Munich--Day 11

After a very hot night and terrible sleep, David and I skipped out on the group tour of old Munich. We figured we knew how to get there, could walk around and see the things we wanted to and then hit a couple of museums. So, after breakfast we set out on our long walk to the old town area and as we were in an underground street crossing (the area worked as a street crossing under a major intersection, a subway station and a mini-mall) we saw Woolworths and had the brilliant idea that maybe they'd have a fan. They did and life became so much easier for us. So, we walked the mile or so back to our hotel to put up the fan. (total walking ~2 miles).

Then we walked back to old town and looked around and visited three different churches: Frauen Kirk, St. Peters and St. Pauls, walked through an open air market and then headed to the Deutsches Museum (total walking ~2.5 miles).

The Deutsches Museum is actually made up of three different museums devoted to technology. We visited the general museum which has exhibits on mining (VERY interesting as you're walking around in a cave below the museum the entire time), aerospace (David loved it), rocketry, physics, chemisty, textiles (pitiful), marine navigation, ballooning, photography and moving film. Some of the exhibits were interactive, and overall it was an extremely well-done museum. It was HUGE and was paused in the middle for lunch. (total walking ~1 mile).

Then we decided to walk along the river to the English Gardens. The river was beautiful and provided a cool breeze. We took it slow and easy and ended up resting a few times along the way. (total walking ~1 mile).

The English Gardens are wonderful...and huge. We only walked around a very small portion of it, but saw the surfers, a bunch of teenagers frolicking in the river, sunbathers, some baby swans and their parents. After the English Gardens we walked over to the Hofgartens where we rested until time to meet up with the group for our evening dinner at a beer garden--Hofbrauhaus. (total walking ~1.5 miles).

Dinner at the Hofbrauhaus was just ok, but it was fun, with an umpah band coming over to play for our group. We then walked back to our hotel for a much needed shower and some sleep. (total walking ~1.5 miles).

We estimated our walking for the day to be about 10 miles (adding up my numbers here gets you to 9.5). It was a wonderful day, even if it was miserably hot, and made me want to stay in Munich for 3 or 4 more days. Munich is a beautiful city with a lot to offer tourists. If we had stayed in a more centrally located hotel with air conditioning, I would have been perfectly content to end out my vacation going around Munich and the nearby towns. I definitely intend to go back one day.