Tuesday 8th August: Weather: 9°C to 20°C: Cool Morning, slightly Overcast, sunny patches
Munich: 20.0k walk: 6hrs 30 mins: 9.00am to 3.30pm: 1 x 30 min stop: Very Flat
Accommodation: Euro Youth Hotel Munich
Shopping for breakfast at Aldi
Street musicians at Marien Platz
Colourful canvas hide scaffolding
Along Isar River to English Garten
Through wildflowers English Garten
Coffee by the lake English Garten
Dinner Vicktualienmarkt beergarden
Highlights of our day were visiting two of our favourite spots in Munich - the English Garten and the Viktualienmarkt Beer Garden.
We surprisingly slept well in our little room, sleeping in until 6am with only two wake ups during the night - a good start to avoiding jet lag. First up is a jet boiled cup of tea set up on the table in our room, followed by a short walk to the local Aldi to buy breakfast of yoghurt and meusli, plus cream for our coffee later, and a chocolate for after dinner tonight. We are amazed that the grocery prices are about 20% cheaper than at home in Oz, and 50% cheaper than our recent trip to the UK. Eye filet steak was $44/kg, mushrooms were $6/kg and German large pastries were $1 each. Not that we bought steak and mushrooms, we were just surprised that prices were way less than we had expected after our recent experience in the UK and at home.
Back to our little room to have meusli and yoghurt for breakfast with another cup of tea before heading out at 9am past the Bahnhof, down towards Marien Platz where talented street musicians had drawn a small crowd. Many buildings in the street were undergoing major renovations with scaffolding cleverly clad in painted canvas resembling windows of an historical building.
After an hour of walking, we cross the river Isar, and stroll along the boardwalk between the river and the parkland, soon arriving at the famed English Garten, with 375 hectares of woodland, meadows and walkways and dedicated cycleways. At 11.30am, it’s time to stop for a jetboiled coffee by the lake. Thanks Suzie for the wee jars containing our sugar and cream which turned our coffee into a first class treat. It’s a peaceful stroll around the English Garten, a great way to unwind after a long flight.
We arrive back at our Euro Youth hotel at 3pm to have another cup of tea and a rest. After a quick shower, it was time to head off down to Marien Platz, then around the corner to the Vicktualienmarkt. It’s packed, but we squeeze in on the end of a long bench table. Ian trots off to buy the beer but comes back with a long face - they only take cash and we’d only brought credit cards. 30 minutes later, with cash from the ATM, we have our beer. A few sips, and it’s time to get the food - sausage and semi boiled cabbage. We chat to a Spanish family sitting next to us. They are leaving Munich tomorrow to fly back to Madrid where the temperature is 44°C. We are so lucky thet the heatwave in Europe is mostly through the south of Spain, Italy and Greece.