Munich, Germany

Waiting to depart from Salzburg. Ainsley reminded me that it was a double-deck train and we were on the top.

The last stop of our winter holiday was Munich, Germany. It was hard to say goodbye to Salzburg, but we hopped on the train and took a scenic, 90-minute ride to the capital of Bavaria. I can't say how much we've come to love train travel. It's just so easy and convenient to hop on the train and head off to another exciting destination. Whether in Scotland, or "on the continent", being able to sit back and enjoy the scenery has been enjoyable and virtually stress-free. Most cities have train stations near their city centers, which often means you can simply hop off the train and walk to most attractions. In addition there is usually a good tram/subway type of system, and always the bus links to fall back on. It really is the way to go when traveling.

View of Bavaria from our train window on the way to Munich.

We arrived in Munich in the early evening and made our way down to the Marienplatz. This is a town square area that is filled with shops and street vendors. Roasted chestnuts, warm candied nuts (almonds were our favorites), and countless types of sausages can be purchased right next to designer shoes and upscale jewelry. As we travel around Europe we've noticed this is sort of the trend. Many of these historical and cultural hubs have also evolved into high-end shopping malls. We don't see this so much in Scotland, but certainly in some of these other cities.

The Marienplatz at dusk.

Can you believe it- more scaffolding! This iconic "onion domes" top the Frauenkirche, a 500 year old Gothic basilica.

Ainsley: "it was not a real catfish, but it was still pretty freaky (the catfish was at least)".

Here is the Marienplatz during the daytime. This is the new town hall or Neues Rathaus. During the winter, people gather at eleven and twelve o'clock to watch the Glockenspiel's characters dance and turn to the music. You can see there are two levels of figures, each taking turns with their own performance. The top level has knights that come out and joust as well.

For lunch we made our way to the Munich Hofbrauhaus. This German beer hall was founded in 1589 and is one of Germany's oldest. Its sort of like a communal cafeteria where everyone shares tables while they eat and drink. The Hofbrauhaus has its own band which plays throughout the day as well. This was really one of the highlights of our visit to Munich. The atmosphere was fantastic, with waitresses in traditional dress, customers singing along with their wool jackets and traditional hats (look at the corner beer hall picture below), and giant pretzels everywhere.

Now before you get worried and think we've gone all "European", this is a kid's-size mug of beer- the adult sizes are much larger. He'll never learn how to handle his alcohol unless he starts building up his tolerance. Man it was a long night. (kidding, kidding- it's "applesholr", or sparkling apple juice)

Inside the main room of the Hofbrauhaus. Don't you love the guys in the corner?

The house band plays at noon and six.

You can imagine how cold and snowy it was today. This is just a quick photo stop on our way to the Deutches Museum- "the worlds largest museum of technology and engineering". We weren't quite sure, should we start with Galileo's workshop, the planetarium, or the hall of aviation and space travel? So much to see and do. Hmmmm......

"Doh!"

I was sure I had checked the holiday calendar. Sure of it. Unfortunately the famous Deutches Museum was closed, and our afternoon plans were shot. I took charge and decided we would go to the Englisher Garten, a huge park in the downtown area that is extremely popular in the summer, not so much in the middle of winter though. My thinking was, lets keep the kids outside, get some fresh air, who knows- maybe a playground (the guide book said there was an "adventure park"!). Turns out a leisurely stroll through the park in the middle of winter was not as much fun as I thought it would be. At least we weren't that far from the town center and abundant hot chocolate.

The only other sign of life at the Englischer Gartens?

See how much fun we're having!

Our winter walk through the park may have been a dud (it was really beautiful though with all the snow), but this last bit at the exit was very cool. There is an artificial stream that comes through the park, which surfers come and ride. Even though we had been told that nobody would be out surfing today (too cold), we were thrilled to see three guys surfing the waves. We hung out for about a half-hour and watched them work their way across the river and back. Then it was time for hot chocolate.

Ainsley: "I've been collecting key chains. In Germany I got a tiny cowbell with a letter "A" on it.  Me and Will found a little snow fort and made some snowballs for it. It also was real cold. Rock climbing on the mountain (Salzburg Fortress) was fun".

One last pretzel before catching the plane back home.