This was the last stop of our Uzbekistan and Europe trip! Such a great holiday and so wonderful to be able to travel again without a lot of the covid restrictions/requirements. Was a fun bunch of friends in Uzbek and so great to be able to experience and share all these amazing places with my daughter!
June 17 Fri
Checked out, taxi to train station and off to Munich. Very easy, no confusion about tracks etc. Ran into our buddy again on his way to Munich too.
Great scenery on this route. Beautiful towns and villages, lovely rolling hills, farmland….Sound of Music-ish!
Approx 4 hrs. Our tickets were for Munich Central so we were going to have to change trains at Munich Ost for an 8 min ride…..consulted google maps and found that Ost was the same distance to our hotel so just got off there. Lady taxi driver with a bad back so we hefted our own bags into the trunk. Nice few minute drive to the hotel…..crazy traffic and lots of construction and road work.
Hotel an der Oper on a fairly quiet street. Great location. Dropped our bags and out the door….only 2 nights here.
Little walkway a few doors down takes you thru to the platz where the big Hofbrauhaus is. Headed straight for Marianplatz and to have lunch and a beer. Nice big platz….the Rathaus is a very lovely gothic building and of course the glockenspiel! Only goes three times a day….11AM, noon and 5PM and a mini one at 9PM, so went back later.
This is the busiest place that we’ve been so far….not sure if something is happening here?? Got away from the crowds and visited the Heilig geist (Holy Ghost) church…..small but I think one of the best. Different architecture inside and out (rococo/baroque-ish?). The Old Town Square is across the street…great clock tower and is now a toy museum.
Found the Viktualienmarkt but will explore tomorrow. Many very nice food stores along the street….great displays. Great much less crowded areas once away from Marianplatz. Lots of cafes and restaurants, street entertainers etc. Many Bavarian style buildings. Nice, bright and clean!
Back in Marianplatz just after 4. Found a front row table for the 5PM glock display. It gets crazy busy about a ½ hour before it goes off….and if you do find a seat hopefully no one will be standing right in front of you! Chatted with the people at the next table…family of 4 from Kosovo! They all spoke some English…the little girl perfectly with hardly any accent. Very nice.
What fun when the glock started!! There are two parts to it, a top and a bottom part. The top has horses/jousters that go around, one falls over after he’s been hit, the bottom has dancers…..just too much going on to try and watch all the figures in action and take pictures….will have to come back. The gold bird on the top comes out when it’s finished. Takes about 15 minutes from start to finish. Interesting tidbits about the figures and and songs that play!
Very hot this afternoon. We were under an umbrella so thought we’d just sit and have another drink while the crowds dispersed. Young couple from North Carolina at the next table….they are here for only 4 days total….a long way to go for such a short period of time!
Thought we’d check out some of the back streets for places for dinner. Every restaurant and café was packed!! Some you needed reservations for, others were anywhere from 15 min to an hour wait. The streets were much busier too. There is a Dubliner Irish Pub here to but it was busy too. Many nice clothing stores!!
Ended up back in Marianplatz at a place called Donisl. Had only a short wait so grabbed the table when it came up. Great location just around the corner from the glock. Good people watching. Thought our German menu reading had gotten better but this was a tough one….no English menu. Managed to order the roasted pork knuckle. While waiting we were entertained by an oompah-pah band. Fun! Dinner was excellent. Delicious crackling, good potato salad and a sauerkraut type slaw.
Walked dinner off and scouted out places for dinner tomorrow night…..10PM and everything is still packed!
Maximilianstrasse is a rather busy main street. The Opera house, National Theatre and all the high end shops, Cartier, Gucci, YSL etc. The hofbrauhaus was crazy busy.
Still quite warm at 10PM. Very tired tonight. We’ve been gone almost a month and all the moving around the last couple of weeks starts to catch up…..but so much to see and who knows when I’ll be back so……
June 18 Sat
Up early…..before 6. Got ready and went in search of coffee…..left Linds sleeping! The hotel restaurant was open! Sat outside on the patio, updated my journal. Very warm even in the shade this morning. Supposed to be 35+ today.
Linds came down and we found a café around the corner for more coffee and croissants….lucky we are walking as much as we are!!
The Viktualienmarkt is fantastic!! Should have waited to have breakfast here. Everything you could possibly need or want. There are lots of great places to grab coffee and pastries, flowers and plants, fruit, veg, meat, cheese, wine!! Some artisan/craft shops….brought a Christmas ornament. Nice big shady area with tables to sit and enjoy whatever goodies you buy. Markets like this are why you should rent apartments!! So many wonder, fresh goodies….and displayed so nicely. What a great market. Got very busy by the time we moved on. More shops along Viktualmarkt street.
St Peters is the oldest church in Munich. Gothic I think but many additions and restorations since the original was built in the 11c. and it suffered significant damage during WWII. Beautiful fresco (restored in the 2000’s) on the ceiling.
Found ourselves in Marianplatz around 11:30 and found a table under and umbrella to watch the glock again…..so much to see when its going!! Had a beer and glass of wine and decided to try their “sausage sampler”. Was very good and fun to try….all were different and not all were sausage….pieces of Bavarian meatloaf, a piece of bacon or pork belly and two different kinds of sausage, topped off with a delicious soft pretzel. Came with potato salad and the kraut slaw.
Caught the 12 noon glock….noticed more this time! Everyone claps when it’s finished.
Wandered thru some of the less busy streets to the Fauenkirche. Loved this church! Not sure of the style but it’s not very ornate. Very simple really with 2 blue domes on the bell towers. Was originally Gothic but much restoration has been done.
Much damage during WWII. All was just completed in 1994. It’s a huge church ….supposedly can hold 10,000 people. The inside is quite plain, white and bright by church standards. Very nice, more modern stained glass windows. Some religious artefacts from the middles ages on display. Outside the church is a fountain or water feature……sort of an amphitheatre sitting area around it and the water would come out of what look like mushrooms. No water today.
Went shopping….found a great shirt and found an Eataly!!! Would have been a great spot for lunch one day. Nice little square (Sebastianplatz?) across the street. Thought we’d stop for a beverage but again lots of cafes and pubs but full….a few seats here and there in the sun but way too hot to sit there. Finally found a spot so had a couple of drinks and people watched.
Other than the main area we didn’t see many sidewalk type cafes or small restaurants. A lot of very nice Bavarian style buildings but also a lot of new more modern buildings. Once out of the main touristy area the streets weren’t very exciting.
Would have liked to visit Nyphenburg, the Englischer Garden and Olympic Park but just can’t be done with the time we have. Oh well!
Very, very hot so we headed back to the hotel for a bit of a rest and to repack.
Out around 7:30….still really warm but pleasant without the sun. Found Andechser am Dom, across from Frauenkirche, and thought we’d check it out. Had to wait about a ½ hour for a table but was worth it. Excellent dinner. I had the schnitzel and Linds had some sort of wurst. Beer and a glass, or two, of rose. The total bill was just over 50E which I don’t think was too bad.
Out of there just before 10 so wandered back to Marianplatz where they are setting up for a big festival tomorrow for Munich’s birthday celebration.
Have changed our hotels reservation for Frankfurt tomorrow night. Have been to Frankfurt airport and train station a few times but had never actually explored historic Frankfurt centre. BUT I think we are done…..so cancelled that hotel and changed it to the Steigenberger Airport Hotel……we arrive at 1PM so will maybe hit the spa and treat ourselves to massages!
June 19 Sun.
Up and out for coffee and pastry before we headed to the train station. Even hotter today….may hit 40C. I think we are lucky this is the end of our trip! Was here a few years ago during a heat wave and it just exhausts you.
Caught our train at Munich Centre for what should have been a 3 hour trip back to Frankfurt. Train was delayed by almost ½ hour to start. On the way for about an hour and then we were stopped due to a broken down train ahead of us. After about ½ hour we got going again for only about 10 minutes before stopping yet again. 15 minutes or so went by when they came on to tell us that OUR train was broken from the heat!!? Everyone had to get off and move to another train further down the track…..people were just cramming their way on to the train so we headed straight to the front for the 1st class car hoping the train didn’t take off before we got to it….no problem and found seats right away. Finally got going again but now almost 2 hours behind schedule. It was very hot so not sure if that causes electrical issues or what.
Once we got going again the conductor (?) came through handing out claim forms to get refunds…..apparently that is the law/rule if your train is delayed beyond X number of minutes you get your fare back. We didn’t bother because had no clue how we would recover it thru Eurail and we were using the train from the main station to the airport which would make it a “travel” day anyway.
Was after 3 by the time we caught the hotel shuttle. Big line up to check in….tour bus had arrived just before we did….argh.
Got checked in and headed to the spa….not appointments after 4PM?? Thought we’d check out the indoor pool on the top floor…..lovely big picture windows and atrium type roof so it was sweltering …..like a steam bath! Would not have been a refreshing dip for sure! Back to our room….very warm so tried adjusting the A/C. Nothing….nada. Opened the window to at least get a breeze, luckily the sun was not shining in. Went to the desk and I did notice that it was rather warm down there too…..told her our A/C was not working. So it turns out that their whole system was not working!!
What else can one do at an airport hotel……we went to the bar. Found a table in the shade…..was not any cooler inside and we did get a bit of a breeze every now and again. We were starving so just ended up having dinner there….no where else to go!
Back up to our room that was still warm but quite a breeze coming in so we survived. Lucky the windows opened!
June 20 Mon
Up at 5AM. Shuttle at 6.
Huge line up at Air Canada. Only two check ins open….one regular and one business class/priority for ALL AC flights. Guess anyone can check in now at any AC desk regardless of which flight you’re on. They finally opened two more and the line up moved along pretty good. I have to say that not once on this trip did we get asked for proof of vaccination or our ArriveCan app.
Got rid of the luggage and found a place for breakfast. In and out of shops and bought some plane snacks.
We booked seats at the back of the plane where there are only two which was nice.
Good flight. Arrived in Vanc on time at 10:30AM. Bit of a wait for the luggage but no issues going thru customs.
Steve picked us up and home just after noon.
Overall a great trip! Uzbekistan is a great country. Amazing history, beautiful architecture and wonderful, friendly people.
Europe was great too. Finally got to visit Prague and Vienna….both fantastic cities. Only wish we’d had at least one more day each place we stayed….so much more to see. Traveling by train was great and the best way to do a city to city type trip. Really though, I enjoy the villages/towns in the countryside which you really need a car for to get the best experience……next time!
My Travel Journals 