Prost!

I know it’s been a couple of weeks since my last post, but that is because we decided to travel around central Europe for two weeks during Robert and the kids’ Easter Holidays. Graz is located within a few hours of several countries. We chose to head west into the Bavarian Alps in southern Germany, the little country of Liechtenstein, into German speaking Switzerland, and finally across northern Italy.

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We left Saturday morning the 13 of April and drove about 4 hours to Munich (München) Germany. I’ve been to Munich a couple of times and it was fun showing the kids around the old city centre. We arrived around 4pm and decided to have an early supper at the Hofbräuhaus.

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The Hofbräuhaus is the largest beer hall in Germany and was built in 1589. It traditionally serves it’s own brews, but you can find other beers there. The place was busy even at 4:00, but we found a table out in the biergarten. It was a bit chilly, but spirits were high, the traditional band was playing, and the food and beer was delicious! There is actually no legal drinking age in Bavaria, so even Seamus and Faywen could’ve ordered beer if they wanted. However, we opted to share a couple of the giant liter sized glasses! Robert ordered the traditional Hofbräuhaus and Liam ordered the dark Hofbräuhaus. Our waitress brought us plates of wursts, cheeses, and brotchen rolls to appease our hunger.

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After a hearty meal we walked around the old streets and quaint shops of Munich. The city was alive with visitors and locals alike!  We had loads of fun listening to the various street musicians, which ranged from a guy playing “Country Roads” on his guitar to another fellow who was dressed from head to toe in Bavarian Trachten (traditional lederhosen etc) singing folk songs boisterously!

We ended our time downtown by walking over to the lovely Marienplatz, home of the famous Neo-gothic Neues Rathaus of Munich. It was built in 1867 to help house newer government departments that couldn’t fit into the old Rathaus from the 1470’s. In 1907 an amazing 2 tiered glockenspiel with life sized figures was added to the Rathaus. It has 40+ bells that ring various tunes. Each level depicts a story. The top depicts the 1500’s wedding of Duke Wilhelm V. The bottom tier reminds the citizens of Munich about the Great Plague and that they should dance for joy to ward off any future plagues!