German Adventures, Day 10 - Munich

On our last day in Germany, we headed north to Munich so we would be able to stay close to the airport for our early flight the next morning. It was POURING down rain as we drove, and we encountered a few difficulties reading the map and finding the hotel - it wasn't as close to the airport as we thought. But, we finally found the hotel, checked in, pulled out our jackets since it was still raining, and headed into city centre to see a few of the sites. First stop was the famous lion statues; you're supposed to rub the shield for good luck. So we all rubbed the shield. :)

Then we hit the Marienplatz, the main square, to see the famous Glockenspiel on the Neues Rathaus (new town hall). We had a little time to kill, so we rode the elevator to the top of the town hall tower. I bet the view would be incredible during nice weather, because it was pretty remarkable even with the overcast and rainy skies. After we made it back to ground level, we walked out into the rain to see the Glockenspiel - we heard the bells ring and watched the dancers twirl and the knights joust on their horses. I remember really enjoying the Glockenspiel back in 2007 but this time, not so much. Maybe it was the fact that we were getting soaked in the blowing rain. It just wasn't quite as impressive.

Finally, we walked over to the Hofbrauhaus, one of the most famous restaurants in Munich, and a meal I had been looking forward to for the entire trip. When I ate there in 2007, the wiener schnitzel was SO GOOD! Again, this time, not so much... I don't understand why they would change something so good. The schnitzel this time was not pork, it was veal, and I was not impressed.

But we sat at the table with a German man - it was his birthday, and he was on his fifth really large beer, but he was quite friendly and tried to converse with us in English as much as possible. He offered to take a photo of us, and then said we had to have the beer in the photo with us, and pushed it into my hand. So, here's the photo with me and a really large beer, with a nose rosy enough to make one think I'd been drinking it!

On the way back to the car, we stopped by what was my favorite church from my 2007 visit - the Theatinerkirche. Back then I didn't get the opportunity to go in because it was Sunday and they were having services. So when we entered this time, I was so pleasantly surprised. Everything was white - all the carvings, the walls, everything. It was gorgeous! The dome was amazing, and the only thing missing was an organ. It was such a lovely way to end our trip.

The next morning we left the hotel before 7:00 to return the rental car and catch our flight back to the States. We had switched our flight to two days earlier than initially planned, so we didn't have seats already assigned. I was worried we'd all end up in middle seats, but somehow we were given seats all together, in bulkhead. It was so much better than expected - lots of legroom. Thank goodness for small blessings!