The Four Day Weekend- Part 1 Munich

Bruce had a 4 day weekend so we decided to take a vacation and see some of Europe.  Bruce really wanted to see the mountains. Our plan was to take a train to Munich, tour Munich and spend the night.  Then rent a car and drive to the Austrian Alps, stopping along the way.

We took the 8:20 train to Munich and arrived in Munich around 1:30.  Our train ride was not bad, although long.  The kids were amazing.  They really are great travellers.  In the second hour of our train ride, we rode along the Rhine  river and got to see some amazing castles on the hillsides.  Thanks to the Rick Steve's Germany book I brought, we were able to do a self-guided tour.  We didn't get any photos because the train was really moving much too fast to take photos.

After the initial panic of getting stuff and kids off of  the train, our jaws dropped.  The train station was so huge and airy and bustling with so many people.  The kids and I were mezmerized.  It was a foreshadowing.  Munich was mezmerizing.

After finding and settling into our hotel, we ventured to Marienplatz, not really sure what to expect.  

It was amazing.  The first thing that awed us were the buildings, architecture, largeness and attention to beauty of everything.  The second thing that awed us was the people.  There were SOOO many people.  Ascension Thursday is a national holiday and Friday was Father's day so we figure that many people took a 4 day weekend like we did, only they started it on Thursday.  I have a vice grip on the boy's hands in the above  photo. We are approaching Karl's gate, which is the entrance to the Marienplatz, which one brochure describes as the "living room of Munich."  It is the largest platz I've ever seen with hundreds of shops, boutiques, cafes, and at least 5 catholic churches that we saw, 3 of which are huge and rival the great Cathedrals of Europe.  (I think I'll have a whole post on the Catholicism of the Bavarian region).
What is really amazing is that more than half  of Munich was leveled by Allied bombs in World War II.  There were some buildings that were half destroyed and some that miraculously escaped destruction, but most of the city was destroyed.  Sadly, this is a story we hear over and over again as almost every German town was hit by bombs in World War II.  What we found to be interesting about Munich (and this is the case for many small towns as well) is that they chose to reconstruct the town exactly as it had been before, including using original plans for buildings, etc.  Although Hitler didn't allow evacuation of Munich because he didn't want to show fear or defeat, the Nazis painstakingly took detailed photos of everything.  These photos were used in the reconstruction.

Of course, what trip to Munich would be complete without a dinner at the famous Hofbrau Haus.  

This is the biergarten, which was completely filled so we ate on the terrace.  Like Munich, the place is HUGE and is actually 5 restaurants in one.  It was built in the late 1800's and was a favorite hang out of Hitler's while he was forming his evil plans.  Scary, huh!  It's so beautiful!

Bruce's first and second half liter's of beer at Hofbrau haus.  He was in heaven.  I rarely see him so giddy

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Locals in Lederhosen.

 The painted ceilings of the Hofbrau Haus.

We got back to the hotel around 10:00 and collapsed.  What a great city!  Half a day wasn't nearly enough.  The next morning we picked up our rental car, a black BMW (see below), and headed for the mountains.