Day 46 - Septemberfest in Munich

After a decent night’s sleep, Jackie got ready whilst I caught up with my blog. It was just after 10am, when we actually got out on the streets of Munich.

As I previously mentioned our hotel is situated in salubrious surroundings. It was referred to on Booking.com as the red light district of Munich, but to us you can’t ignore the fact that young North African and Middle Eastern males are hanging around in groups outside every single shop, which are mainly barbershops & fast food joints. It would be intimidating for lone females, particularly when you add limbless beggars into the equation.

We stopped at a Coffee Fellows for a skinny latte & a bagel each. This was a mistake, because we were now full & bloated. We then commenced my walking tour of the Old Town of Munich. We entered the Old Town at Karlsplatz, walked down Neuhauser Street & popped into St Michael’s Church. We continued to Frauenkirche, the Church of our Lady, then located Marienplatz, the main square of Munich Old Town, with it’s gothic Town Hall, which was pretty impressive.

We then popped into Munich’s oldest church, Alter Peter, then headed to Viktualienmarkt, a food market since 1807, selling a mouthwatering array of fine foods. It was too early to eat anything else, so we headed north to the Residence, an inner-city palace residence of Bavarian kings & rulers, now an art museum. On the roundabout in front of it was a beach, complete with sand and deck chairs.

Behind the Residence, we walked through the Hofgarten , then headed out to Englischer Garten (English Garden). It was a big open park, complete with a naked man ensuring that everyone saw him. We walked a mile or so to the Chinesischer Turm (Chinese Tower) where we had a traditional litre stein of lager in the sunny beer park. The barman was an Englishman from Tunbridge Wells, who has lived in Munich for the last 2 years.

Afterwards we took a stroll through Maximiliansanlagen park alongside the Isar river to the Maximilianeum, a palatial state parliament building. We then stopped at a traditional Bavarian bar, just outside the Old Town, for a pint of ‘normal’ German lager followed by an Oktoberfest beer.

Suitably refreshed, we walked back through the Old Town to our hotel to rest our aching feet. Later that evening after researching TripAdvisor we walked over another mile and a half to a recommended Chinese restaurant called Man Fat. We had a very delicious duck in pancakes with hoisin sauce & crispy chicken with fried noodles & peanut sauce. It was definitely worth the walk there & back.

Bayern Munich thrashed Schalke 8-0 this evening, but sadly no fans were allowed in the stadium.

Song of the Day : In Munchen steht ein Hofbrauhaus by Bayernkapelle.Read more