Munich, Germany

First week of June and we have a month to go.  To be honest, we're not real excited about moving back.  It will be good to see all of our friends and family of course, but a year is too short.  We finally are feeling at home and now have to pack up and leave.  Plus there is still so much to do and see.  We've started packing now - I've been dumpster diving for boxes and we're packing up the stuff we don't need and getting rid of stuff we don't use.  Right now the only kids activity is T-ball and that's almost over.

This past weekend we finally made it down to see Munich.  We drove down Saturday morning and once again lucked out with beautiful weather.  We parked in a shopping mall and spent a little time browsing probably the coolest outdoor/camping store I've ever been in - Globetrotter.  It was four levels, had all kinds of cool gear and clothes, a little room that let you try out rain gear in a simulated rain storm, a climbing wall for the kids and a pool where you could try out kayaks and canoes.

From Globetrotter we walked over to the Viktualienmarkt, Munich's daily food market.  It's huge (140 stalls) and was packed.  We browsed, got the kids smoothies and took some pictures.  Across the street we checked out St. Peter's Church (built in the 1300s) and then headed over to the Marienplatz.  We stopped in a few shops trying to find Haaken a cheap Bayern-Munchen soccer shirt but there were none to be found.  He ended up getting a soccer ball, which he preferred anyway.

 Viktualienmarkt

 Munchen Maibaum

 Marienplatz and the Neues Rathaus

We spent the next couple hours just wandering around, enjoying the weather and people watching.  In the middle of the main boulevard (Neuhauser Strasse) there was a pretty entertaining band that we watched for a while and at the end of it the kids played in the water fountain.

 Neuhauser Strasse

For lunch we ate at Zum Augustiner in their courtyard.  Everyone except Carissa had goulash soup with pretzels.  Afterwards we slowly made our way over to the Hofbrauhaus so I could have a beer.  We sat in their large courtyard and enjoyed the Oompah band and people watching.

 Zum Augustiner

 Sidewalk Art

 Hofbrauhaus

 Relaxing on the patio

Hofbrauhaus Courtyard

We really didn't feel like doing any museums that day so we left Munich and instead of driving home went a little further south for one last night at Edelweiss.