We took our usual Valentine's Day trip a little later this February.
This time it was a return trip to The Bavarian capitol, Munich. Despite
the long haul on United Airlines it certainly was worth the effort to spend a
long weekend in this beautiful city. The snow felt like we were in a
winter wonderland and the beer at the famous Hofbrauhaus helped us recover
from the jet lag a lot quicker.
Cheri had studied the map and was able to navigate the U (the city's
underground rail system) which made it easier to get around and really see the
city. Only 10 Euro a day for a partner ticket which allowed us to become
tourists by day and party goers by night.
As mentioned the first stop was
The Hofbrauhaus
which was the site of the first large meeting of the National Socialist Party
on Feb 20, 1920.
The amazing Glockenspiel in
Marienplatz
is famous for the moving three level apparatus which portrays the Cooper's Dance and the Ritterturnier, a knights
tournament that was held in 1568 to celebrate the marriage of Duke Wilheim
V. It "performs" at 11:00, noon and 5:00 pm everyday. Also
in this square is the Neues Rathaus
(New Town Hall).
Look at the icicles on the fountain!
Cheri with Old and New Art
The lions are outside the ace and rubbing
their shilds is supposed to bring good luck. People will actually
cross the stret on their walks to rub them.
We were staying at The Renaissance Hotel.
After a couple of beers and a lot of sightseeing we decided to take a nap
and rest up. Since our last visit, we'd learned that Munich has a club like The Kit Kat Club in
Berlin, called The Kitty Kat Club.
Cheri had packed an outfit so she could fit right into the scene.
The Kitty Kat Club lived up to it's
reputation. We found it to be very interesting with all types of outfits and numerous activities. No pictures were allowed of
course, but you can go to their website and get a good idea. It has two
bars, a dance floor and other activity rooms. One room really freaked
us out because as it was pitch black.
The club stays open
till 5:00 am and we nearly helped them close. For us it was better than
the Kit Kat Club because because there was less
smoke and the music was more to our taste. Despite the outfits, (who are we
to judge?) people were very friendly, weird, but friendly.
Cheri's great outfit. She had to keep a sweater on to get there and back
as it was so cold. Also room service was a treat at 5:00 am, especially
for the waitress.
The next morning, or should we say the same day, we took a walk through
The
Englisher Garten (The English Garden) which is Europe's largest
city park. In the summer it's known for nude sunbathing (and the beer
garden) but nothing like that was happening at this time of year.
The Chinese Tower constructed in 1789 and
now is the city's best known beer garden.
Then it was off to the local street market
for some local hot honey wine.
It was so cold!
For our last night we dressed up a bit and spent a great evening at
The
Ratskeller, a very good Bavarian restaurant with typical German
food. The guide books all say this restaurant is a tourist trap but we tend to
differ. More locals than tourists and the food is very good with very
reasonable prices.
After dinner and a nice bottle of German wine, we went back to the hotel
for a couple of nightcaps with the bartender, who poured a very good measure.
Which always helps Cheri with her famous elevator flash.
The next morning it was down to
The U
again to catch our plane home.
