Five nights in Munich...first visit since '72 Olympics!
 

I will just begin this with a very brief intro and will fill in later on.

We had a Lufthansa flight to Catania with a stop in Munich both ways. Decided to take advantage of the stop to make it into a stop-over for five nights, as I had not been in Munich for many years and when I was here last, it was not the optimum time, as you might imagine. I stayed at the Olympic Village with a new friend (an American who I had met in Turkey when I was hitchhiking through Europe and Turkey who had a job as a janitor there and was able to sneak me into his lodgings in the Village.)

Fast forward too many years to count and here I am again (not with the same friend, though). Little did I know when I panned this that our visit would be during Oktoberfest, which I foolishly thought took place in Oktober!!

Flew in from Catania yesterday and, being very tired from early wakeup in Sicily, relaxed at hotel, the VIERJAHRETZIETEN, where we were upgraded to a very large suite..maybe the largest I've ever slept in.....oh, my....bedroom, very very large living/dining room with sofa, large dining table and chairs......the works. I wanted to give partner a gift of staying in a grand old-world hotel. the best thing besides the suite are the vast variety of fellow guests....many guests sporting tracht--the dirndls and lederhosen are just one small part of the ensemble and it is such a treat to see this up close. I could sit in the lobby the entire day, or on a bench anywhere outside, and just people watch.
This city is SO international!!!!!! In less than 24 hours we have had pretty long conversations with people originally from Peru, Argentina, Spain, Italy, Vietnam, other parts of Germany, Australia, and, of course, Turkey.....

We took a taxi from the airport to our hotel and after picking myself up off the floor after seeing the price on the meter (130 or so euro for a ride on the Autobahn at 130-plus miles an hour!!!!) we knew instantly that prices would be on a different planet than those we had become used to in Sicily. But we had great fun with Mehmet, our driver, and I was able to banter with him for about a minute before the limits of my Turkish was exhausted.....he spoke no English as he had been born in Munich but was quite excited that I knew the family home city of Kayseri.

This morning after a lavish buffet breakfast, we set out by taxi for the English Garden to see the surfers.....fabulous!!!! We had so much fun chatting with fellow onlookers from all over the world, and watching the brave athletes take that one big wave......

Will write more about this day later.

Please ask any questions you have, although I probably will not know the answer. One thing I do know is that Munich is a lovely city with exceedingly friendly people, many ifs not most of whom speak excellent English.......this must be a wonderful city in which to live...so much green space, great transport system.......bike lanes...such a welcoming feeling.......

As far as the hotel, pretty much what you would imagine.....over the top without feeling snobby in the least.......indoor pool large enough for laps, if I ever get the time......prices through the roof but what would you expect, especially during Oktoberfest? The sad thing is that we have agreed that my partner will not be able to take many more trips involving walking and discovering new cities...from now on, we might have to settle into a nice hotel and take daytrips by car, rather than explore a city by walking......but he is happy to relax while I explore and this is the hotel to do that in!!!

I also love Munich, so am looking forward to further installments of your trip report! We were there in the 80s during Oktoberfest but didn't go to the events simply because we hadn't heard very good reports of people's experiences. Certainly we've enjoyed visiting the museums, palaces, and parks, etc. The city itself is lovely.

YES!! WE might go to the area with the tents but not try to get a seat inside......it is a lovely city!!!

Tomorrow we plan to take the train to Dachau, which will be an entirely different experience but one we do want to visit.

I've not even looked into the many museums yet.....partner has trouble standing for a long time, though.
Do you remember which ones you might recommend?

I can see just wandering around various neighborhoods.....do you anything about Schwabing, or ice there a less "fancy" area that might be fun for people watching and some shopping for me???
I have not yet convinced partner to buy lederhosen and I fear all my pleading will be in vain......they even have them in a long version...I would wear them but it's surely a no-no for females! And from the prices I noticed in this area, they cost in the range of a thousand euro and up--just for the leather trousers/shorts!!!!! Somehow I cannot see myself in a dirndl!!!!! But you cannot imagine how many people are wearing the "tracht" around the city........I was so excited the first time I saw someone in that dress but now I barely turn my head...there are some that really do it up and it looks FANTASTIC!!!

Tonight we will go out to our first dinner in the city (too tired last night after arrival)...we are bound for WEINHAUS NEUNER... I had very little idea of where to book, just read a few reports online at HUNGRYONION.COM, the successor to the late, lamented Chowhound, and not much more than that......also, online menus often have no English translation (unlike Italy, for example) so its kinda of hit or miss but I am sure we will be fine...I have a few dishes I really want to try but will just take it from there.

Today we had a wonderful snack.....a spicy sausage on a wonderful long roll..nothing like those spongy hot dog rolls we get in New York..will see if I have more details about the name of the place and some pics..it cost 4.20 euro, I do remember that,, and there was a very long line before I reached the counter where I placed my order and received the wurst....very much worth the 15 minute wait.....

We first visited Germany in 1981 when we went with my parents to pick up a car. We didn't have great maps so we found the city of Dachau and expected to see signage once there. Uh, no. We drove and drove and finally Mr. 7 saw a small yellow sign on the side of the road with "Gedenkstätte" which provided the needed clue. A sobering place of course but the museum was well done. They had only the foundation of the barracks with one reconstructed. I chose to not go see the crematorium... as far as I know, Dachau was more of a work/forced labor camp rather than a death camp per se although clearly people were murdered there.

We didn't do much shopping except looking for interesting amber pieces and concentrated on the old town section.

In Munich the Residenz is a large museum with a variety of different things. I think a problem is when we went there, I didn't see a cafe. At the time I would have given a lot for a cup of coffee and a place like that would provide a nice resting place for your partner. We visited the Pinakothek Modern which has some Picassos and Dalis and many other pieces that are not to my taste but we have not been to the Alte Pinakotech which I'd like to do. We have to go back!

cheers ekscrunchy, just spotted your report, glad you have a great time at Munich.

in case it makes a difference: many museums in Munich offer free wheelchair rentals and are barrier-free in general (number of wheelchairs is limited, though, so probably phone in advance or arrive at a museum with a plan B, just in case; there is a website, alas German only). it's hard to suggest a specific place to go to without knowing your interests, though... ;-)

(havn't been to Munich for more than a decade myself, so sadly any advice I could give is very limited. back then I enjoyed the Glockenbachviertel (Gärtnerplatz) and Maxvorstadt, but then these are no secret places).

Yesterday, Monday, was our first full day in Munich and we had a wonderful time!

We took a taxi to see the surfers on the wave in the English Garden......this was mesmerizing and we watched for about an hour after surfer after surfer wiped out fairly quickly, although there was one guy that was terrific......weather is beautiful and we are wearing long-sleeved cotton shirts.

It is fantastic to see so many people in tracht!!!!!

The hotel is a dream........we have a suite with so many rooms that I got lost trying to find the bedroom after a bathroom break last night!
Breakfasts are so over-the-top...I could sit in the breakfast area, part of which turns into the hotel restaurant at night, all day watching the guests, and the staff, from all over the world. Our lovely waiter this morning, for example, was born here to a German father and mother from Togo! And the food...oh, my!!!! Begin with champagne and move on to just bout anything you can imagine. One of my favorites from the buffet is leberkase, which despite the name, contains no cheese and no liver but it is about the best "meat loaf' I've ever tasted! They even have dim sum, which changes daily. And Bavarian pretzels, and that pretzel bread.......words just fail me.

After the surfers yesterday, we walked to the Viktualienmarkt...a large square filled with food shops and stalls selling everything from mangosteen to jamon Iberico to fish and chips to a million types of wursts!!! So how could I miss sampling one of those?

There was a stand with a long line announcing freshly grilled wursts; I chose the spicy type....(4.20 euro)..I will have more details my photos ever load onto this laptop. Two of us shared that wurst and the bread is not your usual NYC spongy hot dog roll but a wonderful, crisp on the outside, long bread. It was FANTASTIC!

We walked around that area, and through the high-end shopping area, and even peeked into a biergarten where there was a band and no one cared if I just wandered around and took some photos.
Everyone seems very friendly here!!!

There are long lines at some of the designer shops in the area near the hotel and the Rathaus.........they only allow. certain amount of shoppers in at a time.
We went into Rimowa because my carry-on Eagle Creek bag had an accident on the pier in Salina...the rubber detached from one of the wheels. So that may be my excuse to buy a Rimowa carry on and take advantage of the 12% VAT refund. We passed Dahlmeyr, the legendary food store (akin to Peck in Milan or Harrod's food halls in London, I think) which I will explore alone during our stay. I took a lot of photos but, as I said, many have not uploaded yet so will post them later. I wish we could have walked around longer but partner cannot do that so we went back to the hotel and got ready for dinner...... Hotel has a beautiful indoor pool so I hope I can get up enough energy to swim later!

Last night I had booked dinner at 8:30 pm at WEINHAUS NEUER, famous for its wienerschnitzel! What a terrific restaurant!!! We had to take a taxi there and back (one driver refused my credit card and insisted on cash,, and the other, who took the card, asked for a tip which he did not get) about 10 euro each way, but dinner was excellent: The amuse of onion tarte (owner is from France) was one of the. best things I've put in my mouth during this entire trip!!!!!!! I could have had the as a main course!! And the breads!!!! Including pretzel bread and a black bread..served with spreads of both lard and one with cheese.

I began with a beef consommé loaded with veal liver spatzle and julienned vegetables.....lovely!!!!
We both ordered the Wienerschnitzel; portions were tremulous and I could eat only about a quarter of mine.
I drank a Mosel Riesling, one of my favorite wines.

We were kind of tired so skipped dessert. Dinner cost about 119 euro (I will check my bill later and amend this if I made an error). (Prices for food here seem similar to those in New York City, where we live). I highly recommend this restaurant both for food and service, and the decor is beautiful, traditional Bavarian style with lots of dark wood trim.......just a terrific experience for both of us. I will post more photos later, but here are a few from dinner at:


https://weinhaus-neuner.de/en/the_house



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Onion tarte amuse...wow!!!
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Bread with two spreads
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Our wonderful waiter, at adjacent table; we had a corner booth with lots of room
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Consommé being poured into my bowl
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Beef consommé with spatzle of veal liver
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ONE portion of Wienerschnitzel! (There is also a variety of schnitzel from Munich which we will try..). the veal comes with large portion of either friend potatoes or German potato salad with bacon..both were wonderful; the spread pictured is horseradish and cranberry, and I also asked for a berry jam. Bottle of water cost 9 euro but the dinner was well worth the cost and service was impeccable and so warm and helpful




One more photo, taken inside hotel spa--we are not in New York anymore:



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Part of spa floor at Hotel Vier Jahretzeiten

Loving this!

I haven't read this entire post yet, but just curious if you considered taking the trains?

We were in Munich about a week ago - we've visited many times - and the train system is excellent, and a bargain - an all day five zone train ticket for two people is only 29.10 euro.

Scratch that, I missed the mobility issue.

Eks - Your wonderful report continues. You may want to check out Lodenfrey, a beautiful department store at Maffeistrasse 7. We still wear the Loden coats purchased there about 20 years ago.

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Yes, considered the trains and today we took a taxi to Dachau (yes, a taxi--you can imagine.....70 euro plus tip because the lovely Iranian-born driver was so kind.)

Coming back, reluctant to again pay that price, we took the bus from Dachau KZ Gedenkstratte (camp) with a combined ticket for 7'40 euro that also included the train to Munich Hauptbahnhof.
Extremely easy, and although bus and train were crowded, many kids coming from school, I think, partner was able to get a seat for most of the two journeys.

We left the hotel in time to view the film in English at 11:45am; moving and very interesting; very well done.
Dachau camp requires a LOT of walking but they do have a limited selection of both electric and regular wheelchairs, first come first served.
We got there too late so these were not available.
There are long lines to hire the audio guides, and shorter ones for information and tour tickets, so plan to get there earlier than you might think.

We opted for a tour in English--about 4 euro each. I think there are three per day, more than the website indicates..one was 12:15pm and the next at 1pm.

After viewing the film and part of the excellent museum, I was pretty depleted emotionally. Partner was not feeling up to the tour, which required 2.5 hours of walking.

So we made the difficult decision to leave before the tour. The 1pm tour was filled by the time we got to the booth, so I told the lovely woman that we would not use the tour tix and that she could give ours to two others. She was So lovely..went rushing around to find two English speakers that had been turned away due to the 1pm tour being full. She was SO kind and even insisted on refunding our 8 euro!!!!

Took the bus from right outside the gates, to the train station, walked up a set of steps (there are elevators, too) and caught the train to the main Munich station.
From there, there is a taxi rank outside the Sofitel Hotel across from an entrance to the station. Lots of construction around there, not sure where we exited--at which entrance.
I got overwhelmed seeing the trains setting off for "Prag," "Hamburg," etc etc.......and one to Verona!!! I want to take a train through the Alps someday!! I did this on a night train from Vienna to Venice decades ago and loved it.....

The Munich station is great....many wearing tracht, station clean with many stalls for snacks....very nice but again, lots of construction going on.

Took taxi back to hotel, through an area with many Turkish and Arabic restaurants and inexpensive shops..would be fun to walk around there but I guess there are better areas to find good Turkish food....we do not have enough time to fit in all the places I want to see, as we are very comfy in this hotel and it is hard to pry ourselves away.

Yesterday I swam in the indoor pool..oh, my...fantastic!!
Just sitting in the lobby I see guests wearing everything from Niqab to tracht, to what looks like beachwear......and car lovers would swoon over the vehicles parked outside!!!! I've seen more Ferraris here than I've seen in my life; several with Swiss plates. I'm not a car lover but cannot help but admire these sleek machines......and the autobahn! WOW! Like a ride in Disneyland but not at all scary....there is no speed limit on many sections of the autobahn and I caught our taxi driver from the airport causing along at 135km per hour and he was right along with all the other drivers on the road. (Imagine me, chugging along at my usual 50 mph!). it even seems easy to drive in the city, as if one needed to return a rental car....alles in ordnung hier!!!!

Great city,,,I know this report is just being typed out on the fly, but I hope you get some idea of how lovely it is, clean and with very kind people, at least the ones we encountered.


Here are a few photos from the Viktualenmarkt, the vast outdoor food market, where we had a fantastic snack of a spicy bratwurst (4.20 euro) that puts to shame a thousand times the "NYC dirty water hot dogs" on those spongy buns,, even the bread on this was fantastic and the wurst--I could have the for dinner and be very happy:. Not only that but our wonderful breakfast waiter packs up a few pretzels in a box (!!) for us to snack on in the afternoon!!






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Sorry, could not resist!
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Unusually shaped cabbage, spitzkraut...prices are on the high side but this is a central market so not surprising
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Currants (??)
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Some of many mushrooms, for fall...they look like chanterelles, no?
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Menu of stand where I bought the wurst...the second one on the list..slightly spicy and just wonderful!! Scharfe bratwurst mit semmel (semmel is a roll)
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Line for the wurst

I am a little surprised at how much German is coming back to me....I can ask basic questions and understand somethings, especially when it comes to menus, or food. I think I mentioned that I audited German for a year at college in the 1970s, but it really does have much in common with English. I cannot get the grammar but I am regaining knowledge of many words and can read basic signs...I do think it is a beautiful language. But SO many people (with exception of taxi drivers who seem to be mostly foreign born, or first generation Turkish or Iranian in my very limited sample) do speak perfect English. I do have to get myself to respond with "JA!" instead of "SI!!!

Also, I gave in and bought a Rimowa cabin bag in their new "limited edition" emerald green yesterday. Now I have to get to the airport super early to get those VAT forms stamped.
​​​​​​​Other than that, and a nice 2025 agenda, I did not do any shopping.....most of the shops in this area are all Chanel, Zegna. Gucci, Loewe (be still my heart) so there is not much to tempt us..I would like to find some local shops but where to go..who knows and I really do not need to buy anything except maybe some German hair products.... I do have a nice new suitcase but it will probably go home pretty empty!

Guests leaving our hotel, and shop windows featuring tracht, traditional dress. Some of the leather lederhosen cost upwards of 1000 euro, with elaborate embroidery. MANY people are wearing tracht all over the city. (They also sell cheaper versions on the sidewalk outside the Hauptbahnhof (main train station), the area where there are many Turkish restaurants, gambling parlors, euro (as opposed to dollar) stores, and fast food outlets (but we saw only one McDonalds, in the Dachau train station of all places)..Dachau is actually a nice suburban town and I was kind of shocked to see upscale-looking houses pressed against the fence of the camp. The train station there is very busy, as I imagine many commuters to Munich live there,.

Interesting conversation with taxi drive, who told me a nice two-bedroom apartment in central Munich would cost about 2000 euro. Could this be possible???? And slightly on the edge of the city, near Ludwigstrasse (I may have the name wrong) one could get a two-bed for 1000 euro.......the area looked lovely to me..the city is VERY green...

Not sure if I mentioned this, but we saw the surfers in the English Garten--that was a GREAT place to spend an hour or so!!


I do not even think we will make it to the tents....they have all sold out months ago so we would have to wait on long lines to get in AND neither of us are beer drinkers....am I the ONLY person in Munich who is skipping the Oktoberfest tents????



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No captions needed.....visit to Dachau was emotionally wrenching as one would expect, especially one who knew many who still had their "numbers," on their arms..my grandma offered "rooms to rent" for many 'refugees' who had just arrived in NYC and wanted to spend a month near the beach (Arverne, Queens, NYC). I was very close to a couple who had spent years at Buchenwald, and I was instructed to NEVER ask them, or any of the other guests about "any of that."
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No comment
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Dachau plaque. We were surprised at how crowded the place was....people from many nationalities. I'd never been to a former konsentrationslager (KZ) before. I wished that we could have taken the tour but partner could not manage walking for 2.5 hours that the guided tour takes.

It was difficult to take many photos here. It seemed almost obscene. Very difficult, but important, visit.



In central Munchen:





https://www.muenchen.de/en/sights/square-victims-national-socialism


http://www.munichfound.com/archives/id/5/article/420/

enjoying your report a lot, ekscrunchy!

maybe you will find a few of my notes helpful:
- Autobahn: in case you are not aware, 130kpm/80mph is the advisory speed recommendation ('Richtgeschwindigkeit') by the government over here - if you do less, you normally stick out ;-)
- Viktualienmarkt: it's more of a delicatessen than a market imo, and it reflects the high cost of living in Munich. saw pointed cabbage at my local supermarket today and it was less than a 1/3 the price. mind you, if I could afford it I'd love to buy at the open market. same goes for the red currants, looking great, yet probably € 5,- for 125grs (or was it 250grs?). and indeed, those are chanterelles. no boletuses around? I guess weather isn't right yet...
- flats: sounds about right. Munich is considered the most expensive city in Germany to live in. if you own a house almost anywhere there, you are probably a millionaire or at least close to it. it's a problem that keeps choking Munich, since many people the city depends on (policemen, nurses, busdrivers etc) can hardly afford living there anymore. same goes for the many students.
- Oktoberfest: never been there, yet afaik all tents have a mix of booked and free tables (you can only book complete tables of 10 if I recall correctly), so the big run for the free tables starts in the morning, after that it's queuing. don't forget that the Oktoberfest is a big funfair, too, so you can always just stroll around and watch, no queuing except for the next bratwurst - alas I understand that walking is limited for your partner. btw, a stein of beer is € 15,- this year, though I reckon that by NYC standards this would hardly make you bat an eyelid...
- if you happen to have a sweet tooth, the things you could fill up your new suitcase with might be German Christmas treats: Dominosteine, Spekulatius, Lebkuchen, Marzipan, Printen etc. - they are all in stock in supermarkts now already. further. if you like Haribo gums, they're on offer at REWE-supermarkets this week: 79cents/bag, great deal :lol:

- 'visit to Dachau was emotionally wrenching as one would expect, especially one who knew many who still had their "numbers," on their arms.' - it is impossible not to be moved (though I read that younger generations are starting to get more detached). for you it was normal to know lots of jews, for me it was common to grow up in surroundings where there were no/hardly any (visible) jews, and not talking about the war was prevalent, if only for all the wrong reasons

Re. Rimowa: overseas is the only place to buy. We thought the prices were lower than in the U.S. plus, as stated, you get the VAT returned. We bought the small "trunks" in Amsterdam which I love due to the configuration for packing. Do you like salty licorice? If so, you might find some tasty brands. Of course, I love Ritter Sport...

Nautiker, I am enjoying your comments very much, as you have insight that we foreigners do not.

II imagined that the Viktualenmarkt was very high priced...but I do not see supermarkets or any "normal" food shops in this area....where do people shop who live near the Altstadt, or is this area mostly non-residential?

Last night we had dinner in the best place we have yet been to in Munich: FRIESINGER HOF, in Bogenhausen. What a beautiful area! This city seems so liveable, although not for those who have the lower-paid professions in the hospitality industry, retail, etc......

I had a nice talk with a staff member (graduate of Lausanne hotel school!) in the restaurant here who lives in Bogenhausen, but he tells me there are areas in that district that are not too pricy, but also $$$$. mansions along the river. He BIKES to work at this hotel from his flat! I am always interested in various districts of a city--who lives there,what is the aarchitecture..what is it like to live there.

This person also told me that Gartnerplatz was a good area for shopping for German-made things and small boutiques......we are so lazy here but I will go walk around there this afternoon......

Trophywife: Yes..but I hope the wait for the VAT refund is not too long at the airport!!! I can do the paperwork at a department store in center city but have to bring the suitcase along and taxi fares are quite pricey here, they would eat up a lot of the refund! I will take photo of the bag and show you......surely you already know what it looks like..I have never owned a spinner bag nor a hard-sided one..


I also want to buy some Weleda hair oil, which I bought in Sicily and will be more available and less pricey here..made in Austria, I think....it is wonderful!!!! I used to use AVEDa Brilliant hair gloss but they stopped making it, and the Weleda is just as good if not better..also available on Amazon in USA.

One more restaurant: SPANTENHAUS AN DER OPER. This is a long-running and very popular restaurant a few blocks from out hotel and opposite the Oper.

There are two dining areas: Upstairs for "fine dining" and ground floor for more casual.

We booked upstairs (second floor in the US) and enjoyed it very much, so much so that we have booked the downstairs area for our last night here; both floors were totally booked last night.

https://www.kuffler.de/de/spatenhaus/speisenkarte.php

There were a number of tourists including a large group from Texas on a night off from their guided tour, but the restaurant did not feel "touristy" in the least.

Waiters were professional and informative, which we have seen at everyplace we have dined in Munich. I would recommend this restaurant, especially if you are staying in or near the Altstadt or the Maximillianstrasse. (Please forgive my German errors)

One thing to note is that the price of a bottle of water in all places we have visited seems very high--in the area of 8-10 euro per bottle!!!!.... Wine is just a few euro more! I have inquired about this from a friendly staff member at our hotel and he agreed, replaying Nautiker's comments, above, that Munich is an expensive city. I am not sure why I thought it would be less pricey than Berlin or Hamburg, further north..but I was obviously very wrong!

Question for Nautiker: Is it considered very gauche or "uncool" to just ask for tap water, or normal water..if so, how would I ask for that in German? Ii don't mind high food prices, as the food here has been excellent, but $10US for a bottle of water seems excessive, but apparently the going price in high-end restaurants here.....


So, this is our dinner on the first floor of SPATENHAUS AM DER OPER; tonight we will try the ground-level, more casual area, where I would like to try the pig knuckle,"haxenbauer" one Munich speciality that I have yet to sample; problem is that they have three enticing pork dishes on their downstairs menu, so which to try?????



We had a small dinner, only two courses; again, this restaurant is highly recommended:. The fist photo shows the "classic dishes" of the restaurant; we stuck to those as we usually have done.
We ordered the fourth and fifth dishes on the menu list; it is pretty easy to figure out the German on menus if you know a little and you have English as your native language. And restaurant staff seem to be almost always capable, or fluent, in English.


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Classics on the menu
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Tafelspitz; Thought this would come in a broth, but did not; it is similar to brisket in the US (I think)....a bit dry but lovely potatoes, both in a salad and hot potatoes!!!
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Partner loved his wienershchnitzel ; note that this is Vienna style, as the name implies, with veal.
Munich style is made with pork. Look at that potato salat!!!!!!
Always comes with a berry sauce....cranberries?????? The sauce is a must.....the frying technique is very impressive, and the breading balloons surrounding the thinly-pounded veal......never the least bit greasy. Hard to find a good one in NYC although we did find one at Noordwyck in Manhattan last year.....recommend the restaurant if you are heading for Manhattan, USA.
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Somehow this pic made it onto the thread but I will leave it. Example of the type of cars parked outside our hotel...pretty nice Audi! R8!
Newer kind of finish..like a Matte meltallic...never seen this on an Audi in the US but reportedly this finish is difficult to maintain. Audi in the US have very poor range of color choices, I might add.
After driving hand-me-down cars for most of my life, I splurged on an Audi A6 about 8 years ago and we are now on our third vehicle of that class.

Also many Ferrari, Lamborghini; taxis are luxurious cream-colored Mercedes and BMW seems like the car of "everyman," like the "volks wagen" of decades past.....I think there are many more styles and colors here that we cannot access in the US....but am I am a very poor "expert" about cars.....I choose them for color and style much to the dismay of my partner.....

In the district where we had dinner last night, Bogenhausen, we saw a Mercedes 1964 SL with butterfly doors!!!!!!!!!!!
For car lovers, Munich would be a dream city....the vehicles you spot on the streets can be real things of beauty and design.

I will report on our dinner there later; it was the best dinner we have had in Munich..FRIEISINGER HOF.

"where do people shop who live near the Altstadt, or is this area mostly non-residential?" - a lot of space is indeed taken up by offices, public buildings etc, but there are still people living there as well as people doing shopping during lunch break or on their way home. however, since the rental costs are extremely high, many supermarkets are smallish and/or move into basements. for decent chains, enter Edeka or Rewe into your googlemaps, there should be either of them not too far away.

"He BIKES to work at this hotel from his flat!" - well, Germany certainly is not on par with countries like the Netherlands or Denmark on this, but biking to work is not that uncommon, especially since Covid and the simultaneous rise of the e-bikes... if the infrastructure is right, you are usually faster than the cars and are spared from the hassle looking for parking space

"Is it considered very gauche or "uncool" to just ask for tap water" - haha! actually, there is an EU-guideline(!) for restaurants to offer free tap water, yet since it is just a guideline, no-one respects it. so it is possible to ask, but very uncommon (water is perfectly good to drink, at home I drink only tap). I can only guess why this is: obviously, free tap water would reduce return from beverage-sales. since costs are always rising (same here as everywhere), menus look more competitive if you lower the price tag on food and increase for drinks instead (but that's the same everywhere, isn't it?). further, Germany has a very strong mineral-water 'industry' and I understand there are probably some sweet deals (the margins selling water are just too tempting. (btw, there is a rule in Germany that the cheapest drink on the menu has to be non-alcoholic, which results/resulted into many restaurants to make this drink: milk)). and it would be very German to fear to have guests spending lots of money on food but 'scrounging' on water :-) now, you, as a tourist on the other hand, would make a perfect guinea-pig for testing that EU-guideline. please go ahead and report back ;-) (maybe you can argue that you always sample the tap water of the places you visit? a wholly believable claim nowadays! tap water might turn up on the bill, though...). did you know that it is the other way round with beergardens? there you are allowed to bring your own food ('Brotzeit'), though I guess this does not apply to Oktoberfest.

sidenote: whilst skimming the internet I came across this company who has two restaurants in Munich (https://www.heimwerk-restaurant.de/) - their focus is on affordable slow-food from regional sources. allegedly they offer free tap water, as they deem it fits their brand.

since we are at it: how are you handling tips in German restaurants? just curious.

"Always comes with a berry sauce....cranberries?" - should be Preiselbeeren, i.e. lingonberry

two shopping ideas for you, albeit not spectacular: Manufactum.de (branch at Dienerstraße) - a store that claims to focus on the 'good old things', they have a good cafe with great bread, and magazin.com (branch Faulhaber-Straße), more contemporary home design. sorry, wish I could offer more ideas.

N; I am SO HAPPY to read your comments! I have to pack and get ready for dinner but will respond to your post later. I will ask for the tap water tonight and report back.

I returned to the Viktualenmarkt this afternoon to look for more mushrooms, and will post here what I found......

I also went to the DM "drugstore" and bought their entire stock of the Austrian Weleda hair product that I discovered In Sicily when I realized I had left my own back home...

MANUFACTUM was the first store I sopped into when we first arrived! I bought a very handsome 2025 agenda, edged in metal, and a spray bottle for body creams. Very interesting place!

We must proceed on our experiment where I will ask for "leitungwasser" tonight at the SPATENHAUS, where we will eat downstairs. I think I mentioned that they were booked out on both floors last night and it was even difficult to find a table for tonight. This sounds much like NYC; many waiters at upscale restaurants will ask not if you want bottled water, but if you prefer "still or sparkling," making no mention of tap water. We never buy bottled water in NYC and, like you, we drink our water right from the tap in Manhattan. Some people say that the water in NYC is among the best in the US..I do not know about that, but to me it is fine.... But, in Florida the tap water tastes very bad and we have to buy large flats of water bottled in plastic from the Costco chain.....
Costco is a US operation which you surely know about....if not, its is an interesting story. They sell large amounts of popular foods at low prices but as you can imagine, much of it is frozen processed stuff which tastes good but is not good for your health. (I could go into a long story about how eating their food for a few months affected my own health but that would be a personal story and I am sure would cause a lot of comments here....).

We have Aldi/Lidl in the US but Ii do not like those stores at all.

So here are a few pics from today's foray....apart from the mushroom hunting, I returned for another spicy wurst and they were so kind....4.20 euro for a great lunch!
Also I am surprised at how much German I can remember from all those years ago..it is so similar to English.....

I have so much more I want to discuss but I do want to have a swim before dinner.so, until later...



https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c09aa559e.jpeg
I bought my spicy wurst here....twice....excellent, but I have no means to compare!!
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e6b70c0a1.jpeg
Mushroom stand..the large, sliced ones in the foreground are what we know as "king mushrooms" in New York and can be purchased for very little in Chinatown......some people use them as a substitute for porcini....
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...671fdb9f4.jpeg
Chanterelles, as Nautiker has confirmed
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...290fa250d.jpeg
Mixed mushrooms...28 euro per kg.....more or less what I might pay in the Union Square Greenmarket in Manhattan, where I live.......prices there (for mushrooms cultivated with a radius of about 100 miles from NYC...I think. I've been told that even people in NYC raise them in their basement if they own a private home) are MUCH more pricey than those I can buy in a supermarket. But in NYC's horrible supermarkets, we see usually only the white "Button" mushrooms, shiitake, and portobello... I always keep a supply of dried porcini in my frig, bought in Italy..those seem to keep forever and are great in soups and stews.... Food shopping in Manhattan is mostly a disastrous and expensive pursuit.https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b45cbda91.jpeg
This was the wurst stand I liked a lot....at the northern entrance to the main market....always a small line......and there are benches where you can sit to snack, or they can wrap in foil to take back to hotel or flat....
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b7b3d20ab.jpeg
What New Yorkers would call "latkes" at home, but these have ham and cheese..a Shonda (a sin to anyone who keeps halal or Kosher) !!! They sure look great but did not buy as have no means to re-heat in the hotel.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...14c625fde.jpeg
The second wurst in the menu which I posted earlier, in the Viktualenmarkt.....note the crisped exterior of the roll...not the soft, spongy typical New York City hot dog...even at places like the acclaimed Katz', the rolls are NOT good....but I never knew, before eating a wurst in Munich!!!!!!
and look at the char on the outside of the "dog!!!' Oh, my, I do not usually eat hot dogs at home but these are akin to being from another planet!!! Way, way better than even the hot dogs with the natural skin which we put on the grill in summer........these leave those in the dust...

Maybe I need to rent a place in Munich for a month!!!! The food alone is so interesting it could keep a food-centric person occupied for many weeks! And we never touched the tip of the ethnic food iceberg....

Hi ekscrunchy (& Nautiker),

I'm an American, but I've lived in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (south of Munich) since 2008. I drink 2L of water a day, and I always ask for Leitungswasser in restaurants. I haven't ever had any problems. However, recognizing the restaurant's need to make money and also not wanting to apear to be cheap, I usually order an additional drink -- a cup of tea, a glass of Proseco, or a Johannesschorle (fruit drink with sparkling water). So I drink the tap water to quench my thirst, and drink the other drink for taste or to enjoy it.

And, oh YES. Wurst in a roll is one of the simple pleasures here. I usually make myself wait for the Christmas markets to have a couple ... or else I'd eat them constantly and my cholesterol would be in the 100s.

Enjoy your last few nights!

s