer hall was lovely and provided Katie and I some relaxation and a good chance to sample some Barvarian delicacies.

And now after a brief walk around after dinner we are back at our pension. I'm typing my memories of the day and wondering what will come tomorrow. 

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