Munich, Germany

Thursday afternoon we arrived in Munich to spend two nights in the city. We originally thought we had three stops along the route where we could do laundry but that wasn't the case. We were out of clean clothes because we packed pretty light. Thankfully, Jay took the girls to a laundromat and to McDonalds for lunch (they've been on the lookout for one since we left). It was so nice to have fresh clothes!

Later that night we went downtown to Hofbrauhaus for dinner. It's a biergarten and is the biggest restaurant I've ever seen. They had seating downstairs, upstairs and outside on both floors. The beers were big and the pretzels, bigger.

The restaurant was filled with long tables and benches and you sat wherever you could fit. We sat at a table with a German couple.

live German music

The pretzels were great!

Our huge beers - 1 liter each!

The next morning (Friday) we ate breakfast at the hotel and headed out to see the city in the daylight.

We went to an outdoor market where the streets were lined with endless meat shops.

There were lots of flower booths.

Finally at Obletter, the largest toy store in Germany. We had promised the kids a stop here since we left the states and they were so excited. Mal and Rose chose a boy and girl Barbie each and the twins chose sketch books and colored pencils.

We hurried to Marienplatz to see the big show. The dolls in the tower dance as the bell rings each hour.

The girls were half curious as to how the heck she was suspended in the air and half scared of her. She kept repeating "Hi Mommy" and "I love you Mommy" to them in a high pitched squeal. Hillary and Natalie wanted nothing to do with this picture.

I still cannot figure it out!

We also went to the English Garden, which is a enormous park in Munich. We stopped at Chinesischer Turm, a biergarten, and had snacks, beers and soda. We had to move along because we were swarmed by bees. Tons of bees!

carousel in the park

Jay took the girls on a paddle boat ride. It was a 5 seater so I stayed behind instead of renting a second one. I took a nap in the sun. It was great!

We saw lots of these skewered fish. I'm not brave enough for that!

Friday night we went out for a late dinner at El Cordo Loco, a Mexican restaurant that had great reviews on Tripadvisor. We've been using Tripadvisor for almost all of the restaurants we've eaten at and it's worked out great. We chose Mexican because we were craving something we'd typically have at home and because we read the owner was from the states. When we got there the restaurant was completely full but Martin, the owner, set up a table for us. He was immediately friendly and accommodating. He asked where we were from and didn't believe that I wasn't Latina. We had a good laugh because he came back to the table again to ask my nationality because he thought for sure I was Spanish. I told him I get that a lot at home and even Gabriele at the Italian farmhouse thought the same thing.

Rosalie fell asleep throughout dinner and Martin brought the girls blankets to warm up. He brought out complimentary drinks and sat with us. He told us he was born in Mexico but grew up in San Diego. He married a German woman and moved to Germany for his two children's education. He said he visits the states often and misses California's weather. It was such a great night. We had amazing food and amazing service. I've never been treated better at a restaurant.