Out and about in the old city of Munchen

Today we had a bit of a sleep in before heading off for Marienplatz to see the Glockenspiel come to life at 11am. It is a very impressive display of mechanical prowess, and was added to the new town hall in 1907. It has two levels of action that come to life one after the other, the top section that recounts a royal wedding and a jousting tournament, and a bottom section that shows a dance that the local coopers did to celebrate the end of the plague. in the jousting tournament, the Bavarian knight knocks the French knight off his horse on the second pass.

After watching the performance we wandered around the old city looking for the open area Victualienmarkt, which was very interesting with a great range of fresh produce on display. We bought some apples, peche plate (peaches), tomatoes and a baguette. We plan to eat in tonight.

I also bought a couple of Christmas decorations that are very Bavarian from a shop close to the market. I forgot to look for ornaments in London, but might look for some on our way back. We stopped for a coffee and an Apfelschnecke for morning tea, and then went in search of Maximilian Straße, which is a street full of designer stores, which are outside of our budget but nonetheless it was nice to window shop.

As we walked back towards our place we wanted to have a close look at Frauenkirche - the tallest church in Munich - it’s twin towers stand at 99 metres. On the way, we wandered through the Munchen Rathaus (Town Hall), and we stopped in a lovely quiet square inside the building for a late lunch at Ratskeller München, where I tried Bratwurst with onions and potatoes, and Ian tried the Schnapsbratwurst, which was small spicy sausages served in between two potato pancakes, mashed potatoes and cabbage, and of course he coupled it with a local beer.

After lunch, we made it to Frauenkirche, but you can’t climb the tower at the moment as repair work is underway. We stopped to get some delicious deli items to have for dinner this evening, as I am a bit tired and it is nice to eat in once in a while.

We still managed to clock up about 8kms of walking today, which isn't too shabby. Museums are all closed on a Monday in Munich, so we didn’t get the opportunity to visit any of them.

Tonight we will start packing in preparation for heading off for Brussels tomorrow.Read more