Full days sightseeing in Munich

1L steins in the Hofbrauhaus
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Our mornings at Christians house in the small town of Gauting, 15 mins from Munich, begin with breakfast with the whole family. We are greeted by a table overflowing with freash rolls, bread and croissants, fresh fruits, yogurt, cheeses, juice, ham and salami and freashly brewed expresso coffee. We have a great time talking about our plans for the day and getting tips on what to see and where to go. On our first morning Justin and I headed off to the local train station after breakfast. The journey into town was only about 15 mins and we emerged from the underground station into Marienplatz and the pole that depicts the official centre of Munich from where all distances are measured. We were just in time to see the noon performace of the Glockenspiel. Justin thought that it was the silliest thing he has ever seen hundreds of paople staring up at! Little model Bavarian dancers and jolsters sping around on top of the clock! We then began our church walk where we keep finding churches to go into and by the end of the street were feeling very holy indeed! There was the Church of our Lady that was full of Gothic art and had domed towers then Saint Michaels Church, the largest Renaissance style church north of the Alpes and full of ornate gold trimmed statues, alter and roof decorations, very full on. Then there was the Baptist church with beautifully painted walls and ceiling and an ornate gold alter. Feeling humble we then went to Saint Peters Church, another huge, high ceilinged church with painted roof panals, alters surrounding the whole church and even skeletons in glass caskets covered in jewels. Unfortunetly as there is no English description unless we do tours of every church we find out little detail but usually they are martyrs of some description!

Enjoying losing fuseball to Christian
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From here we ended our spiritual viewing for the day and wandered through the colourful and bustling Viktualien Markt filled with amazing aromas, fresh flowers, fruit and veg, cheeses and beautiful breads and pastries. Our next stop was the infamous Hofbrauhaus, the most well known beer hall in perhaps the world. It had a great atmosphere with singing, music and very lively chatter. I even managed to drink (eventually) a 1 Litre stein of beer although was very tipsy by the end of it! It was warm and you could easily imagine spending the better part of a day there, we nearly did! But still had more sightseeing to do so left the German folk music and walked through the rain to the Residenze, a massive Bavarian palace and now museum that housed Bavarian rulers from 1385-1918. We saw more ornate velvet and gold rooms and furnishings, silverware and jewels. We are beginning to feel very inadequate about our own countries history and architecture, we are indeed a baby amoungst the world!

drunken singing, music and lively chatter

Headed home to another delcious Bavarian meal from Ingrid and even Dessert made by Christian....a surprise Im sure to anyone who knew Chriastian in Australia!