September 19 – Munich, Germany

We headed out midday to get lunch and explore a bit.  We found a nice German restaurant just off the main Tal, a main street leaving to old town.  It was just off the tourist area enough that we were pretty sure it was all locals eating here.  Good schnitzle.

Then we headed on toward old Munich.  

We are pretty close to the old city center and the first thing we came across was the Isartor.  This is a tower gate to the Isar River…hence Isartor (Isar tower). 

Just inside was the Old City Hall...

leading to the magical Marienplatz, or St. Mary’s Square.  St. Mary is the Protector of Bavaria.  The square was quite large with shops, department stores, eateries,

and the massive and ornate Neues Rathaus (New City Hall).  It was a imposing and impossible to photograph in one shot.  What a feast for the eyes. 

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More Marienplatz and New City Hall
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Shortly after spending some time in the Marienplatz we were joined by Tara and Claus and headed to the Ratskeller Restaurant in the basement of the city hall.  They had lunch and we had dessert.  Had a nice visit.

St. Mary's Column in the middle of Marienplatz.

We then headed out and Paul went to nearby St. Peter’s Church...

where he climbed the 310 stairs to the top.  From there he had good views of Munich…

and he could even get all of the Rathaus into a single shot (almost).

The Rathaus clock:

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Video of the Rathaus clock
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Later in the evening the entire group (us, Tara and Claus, Diane and Susan) headed out to a nearby creperie for some crepes for a light dinner.  It was rather cold as we had to eat outside.  But the café had blankets so that helped a lot.

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More Munich
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