On the way to and Munich

Day 6 & 7

Our transport from Zurich to Munich had a few hiccups. While looking at the huge departures board at Zurich station, our train information flashed up but with no platform number and ‘Ausfall’ at the end of the information. Failure, loss, breakdown. Not the thing you really want to see. I made my way to the Customer Ticket Office and found a lovely attendant who said that the train didn’t quite make it to Zurich, so we would have to get a train to Winterthur, where we would change platforms and get on the train, coming from Munich, for the return leg. He then walked us down to the required platform to board the said train to Winterthur. Great service! So, train to Winterthur then a flurry of information from Mandy and we were off to Munich. Through the flatlands of Switzerland, Austria then finally Germany with verdant fields that looked incredibly manicured, industrial towns and small villages. We nudged the shore of Lake Constance shrouded in mist, but couldn’t even see the water. The only way we knew which country we were in was via the Telstra Messages informing us that our new service was coming from Austria or Germany.

Arrived in Munich and walked, literally, across the road to our hotel, LeMeridien, part of the Marriott chain. Lovely hotel and even better room; it was enormous with 2 lounge spaces, & 2 bathrooms, spoilt!! We went for a walk around the block, through a very 'African' street and back around to our street & find a lovely cafe/restaurant, Cucine de Nina, a Pizza, Pasta & Bar. Mandy imbibed a few wines as we sat on the footpath then moved inside to have a lovely dinner of Spaghetti Bolognes & pizza (shared). Friendly manager & waitress made us feel very welcome and at home. Walked a couple of steps to get supplies, milk & the usual's, then headed the extra 10 metres to our hotel & up to bed; all before 8pm.

Up early, 6:30am, for a few cups of tea then down for a really lovely breakfast. Out and about around 9:30am and walked to the Karlsplatz, an entry/gateway to one of the major shopping streets in Munich. A nice amble pace through the street with some deviations to see the magnificent Munich Cathedral before reaching the New Town Hall in the northern part of the Marienplatz, a striking building than doesn’t do the term New justice given it was built in 1874.

The building has the Rathaus-Glockenspiel of Munich that dates from 1908, the second construction phase of the Town Hall. Every day at 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. (as well as 5 p.m. in summer) it chimes and re-enacts two stories from the 16th century to the amusement of mass crowds of tourists and locals. It consists of 43 bells and 32 life-sized figures. The Plaza was absolutely packed when we returned to watch the show at 11am, the hordes with mobile phones recording the show, me included.

Prior to this we walked around the corner to discover the Viktualienmarkt, a permanent market open Monday to Saturday. A food market and a square in the center of Munich, it has been held since 1807. From an original farmers' market, the Viklualienmarkt developed to a popular market for gourmets within an area covering 140 stalls & shops with options including meats & sausages, fish, flowers, incredible exotic fruit, game, poultry, spices & cheeses; it really is exceptional.

The locals thought the same as the crowds increased dramatically as we meandered our way through, managing to keep our hands away from our wallets; the story would’ve been different had we had this kind of market at home.

The hordes waiting for the 11am show in the tower.

The 11am show at the Rathaus-Glockenspiel was interesting, if not slightly underwhelming, but it’s definitely something to witness, though it won’t be in the highlight reel of our holiday.

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We made our way out of the throng towards the first stop on the Hop On Hop Off Bus, something that we've only done on our last few European trips. It’s great way to have an overall picture of where you are and give us glimpses of places that we can return to see that we normally wouldn’t have. Bought the tickets and took the ride with a 48 hour ticket taking us through until 12 noon Monday and 2 additional routes to check out.

Back to the hotel and down the road to drop off the washing then back via the railway station to buy our tickets for Tuesday, our day-trip to Zugspitze, Germany’s highest mountain, which I am really excited about, been planning this trip for years.

Our day was rounded out but a return to Cucine de Nina for pre-dinner drinks, and some Police action right in front of us, an apparent stabbing of which we only saw the aftermath, before returning for dinner at our hotel, a lovely first day, more tomorrow.