Jen and Dave: Adventuring

We ended up sleeping in after the long day yesterday, then taking a slow start. Finally, we made it to Vauxhall and then on board an Uber Boat, which runs up and down the Thames. We took a great, surprisingly quick, trip to Greenwich.

After some rustic pizza, we set off exploring. We walked around and gawked at architecture, then visited Queen’s House very briefly (it was free and had washrooms).

The Royal Observatory was pricy to get into, we had little time, and we just weren’t feeling it, so we used GPS to find the Prime Meridian, and did the photo thing there.

Then we walked the tunnel under the Thames to the Canary Wharf side

Canary Wharf was a world apart. Money. So much money. We did find a very high end mall, and a food court where we had dinner. Korean chicken and rice bowls, with a side of cauliflower. It was absolutely delicious.

We then wandered the newly built section of new money opulence, and continued until the narrow boat basin. After checking out the boats from the walkway, we headed back to the subway and called it a night.

Today was a long day. We woke at 3:00 am in Germany, and checked into our hotel at 10:00 pm in London, with lots of adventures in between.

We started off from our hotel in Munich at 3:30 am on foot, for a twenty minute walk through old town to the S8 train station. We timed it perfectly, and got to the airport with plenty of time to breeze through security and border control, and grab breakfast and a cat nap.

On landing in London we made our way to the local buses, tapping our Oyster cards to get going and find our way to the hotel to drop our bags. That accomplished, we grabbed a bite at McDonald’s – we have to hit every country – before taking the bus and the tube to Hyde Park.

Then adventure picks up. Buckingham Palace was next.

A short walk through a park brought us to Horse Guard Palace.

Then it was a walk beside the Thames.

Next was the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. The gardens were in good form for a bloom festival.

Finally, it was time for Sky Garden, a lovely green space on the 35-37th floors of a glass building. The view was absolutely amazing.

We had snagged a reservation at Darwin’s Brassiere for dinner during golden hour, and mentioned our anniversary. This lead to the best table in the house, and a sweet treat to share. It was an exceptional meal in an unreal location. Cannot recommend it highly enough.

Post dinner was a short walk to the tube, a bus, and checking in. Now for some sleep at the end of an excellent day.

Today was our last day in Munich, and an exciting one – we were going to a Michelin-listed restaurant. Beforehand, we also went to the Königsplatz and looked at the antiquities and sculpture museums.

Königsplatz was only a short walk away. One side has a huge arch, with flanking sides featuring the Staatliche Antikensammlung and the Glyptothek.

We visited the Stastliche Antikensammlung first. It was originally built by King Ludwig I and it features Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman antiquities – pottery, jewelry, armour, figurines.

The Glyptothek, on the other hand, featured marble (for the most part) human sculptures and busts.

Then came packing and getting dressed up before heading to Pfistermühle. We had the six course tasting menu, with Dave selecting the vegetarian version. It was delicious, and a lovely dining experience.

Not including cows 🙂

• Ibex at Telgerbergbahn
• ? Red deer ? at the ice field at Eiskapelle
• Fox in a field on the Munich to Freilassing train
• Marmot at Gotzenalm
• Alpine salamanders at Füssen
• Viviparous lizards at Gotzenalm
• Frog in Englischer Gartens
• Common cuckoo birds heard everywhere in the mountains
• Alpine chough birds (related to crows) are everywhere
• Common ravens
• Golden eagle soaring above Jennerbahn
• A huge variety of songbirds

To try to make up for there being no BMW Factory tours available while we are here, today was Dave’s Day. We took a train ride into the country, visited an airplane museum, and ate pizza for lupper (kinda lunch, also supper). Below, find the selection of photos he feels represents the highlights.

Today was Sunday. Rest day in Bavaria – all stores closed, and the city is out and about. So we packed the picnic we bought last night and headed for the park.

Englischer Garten is a huge park, blocks from our hotel, in the heart of the city. It features weaving streams for swimming or floating, trails for all manner of human-powered transportation, a lake, grassy fields, shading trees, a couple of monuments and several beer gardens.

So we walked! Then sat beside the river under a tree. Jen swam. Then hit up the beer garden for beverages, pretzels with a cheese ball called obatzda, a tomato and bocconcini salad, and their version of a beavertail (Dave didn’t catch what it was called), all to the sounds of Schlager (traditional bier garten music).

All in all, we put on more than 20 km on a day that reached 29 degrees, and loved it.

Yup, technically another schloss on the books! Partly original, partly reconstruction (post-WWII) the Residenz was the seat of power for the Wittlesbach dynasty. The official description reads “the Residence Museum presents the art and culture of the Bavarian Court from the Renaissance to Early Baroque, Rococo and Neo-classicism. Precious reliquaries, bronze sculptures and East Asian porcelain are on show.”

After three hours in the museum proper, we broke for lunch across the street. Then, it was on to the Treasury, displaying the most precious artifacts and symbols of power.

Last was the theatre, which is still used for concerts. It was lovely.

After completing a full museum day, we wandered downtown a bit before ending up at “the most famous tavern in the world,” the Hofbrauhaus. Dave had a litre of the Hofbrauhaus original with käsespatzel, and Jen enjoyed Weisswurst and a pretzel.

We wrapped up the day at the grocery store, as tomorrow is Sunday and everything will be closed. A surprisingly tiring day!

Today was about one thing: the world’s largest science and technology museum, the Deutsches Museum.

Today we visited the main museum – there is also a land transportation focused museum and an aviation museum – from opening at 9:00 am until they kicked us out at 5:00 pm. It’s an excellent museum, pitched at a higher level than science museums we have visited in North America, and the exhibits are extensive. We didn’t get to see everything, due to time restrictions and exhibit closures for a renewal they have underway.

After the museum we grabbed a quick meal, wandered beside the river, checked out some new streets in old town, and made our way back to the hotel.

Our adventures today began just by getting to our destination – somehow Dave talked Jen into renting electric scooters and they rolled their way along bike lanes for fifty minutes. Dave declared it fun, Jen hesitantly calls it type II fun because the learning curve was stressful.

We finished the ride at a canal framing the entrance to Schloss Nymphenburg, the summer palace, and where the head of the former royal family still has his primary residence. And what a spectacular place – a huge palace with impressive park grounds, complete with four pavilions. King Ludwig II grew up here, and you can see how it could have inspired him.

We started by touring what is open in the main castle. A beautiful grand ballroom, and historic bedroom suites.

Next, we wandered some of the formal gardens before heading to the associated Milchhäus concession for pretzels, salad, and a refreshment.

Then we hit the trails, about 6 km in all, to see the pavilions, fields, forests, pump house, and more. It was beautiful out but hot, so the shaded woody paths were our favourite.

The last schloss stop was the transportation museum – preserved carriages and coaches from a more over-the-top time.

It was now late in the afternoon, so we stopped in at a bakery for delicious tomato and (fresh) mozzarella sandwiches and ice cold pop. Then we took a streetcar downtown, then wandered our way towards Englischer Garten. We even shopped en route, finding new sun “adventure hats” (Jen has been wearing her rain hat and Dave’s has seen better days). For those counting, it’s a hat trick!

Englischer Garten was absolutely packed with swimmers, sunbathers, and pretty much the entire city. We walked along the river to the Biergarten at Chinesischen Turm, where we enjoyed cold refreshment, half a chicken, and fries.

This morning we left the alpine countryside, and travelled by train to Munich. After checking in to our hotel, we went to a local dumpling shop. We both enjoyed a rice noodle, cucumber, carrot, edamame and peanut sauce to start. Then Dave had a spicy chicken dumpling, and Jen had pork, shrimp, and ginger. The former were not bad, the latter great.

We then did a fast walking tour of town, including the outside of the Residez palace, Odeonplatz, Marianplatz and the glockenspiel at the Neue Rathaus, Viktulenmarket (where Jen bought some fresh figs), Hofbrauhaus, and finally a local grocery store for refreshments.

An early night so we can start detailed exploring.