Saturday morning we slept in and slowly loaded all our things into the car - I snapped one last picture of the clouds rolling over the Alps before we headed away from Garmisch and toward the big city of Munich.
Another quick stop that we made on the way out of the city? The honey vending machine, of course! That's right, there was a small vending machine right outside the gates of the resort and one of the items it vended was honey! My younger sister bought a small jar and I couldn't resist snapping some pictures. What a novel thing - a honey vending machine!
We arrived in Munich shortly after lunch and checked into our hotel; the Hotel Schlicker - which has been located in one form or another in downtown Munich since 1544. The rooms are neat, tidy and nicely furnished and the location cannot be beat - they are mere steps from the Marienplatz; the central downtown plaza of Munich. The plaza contains City Hall and the Glockenspiel, a fancy clock tower that plays at select hours with music and marionettes that circle the clock tower for almost ten minutes!
We took two separate elevators to the top of City Hall for a bird's eye view of Munich and while the views were lovely, we encountered some very pushy people and so that was less than pleasant.
We had lunch at Ratskellar Munich; a restaurant located in the heart of the Marienplatz that has seating for over 1,000 spread across 15 rooms! If you can't find a seat here, they are doing some serious business! The food was excellent and the whole layout and styling of the restaurant was a lot to take in and check out - we had excellent service and I thoroughly enjoyed the potato soup! That's one thing I can say for the Germans - they love their potatoes and y'all know I love a potato too!
We walked a little bit through the city to a church called the Frauenkirche and took in some of the sights of Munich but the city itself was very crowded and there was also a protest going on - I'm not sure what it was about but there were flags with the Star of David and mentions of Islam from the speakers. Either way, the very crowded city a was lot to take - so we went to the room for a little while and then decided to check out the Viktualienmarket!
The market - which translates to Victual Market - sells wine, beer, cheese, fresh produce, flowers, bread and pastries and even a few souvenirs. The flowers were stunning and some of them were downright odd looking, so you know I couldn't resist snapping pictures of them! There was a beer festival tent and raucous, traditional German much was playing - Oktoberfest was a week away from starting and the mood was jolly!
After all was said and done and we'd perused the stalls, my sister, her BF and I found a little chocolate shop and got ourselves some gourmet hot chocolate and watched the world go by a bit. For our final meal in Munich - we ate at.... McDonald's! Hahahaha! Lindsey's BF swears that McDonald's food tastes different (better) in foreign countries than in the USA. It was good - but it was still McDonald's, ha-ha!
We were up at 8 AM the next morning, had our continental breakfast and headed to the airport. Dropping off the rental car (mietwagen in German) was easy peasy but when we arrived at the United counter to check-in - the line backed away from the counter and wound around the open space. We waited in line for almost three hours (the full three hours we'd allotted ourselves) to check in, raced through security and arrived at our gate mid-boarding and walked onto the plane. Needless to say - my nerves were shot but I was thrilled to be heading home!
Germany was such a wonderful experience and I am so blessed to have been able to experience the Southern portion of the country and the wonders of Bavaria. It will truly go down as a trip of a lifetime and I will treasure the memories we made throughout the week! If you ever get the chance to travel to Bavaria - definitely do it! You won't regret it!
Where we went Today
Hotel Schlicker - https://hotel-schlicker.de/?lang=en
Marienplatz - https://www.munich.travel/en/pois/urban-districts/marienplatz#/
Ratskellar - https://www.ratskeller.com/files/english/restaurant-ratskeller.html
The Munich Cathedral - https://www.muenchner-dom.de/
Viktualienmarket - https://stadt.muenchen.de/infos/viktualienmarkt
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