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Weekend stroll through Munich and the zoo

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‘Great minds discuss ideas, average people discuss events, small minds discuss people’ (chalk board in Francesco’s kitchen)

It is now the second year that we stop over for a weekend in Munich at my sisters place after our family ski trip. Partly this is related to flights into Munich being more affordable around half-term school holidays (than say Salzburg or Innsbruck), but part is also that it’s actually a nice place to spend some time especially if you have as lovely a sister living there as I do.

We arrived around midday on Saturday having managed to avoid overly bad  traffic out of Austria (our parents weren’t quite as lucky). Steve helped us carry up the luggage and, to my positive surprise, this time the elevator in my sister’s house was actually functioning. Steve then left to drop off the rental at the airport and we loosely aimed to meet up for dinner at the Hofbräuhaus (tourist trap, but fun).

Toy museum, Viktualienmarkt & Hofbräuhaus

After a little rest and some dress-up action of Alex & aunty Frances we set out to visit the ‘Deutsches Museum’ (German museum, bit like science museum in London). However, we then figured 3pm was a little late in the day given the museum closes 5pm and so we headed for the toy museum instead.

As we left the subway at ‘Sendlinger Tor’  we headed over to Marienplatz where an anti NATO / war demonstration was in full swing and plenty of police about. The demonstration was aimed at the security conference that takes place annually here at the Bayerischer Hof hotel (I hope they have refurbished the place by now!). We glanced at some of the banners, but then swiftly left the noisy pack behind us and dived into toy history instead.

The museum is situated in a tower-like building with a circular staircase leading you up (no prams allowed though, which does question how family friendly the place really is). Exhibited are historical toys on the 2nd, 3rd and 5th floor. You find items like trains (e.g. the old Merklin brand), loads of Barbie’s, regular dolls, doll houses, robots, ships, regional German toys such from the Erzgebirge (known for their craftsmanship manufacturing Christmas decoration of all sorts) etc. After an hour or so we were done, but didn’t leave before buying two old-fashioned children books for Alex: ‘Max & Moritz’ and the ‘Der Struwelpeter’ (he loved the first one immediately when we read it to him later).

After the museum we continued our stroll through the city center across the famous Viktualienmarkt. Essentially something like Borough market with a lot of local and European food such as veggies, fruit, sausages, cheese, oil, truffles etc. It’s always nice to hang out there. In the end we headed to ‘Eataly’ … as the name suggests an Italian dedicated lifestyle shopping spot. Alex got a Nutella crepe  to satisfy his cravings while we enjoyed some nice Italian wine and chatted about life. Alex even rediscovered his love for books when I read the stories of ‘Max & Moritz’ to him. He could literally not get enough (well, there is only 7 stories …).

In the evening we met Steve and Robert (they are uni friends from their time in Dresden). Originally from the northern island of Rügen, Robert now lives in Munich. Some good times ensued as we all feasted traditional Bavarian food amidst  good beer, live music and a hyperactive Alex (well, Robert took it easy as he was still digesting the previous night out and had some commitments Sunday a.m.). In the end, I decided to stay with the boys for a night out and so Frances and Alex went home alone.

A boys night out …

The night kicked off fairly civilised at the flat of an Italian mate of Robert called Francesco. We spent a good hour discussing the European project and touched on each others backgrounds a bit before we left for a pretty posh bar (called ‘Brenner’) close to Munich’s famous Maximilianstrasse. The prices seemed reasonable though with cocktails going for EUR9ish. Once at the bar, we met two female Italian friends of Francesco who both work in Munich (logistics or so). We didn’t talk too much, but it transpired that the girls were actively looking for a husband here. I guess they look for someone with money. Apparently  two guys had already fit the criteria of one of the girls, but I didn’t get much detail as to what their requirements are (‘he must be cool’).

Not really a place we felt was right for us and so we went to an Irish pub instead  and got the party going. Kilkenny beers and the occasional Jaegermeister were sufficient that by 2am we had to retreat (after the mandatory stop at McD). It turned out to be a noisy finale as we all rediscovered our singing voices and football chants! Apologies if anyone woke up to that sound ;o) Anyway, some good vibes with the boys and well deserved rest on my sisters sofa.

Visit at Munich zoo and a first taste of spring

Sunday weather was as pleasant as forecast and looked very much like an early day in spring. We had decided to visit the zoo and were joined by Frances’ mate Peter (or Pidi). He is a die-heart FC Cologne supporter, works in sport sponsoring for a living and lives a single life just like my sister. Alex dressed in a Cologne fan scarf made for a flying start (he remains committed to Chelsea though). Alex found some further excitement in the Polaroid camera my sister has got (so now both dad and son were busy taking pics with their toys).

Our trip was then slightly delayed by a lengthy hunt for a parking spot. Clearly we weren’t the only folks that wanted to make use of such fine weather. Once in, I reckon we made it almost all the way round the zoo. But I let the pictures speak. Nice Sunday out anyway.

Then it was already time to say good-bye from Frances and Steve (back to Copenhagen) and for me time to think ahead for the upcoming trip to Marrakesh (at 6am!) where climbing training will resume in the Atlas mountains.

It was a fun finale after our ski trip. Danke Schwesterchen!

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