Kylin's European Grand Adventure: Day 11

Today was a leisurely day. We got out of the hotel around 9 and had breakfast at an outside cafe. We ate German bagels -- not as dense as the American bagels and I had yogurt with fruit and German granola. Yummy! We headed to the train station where we made a few train reservations before we headed into old Munich to tour churches.

The first church was St. Michael's built in 1597 and King Ludwig II is buried there. We were excited to hear the organ. It's such an uplifting experience to hear the organ in these old cathedrals. This church is in the baroque style with lots and lots of gold gilding.

The second church was Church  of our Lady constructed in 1488. It was far less ornate and had a smaller interior with wonderful stained glass windows. No organ playing here.

We listened to many street musicians along the way and wandered in and out of shops. Nothing purchased yet. :(.

The next church was St. Peter's. This poor (not in the sense of money) church was built originally in the 12th century in the Gothic style. It was destroyed in a fire in the early 1300's and rebuilt. It was bombed in WWII and rebuilt in the 1950's. This church has beautiful frescos in the ceiling and wreaths on some of the pillars.

From there we went to the Viktualienmarkt where the locals shop for their fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, olives, herbs, breads, fresh flowers, etc. We saw someone measuring the zucchini before purchasing it. Their vegetables were huge and looked wonderful.    Phenomenal place.  We bought some fresh cherries -- so delicious!

Next we wandered to the Hofbrau Haus for a German lunch. The ompa band was playing when we got there but we got there about the time they finished so we only heard one song. John ate bratwurst and sauerkraut and I had salad and a beef broth soup with veal strudel, sliced vegetables ( more like strings -- can't image how they get them that thin) with a little spaetzle. We both were happy with our lunch. At the end of our lunch a young Amercian couple sat behind us so we started talking to them. He's stationed in Germany and she is living in the states finishing her education in Boston. They met at University of South Carolina, she is from North Canton and her best friend from college got married in the Autora Community Church where John attended growing up. They wanted to know if we were Clemson or SC fans.   What a small world! They were really a nice young couple!

It was such a hot day that we found a gelato shop thinking eating gelato would cool us down some. It was very good but really didn't help much.

We continued to wander and at one point after two men walked into me in the same block, I asked John if I were invisible and then announced that the next person who walked into me was going to get an elbow. Fortunately, that was not needed. I can understand being bumped in a large crowd but this block was not that crowded .

Tonight we ate at a locals' restaurant -- an Italian restaurant with a private courtyard. Food  was
delicious and surroundings were beautiful. Lots of families with little children were eating there as well as large groups of friends. Made for great people watching. I wanted to take a picture of 3 young people who came in to eat. The one girl facing me ate her spaghetti like a child -- bent her
head close to her plate, put a big forkful in her mouth and slurped it. The other two did not eat that way so I didn't think it was a cultural style. ;)

Back on a train tomorrow a.m. -- short haul though. We get on the ship on Sunday. Doesn't seem possible that almost two weeks are gone!