Wednesday 9 May 2018
We had seats booked on the 13.09 train from Zurich HB to Munich, and a hotel booking at the Mercure City Centre near the main station. We took our seats, but a woman came and sat next to me and ate greasy fries and a burger. Not very pleasant.The train stopped nine times on the way to Munich; we had a copy of the timetable in the train and we were on time on our SBB service.We passed briefly through Austria (St. Margrethen - Bregenz - Lindau) before entering Germany after changing direction as well as the engine.
The route took us through pleasant green countryside. We bought a coffee and had a chocolate farmer bar. A very noisy woman left the train in Buchloe and peace was restored. I read an old magazine.
On arrival in Munich we crossed a busy road and found our hotel, the Mercure City Centre. It started to rain a bit. We had a nice large room with a colourful door, and we took advantage of the free minibar to have a beer.
We went out to explore Marienplatz in the pedestrian city centre nearby. We saw several churches including Michaelskirche, which we entered. Then we had a beer and pork cutlet in Zum Spoeckmeier; the dumplings it came with were rather heavy.
Our room had a problem with the bathroom lighting flickering. We reported it but the problem was never fixed during our stay. No English channels on the TV, sadly.
Thursday 10 May, Ascension Day
Many things were closed today because of the Bank Holiday. We hadn't booked breakfast but decided to eat at the hotel. There was a good selection but only one waiter on duty. I had muesli, yogurt, berries, and then scrambled eggs, bacon and toast (very slow as usual in every hotel). The coffee and orange juice were good.Then we headed out on foot to the Alte Pinakoteck; about 20 minutes' walk. We saw every painting on display! Some parts of the gallery were being renovated. We liked the Fra Angelico series, the Dutch Old Masters, the Wine Merchants' Guild by Ferdinand Bol, Rubens' St. Laurence, Jan Breugel's Seehafen with Predigter Christ and other works by Rubens. I also liked the still lifes.
After spending a couple of hours there, we went to the museum cafe for a wine (R) or coffee and a cookie. Then we walked back to our hotel, and rested until the cleaners needed to get in. We sat in the foyer and reviewed the paintings, and booked dinner at Prinz Myshkin, a vegi restaurant in Hachenstrasse 2.
We completed the Guardian crossword from the other day, and got ready to go out. We were able to walk to the restaurant and had a very nice meal of guacamole, masaman curry with peanuts and tofu (me) and a chocolate mousse duet. Yummy. Richard had the buckwheat noodles and veg. We also had some red wine but couldn't remember what! However the photo proved it was a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2014. Very pleasant.
Friday 11 May
We decided to try breakfast at a nearby cafe and found the Mauerer. Hopeless service! Our hotel seems to be in an area frequented by Turks and the cafes don't open till 11.0. We found a bakery for coffee and an apple turnover.It was a dull day and we returned to the hotel for a rest, before heading out to the Residenz, the former royal palace. The streets today were crowded especially in the city centre. We discovered that the Residenz was built in the 17th century, and was restored after destruction in 1944.
We toured the rooms on foot with a written guide. We saw the long Antiquarium with Roman busts of the emperors, the Ancestral Gallery, the many reception rooms and bedrooms on two floors, and noted the porcelain, gold and bronze artefacts. It was very interesting but rather exhausting. We were relieved we hadn't got tickets for the Treasury.After the tour, we found seats in the Ratskeller and had a beer and salad, so partly healthy! Then back to our Ludwig II room for a rest and the Financial Times crossword. Ludwig II had an interesting life and a controversial death - his history can be viewed at the link at top right.
Later we headed out to take a U-Bahn two stops to Frauenhoferstrasse, to look for a wine bar near the River Isar. On the way I posted some cards.
We found the Vintage Selection wine bar and tried various German wines: a Rudesheim Riesling (I visited there on a Thespians Bingen trip) which was dry, fruity and very pleasant; a Hesse Flick Chardonnay, fruity and not oaky; a red Spaetburgunder, light and pleasant; and a Messner St. Laurent red - very pleasant, dark and intense. We also ordered a Flammkuchen which was large enough to share.
We took the U2 back to the HB. I slept badly.
Saturday 12 May
Breakfast at the hotel again. It was very busy and we were lucky to get a table. I had muesli, banana, coffee, orange juice, scrambled eggs, bacon and croissant. Afterwards we rested in our room and planned to take the U-Bahn to Gesellestrasse and then walk to the Englischer Garten. It was sunny.
After strolling round the gardens which were mainly lawns and trees, we found a table at the Chinesischer Turm where the Bayern Munich fans were gathering for today's match against Stutttgart. The fans were all very friendly. We shared a huge Hofbraeu beer in a very heavy glass!
In the evening we ended up at another wine bar, L'Amar, enjoying a dry Gruener Veltliner Riesmein and pesto gnocchi. The music was nice and the gnocchi were served with tomatoes, pesto and mozzarella. For dessert we had strawberry profiteroles. It was an interesting place with even more interesting couples! A relaxed atmosphere. Sunday 13 May
Again we had breakfast at the hotel, as the surrounding neighbourhood was not very good for cafes. The food was nice again. I enjoyed the berries and fresh scrambled eggs.Then we did most of our packing. We celebrated another Mothers' Day along with everyone else on Facebook.
We went for a short walk before checking out, and tried the Alte Botanischer Garten again, but it was closed due to rats. So we strolled alongside and noted some trees from Iran. Then we collected our bag, checked out and paid for several breakfasts and caught our train at 12.06 back to Zurich.
This time the train was very full - lucky we had reserved seats. The train stopped at numerous stations again. I bought two magazines at the Munich HB, Good Housekeeping and Prima, which passed the time.
At Zurich Flughafen we were able to change onto the IR70 back to Thalwil. I read on my phone that former Labour MP Tessa Jowell had died of brain cancer.
In Thalwil it was very cool. Richard was in his shorts! We got the bus back home. All well there - no plants had died.
