Thursday, 12 September
After an 11 hour sleep in comfortable beds, hopefully our internal clocks are somewhat reset. Dolora and I headed to breakfast included in with the pension. There were breads, pastries, meats, cheeses, cereal, eggs, fruit and more. And of course good coffee!
Last night we had decided to spend part of the day indoors and the afternoon outdoors. The modern art museum, Neue Pinakothek, that was recommended in closed for several years for structural renovations. We headed for the Deutsches Museum. I have been told it is like our Smithsonian Institute. That certainly is true. We visited the exhibits on Marine Navigation, Electric Power, Historic Aviation, Glass Technology, and Technical Toys. The museum had a replica of the Red Baron’s WW I plane. There was a glass blowing exhibition – Dolora picked up a couple of souveniers. I really liked the technical toys made by fischertechnic. I kind of wish Greg was 6 again. We finished with the Mine exhibit which really made you feel like you were inside a mine, twists and turns and ups and downs.
From the museum we headed for bike rentals. Stopped for a quick lunch on the way, a soft pretzel for Dolora and a hot dog with some pickles and cheese for me (no photo). We planned to bike in the English Garden which is touted as the largest city park on the Continent. Think of Central Park in New York City. We planned to go to the Chinese Tower beer garden in the park. Upon entering the park, we saw surfers in the river. Check the video, pretty neat. Dolora and I cycled around for a bit but had some trouble finding the beer garden. This is when I realized that Google maps didn’t have all the bike trails and seemed to be taking us to the roads. After enjoying the scenery in the English Garden, we cycled back and returned the bikes.
We took a brief rest before going over to the Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall) to see the glockenspiel at 5:00. The glockenspiel recreates a medieval wedding. From there it was to the Hofbräuhaus, probably the most famous beer hall in München. I tried the dunkel and original, a half liter of each, after the waiter gave me a hard time for ordering a “small”. The beer was good and the food was excellent. Dolora had Münchner Sauerbraten vom deutschen Rind (Sauerbraten or Sour Beef) and I had Rehragout mit Preiselbeeren, Blaukraut und Butterspatzle (Venison stew with cranberries, red cabbage and butter noodles). From there it was time for ice cream and a stroll back to the hotel. Weather is supposed to be great again tomorrow.