Sunday 22 June to Tuesday 24 June 2014
Our last major destination on this trip - I write this in our hotel in Frankfurt after leaving Munchen this afternoon, as we catch a plane in the morning to commence our trip home (insert sad face here)
Munchen is much like the other German cities we have seen. Clearly newer than the other European cities although this one has an older feel about it, mainly because it was reconstructed to look much like it did before it was bombed. Having said that, some of the churches appear to have also largely escaped the bombing, as was the case in the other German cities.
Munchen is regarded as the city in which the Nazis gained power and Hitler spent a lot of time there.
We didn't arrive until late afternoon on Sunday, and as we discovered with the other German and Austrian cities, nothing is open on a Sunday except for the street stalls and cafes. Consequently we just walked around and looked at buildings although Gloria did some window shopping. The street we were in was clearly going to be busy tomorrow because it seemed that all the major retail chains had stores there. And so it came to pass.......
The next day, after some retail therapy was taken, we headed in the direction of the Hofbrauhaus (one of the beer halls) and we were treated to an episode of Keystone Cops, German style. We could hear sirens wailing and they sounded as if they were coming down our street. Soon enough a police car emerged from the traffic and, at the corner we were standing on, turned left on two wheels, swerving at the same time. We were sure it would roll, but somehow it didn't. We were treated to the same spectacle twice more - once from the opposite direction and once from the same direction as the original car. The 4th car didn't have to turn, it just went through the intersection flat out. All 4 cars were within 90 seconds from first to last and whatever the problem was, it was urgent. The driver training looked a little suspect to us.
When we arrived at the beer hall, we spied the Hard Rock Cafe opposite and decided a coffee to start would be a good idea. That turned into an American hamburger lunch, something we had not had before. It wasn't too bad either, with a rather interesting tomato sauce served on the side. It had chilli and something else infused in it and was quite tasty.
The beer hall was tackled next, comp!ete with the ompah Bavarian band. The noise drove us out into the beer garden where WE had a beer each. Gloria didn't drink much of hers so Grumps volunteered to finish it off for her. The walk back to the hotel took a lot longer and covered more distance than it took us this morning!!
On the issue of hotels, this one was an unexpected surprise. It had a kitchenette. In fact, it was substantially superior to the apartment in Krakow and it even had a dishwasher !!!
No washing machine or dryer though, but the kitchenette was a huge surprise. We couldn't buy groceries on Sunday, so we settled for a German meal of sausages, sauerkraut and a little bit of salad. Not going out for a meal last night was strangely gratifying and ridiculously cheaper.
We had a quick look around Frankfurt after checking into our hotel. It seems a very modern and bustling city with quite a few (lots actually) immigrants, as was the case with Munich. Unfortunately, there is a lot of rubbish blowing around the streets which really makes the place seem untidy.
The holiday is finished, it's time to come home. Bye Europe.
