Family Visit To Munich, Day 1

After a busy day in Köln, we woke up early the next morning, walked to the Köln train station, and caught the 4 ½ hour, ICE, high speed train to Munich. Once at the Munich train station, we got directions to the K&K hotel from the information booth, and headed on our way. The hotel was only a few stops by S-Bahn or U-Bahn, and we found it no problem. It was nice not lugging all of our suitcases around the city again! After we checked in and dropped our luggage off in our rooms, we quickly jumped back on the U-Bahn towards the center of the city and the Marienplatz. It was already getting very late, but we quickly swung through Marienplatz, where we saw the Neues Rathaus, the Altes Rathaus, the Frauenkirche, the Mariensäule, the Talbruck Gate Tower, and the Glockenspiel. A few minutes later, we were able to find our way to the famous Hofbräuhaus. We walked through the downstairs portion of the restaurant, where a Bavarian-dressed Oompah band had already begun to play the night’s live music. Unfortunately, the lower level was too crowded, and there were not four seats available. So, we went upstairs to the other half of the brew house, where we found a much quieter scene, a great atmosphere, and a nice table. Mom and Rachel braved the crowd to go downstairs and get us a couple huge pretzels from the pretzel stand, and we were even treated with English menus. The very first thing we ordered was the famous beer, served in huge, glass, one-liter mugs. After the 0.2 liter Kölsch served in Köln, I think my dad was finally rewarded with a beer bigger than he could ever imagine! Of course, we made sure to drink quickly so that the beer wouldn’t get warm! Our food arrived, and although we were stuck with more sausage, it turned out to be fairly good. My dad and I had some kind of sausage made right in the Hofbräuhaus’ own butcher shop, while Rachel was happy with her turkey and mushrooms on spätzle. My mom’s meatloaf turned out to be pretty funny, however. It was nothing more than a misshaped hotdog! But, the meal had been worth it just for the beer. After dinner, we caught the U-Bahn back to our hotel, where we decided to spend the following day on a castle tour in the Alps.