Munich, Germany

We arrived in Munich just as the European soccer match between Denmark and Germany was playing. After a short cab ride to check into our hotel "The Platzl", we rounded the street corner to Hofbrauhaus for a roiling time with both locals and tourists amid the Bavarian Um Pah Band, cheers and toasting everytime Germany made a good play. Some pics from Tom's iphone :

Our brewery mates from Ireland

For the following three days, we acted like proper tourists and tried to cover all the essential attractions in this lively city. First off, we headed to the central town square, the Marienplatz. We paid the ticket to climb up St. Peter's Church for a 360 degrees view of Munchen. Around noon, gathering with other tourists, we put ourselves in front of Glockenspeil and witnessed the enchanting combination of clock chiming, followed by music and jousting knights on horseback & medieval figures doing the Schalffertanz (Copper's Dance).

Our stay for four nights Platzl Hotel - really good & can't beat the location!

Altes Rathaus - rebuilt after a 13th century fire & again after WWII 

 In front of Munich's town hall stands the Mariensaule, a column topped with gold a Virgin Mary. Four figures at its base signify war, heresay, famine and plague 

Climbing up St. Peter's 

Top of the Neus Rathaus built in 1867 & 1909 in Flemish Gothic style

Views from across Marienplatz, on top of St. Peter's

The onion domed ceiling is the Frauenkirche, Bavarian church also known as Church of Our Lady

Glockenspeil & it's 43 bells play a 15min carillon whilst 32 mechanical figurines re-enact the marriage of Duke Whilhelm V to Renate von Lothringen in 1568

Inside St. Peter's Church

Only a few minutes walk and we'll in Viktualienmarkt -Munich's oldest farmers market dating back to 1807

Right in the centre of the city of Munich, we find the Palace Residenz which housed the "Wittelsbachs". The afternoon was spent touring the extensive palatial rooms, treasury exhibits and the Royal Theatre. The Palace was severely damaged by bombing during WWII, but most of the rooms were reconstructed by the 1980's.

Here is a brief history of the House of Wittelsbach :

                      "The rise of the Wittelsbach began in 1180 when Otto von Wittelsbach was 
                       invested with a freehold estate with the Duchy of Bavaria. From that point
                      onwards, the Wittlesbachs ruled without interruption until 1918, first as
                      Dukes, after 1623 as Electors, and then, from 1806, as Kings of Bavaria.
                     
                      In 1329 the dynasty divided into a Palatine and an Old Bavarian line. The
                      old Bavarian duchies were united in 1506. In 1623 Maximilian I gained the
                      status of Elector for the rulers of Bavaria.

                     The Old Bavarian line died out in 1777. Elector Karl Theodor of the Palatinate 
                     then took over as ruler of the now reunited territories of Bavaria and the 
                     Palatinate. His successor, Elector Max IV Joseph, ruled over the Kingdom of
                     Bavaria from 1806 as Max I Joseph.
                     The last Bavarian ruler was King Ludwig III. When the Free State of Bavaria 
                     was proclaimed at the beginning of November 1918, he had to leave the residence."

One of the most bejewelled pieces in the extensive treasury museum in the Residenz. The encased statute of  St. George slaying the dragon 

 Royal Regalia of Bavaria 1804

The Residenz museum also housed numerous Chinese & Japanese porcelain treasures & art work

The Renaissance Antiquarium 

Portrait room of the family

Ceiling details, Royal Chapel, the private Prayer room of the Duke Maximilian I in the Residenz

Reiche Kapelle Ornate Chapel, Residenz Museum

The Baroque Ancestral Gallery

The Residenz Theatre was totally destroyed during WWII - rebuilt in 1950 & renovated in 1981

Theatine Church & Field Marshal's Hall to the side

 Lady in Pink outside the Catholic Theaterinerkirche
(looking abit nonplussed perhaps at my camera)

 Cutest little boy playing hide and seek with his family just at the entrance of the Theatine Church

 Walking through Hofgarten or Court Gardens

 The river Isar runs through the Englisher Garten and provides lots of amusements on a hot sunny day 

beautiful pond just by Japanisches Teehaus

 No kidding - you can sunbath nude in Englisher Garten

The Isar, a natural lazy river - very tempting to just jump in

Chinesischer Turm - created back in 1789

 Holy Mackerel !!..more than just bratwursts in the biergarten of Englisher Garten 

Returning to Hofbrauhaus for weissbier & radler/ross'n and roast pork knuckles