We departed from the hotel to catch a Vaporetto back to Tronchetto. Elowen and I almost missed the group leaving Venice. They had just started walking away as Elowen and I came down the stairs. Jason stalled to tell us where to go. We were able to catch up before they boarded the Vaporetto. Back at Tronchetto, we boarded the bus for the ride towards Munich. After a few hours we stopped for a group lunch of salad and pizza at Egna. And Elowen met another cat friend.
After a few more hours on the bus we arrived in Munich. We settled into our hotel, Blauer Block, enjoyed an orientation walk through the city to a group dinner at a beer hall, Augustiner Stammhaus. Dinner started with soup and pretzels, followed by half of a chicken and potato salad accompanied by beer and followed by ice cream.
Day 8 - Munich
After breakfast, we met our local guide, Grit. She arrived wearing a traditional dirndl. I have an appreciation for quality sewing and greatly admired it. (It was so hard for me to not buy a dirndl in Munich. Only envisioning its lonely life in my closet, prevented this potential folly.) Grit took us to see the Jewish Synagogue and memorial and described how the bottom half represents the wailing wall and the top half has triangles representing the Star of David. Grit led us to Marienplaz "Mary's Square" at the crossroads of the Salt Road. We saw the new town hall that looks very old and the older town hall.
We saw St. Peter's Church built in 1368 which replaced the one built in 1158, before continuing on to the market, Viktualienmarkt, to see the traditional May pole representing all the vendors. Grit told us that villages with smaller May poles sometimes get stolen and ransomed back to the town. She explained that chestnut trees are planted at beer gardens because they keep the beer cool, provide shade and the roots are shallow so don't interfere with the beer cellars. We were introduced to Radlers (1/2 beer 1/2 lemonade) supposedly produced for bicyclists. Grit talked about nationalism and the history of how Hitler gained power and tested many of his strategies in Munich. Germans now avoid flying flags and all school children visit concentration camps while in High School. After Grit finished her tour. We told her, "Auf Wiedersehen."
Tip:Watch for bicyclists, they expect pedestrians to stay out of the bike lanes. If you don't stay clear it is at your peril. I experienced the truth of this warning with a close call by not paying enough attention to the multiple crossing lanes at a major intersection.
Residenz
We had the rest of the day to explore. We decide to try out the Thai restaurant near our hotel, Yum2take. Next we headed to the Residenz. Later, we found a brass band in the park and various street performers including one that appeared to be a headless accordion player.
"Things are not at all what they seem to be: oh no, not at all" - Kate DiCamillo, Flora and Ulysses
We returned to Marienplaz to watch the Glockenspiel. It plays daily at 11 am and at 12 pm, and from March to October additionally at 5 pm. It was impressive animated clockwork!
We decided that the best way to finish our day was to find a laundromat. While at the laundromat, the kids got hungry so Elowen and I went in search of hamburgers for them. Jason and I waited to eat so we could return to Viktualienmarkt for a traditional meal of sausages, potato salad and a Radler. The dinner was worth the wait and we were able to strike up a brief conversation with some friendly locals sharing our table.
Tip: The fresh fruits and vegetables at the markets and produce stands in Europe are amazing. They make an excellent snack or addition to a picnic.