mmm-yoso!!!

Stuttgart - Weingut Franz Keller, Breakfast, and You Know Where We're Headed Next, Right?

After dinner at Alte Kanzlei we headed back to the hotel. We took the "scenic" route, passing thru Schlossplatz once again. It was nice to see folks out and about.....everyone socializing (before Covid-19 of course), no one glued to their smartphone.

The "Golden Hour" was fast approaching and the square took on a different look in the light of fading afternoon

We decided to sit at one of the benches for a few minutes to just watch folks coming, going, and some were having a drink too!

We walked on over to the Neues Schloss and it looked quite stunning at this time of the day.

After which we headed back down Königstrasse…...

And took a quick look at the Hauptbahnhof; the train station which was basically right across the street from our hotel.

As we were about to head into the hotel, the Missus and I spotted the external entry to the hotel restaurant...….there was a wine bar named Weingut Franz Keller next to the restaurant.

During our trip the previous winter, the Missus developed a fondness for the wines of Alsace and She was curious if She's enjoy German Rieslings and Muskats as well.

The prices were nice for half-pours, the wines aren't a sweet as American Rieslings, it was a nice digestif stop for us, as we had two glasses each.

The young man who Served us was so sweet, very kind, friendly.....a really nice guy and made the whole experience fun.

Weingut Franz Keller
Schillerstrasse 23
Stuttgart, Germany

Our train the next morning wasn't until almost 11am....so, we could sleep in...….which we kind of did. We usually wake quite early when travelling….well, check that, I wake early all gthe time these days. Our room had a nice view of the park next to the hotel.

Since we wouldn't be getting into our next stop until after 2pm; we decided to take advantage of the hotel buffet breakfast.

Which, like most buffet breakfasts in Europe was actually not too bad.

And after heading back to our room...where I actually took a perfect 20 minute nap, we were soon enough heading to our next stop; to the Missus's favorite city. You know where right?

Thanks for stopping by!

Stuttgart - The Stiftskirche and Dinner at Alte Kanzlei

After a nice snack at Metzgerei Schneider, we explored and shopped for a bit more, until the Missus decided it was time to head back to the hotel and perhaps find a spot for dinner along the way.

While walking back we came across a grand looking church and since it was still open, we decided to have a look inside. A quick search on my phone indicated that this is the Stiftskirche, which dates back to the 11th century.

There are quite a few burials in the church as Stuttgart became the home to the House of Württemberg in the 14th century.

One side of the nave is lined with statues of the Counts of Württemberg.

And until 1677 all Württemberg rulers were buried in the church.

That's the tomb of Count Ulrich I and his second wife Agnes of Schlesien-Liegnitz, both of whom died in 1265.

There was another tomb with a name that I faintly recognized, but couldn't place until I got home and did some research.  It's the tomb of Johannes Brenz a famous Reformer and Lutheran leader.

All told, we spent nearly an hour in the church. And there was a striking fountain in the square outside the church named Sparkassenbrunnen.

I did a quick translate on my phone expecting the name to mean something exotic or historic; instead Sparkassenbrunnen is translated to smoething along the lines of the ""Savings Bank Fountain". Apparently, there was a bank in front of this fountain in 1912 and in 1919 a fountain was built in this spot. The fountain was destroyed in World War II and this was created as a replacement in 1955.

As we crossed through Schillerplatz, I noticed a restaurant that I had on my short list for Stuttgart. Located in the former Chancellery Building, Alte Kanzlei serves up traditional Swabian Cuisine. While things seem pretty bright; this was the end of May and the sun didn't set until after 9pm. It was already nearly 6 and we thought we'd get something to eat here before heading back to the hotel. The place was actually quite busy.

Our Server was quite efficient and professional. Since we had eaten our sandwiches a bit later than usual; the Missus wanted to try the Asparagus Soup (since She loved all the asparagus we had during this trip).

The bread was quite nice.

The Missus enjoyed Her soup, which had a nice mild vegetal-sweet flavor with a clean finish. As for the almonds....well, we couldn't really taste them in the soup. There was a mild butteriness to the soup as well.

There was one dish that I had read about and wanted to try; Maultaschen, often called "German Ravioli"; it's basically meat mixed with spinach and onions in pasta. There were two variations on the menu. Our nice Server recommended the version coated with eggs and roasted.

Man, this was a lot of very hearty food for 12,9 €! Along with some simple boiled potatoes and a salad, this was enough for both the Missus and I. I'm glad we only ordered one main and the soup.

We found the Maultaschen to be quite mild in flavor, almost bland. The textures were interesting, but the pasta was mushy and filling was on the tough and chewy side.. The Missus loves anything with eggs....well, almost anything as She didn't care much for this. Not bad, but I really expected a bit more. Oh well, can't win 'em all, right?

The service was good and the prices very reasonable. And needless to say, I didn't leave hungry.

Alte Kanzlei
Schillerplatz 5
70173 Stuttgart, Germany

 

Munich to Stuttgart - Leberkäse From Metzgerei Schnieder (You know, it tastes like.....)

I'm sure I've mentioned this before. I love traveling by train; whether it's Japan (amazing) or Europe; or even the US I could easily spend an entire day on a train. The Missus though, does not have the same belief, though She does humor me. So, when I was in the planning stage for our visit to Munich, of course our final destination for the trip was Paris, I found that the "fast train" times from Munich to Paris timed in at a bit over 5 1/2 hours. The Missus does not want to spend more than 4 hours on a train, so I had to come up with a plan. Doing a bit of research; I found that train times for Munich to Stuttgart was about 2 1/2 hours and Stuttgart to Paris clocked in at a tad over 3 hours. After doing a bit of research; it seemed like Stuttgart might be a nice place to spend an evening. And so it came to be.

We were staying a short stroll from Munich Central Train Station and also staying right across the street from the Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof.

Our ride was uneventful and our room was ready when we arrived. We freshened up and, you know the Missus we headed out. The pedestrian only Königstrasse was literally outside our door. The shopping area consisted of mostly chain stores; you know H&M, Zara, and something called TK Maxx? We stopped in a food store and the Missus was immediately engulfed in Haribo products, which She enjoys.

The Missus was less than amused when I mentioned forgetting to tell Her that Haribo was founded in Germany. Anyway, it was a bit of over stimulation which caused purchasing paralysis and the Missus eventually lost focus and just bought a couple of items. So at least for the moment "Meine brieftasche wurde gerettet".

At the end of the street is a large and lovely square, Schlossplatz, the palace square.

It was a lovely day and this being the end of May (2019), folks were taking advantage of the lovely weather.

On one side of the square resides the Neues Schloss ("New Palace").

Along with other historic buildings like the Kunstgebäude ("Art Building").

Other historic buildings, a lot of green spaces and some interesting memorials.

That's the Memorial to Victims of Nazis above and the Mercury Pillar below.

By this time; the Missus and I wanted something small to eat. It was mid-afternoon and we just needed something to hold us until dinner. A block away from the Schlossplatz is the Markthalle (Market Hall), so I suggested we take a look there.

And while it was fun oogling the produce.....we spent an inordinate amount of time looking at white asparagus.....

Right at the other end of the Market Hall is another pedestrian street; Hirschstrasse. And as we strolled down the street, I saw this shop.

While the Missus had a seat; I decided to take a look. And though I wasn't able to read the menu.....

I saw a few things I was interested in and I think the friendly woman working got a kick out of me trying to figure things out. In the end, I got the Missus a Spam ummm, Leberkässemmel (remember the "sir...please no not say Spam....please...…"). This was quite good; even better than what we had in Munich.

That roll was yeasty and crusty; the formed meat was fairly tender, and yes, it tasted like a cross between bologna and "you know what".....

I enjoyed hat I had ordered even more; Paprika Leberkäse, which along with the good roll, was crisp around the edges.

Loved the pickles and red peppers that was studded in the meat. There was a slight smokiness to this as well. Really cheap (like 2 Euroes each) and (more than) enough to hold us until dinner.

Metzgerei Schneider
Hirschstrasse 8
Stuttgart, Germany

Hunger sated, we headed off back in the direction we had come from. The afternoon would soon be heading into evening and we still wanted to do a bit more shopping and exploring.

Thanks for stopping by!

Munich - Odeonsplatz, Max-Joseph-Platz, Hofgarten, and Dinner at Schiller Brau

Yes, I'm trying to work thru my backlog of travel posts....so please bear with me.

After a caffeine break at Dallmayr, the Missus was ready to tackle the rest of our "stroll"..... right up the street is Max-Joseph-Platz, named after Maximilian I, the first king of Bavaria whose statue is the centerpiece of the square.

The square also houses the National Theatre and the Residenz, once the royal palace of the House of Wittelsbach which once ruled over large swatches of Europe; Bavaria, Sweden, Greece, Denmark, even the Holy Roman Empire!

We headed up to yet another huge square; Odeonsplatz. Which is crowned by the Feldherrnhalle ("Field Marshals' Hall"). But first there was something I wanted to see; a street named Viscardigasse. Notice the gold cobblestones in this pedestrian only street.

When Hitler came to power, he created a memorial to the "first matyrs of the Third Reich" in the Beer Hall Putsch. All Germans were required to do the Hitlergruss (Nazi Salute) upon entering the Odeonsplatz. Viscardigasse became an alternate route where people could avoid having to perform the salute. The street is also known as Drückebergergasse ("Shirker's Alley"). The cobblestones memorialize this act of civil disobedience.

The Odeonsplatz was created by the House of Wittelsbach. The Feldherrnhalle looked looked quite familiar to us.

The other structure that got our attention was the Theatinerkirche which was built in the latter half of the 17th century.

If we hadn't already done so much on this day, we'd have visited....but man, we'd already done quite a bit.

We walked pass the Residenz.

And the striking Bavarian Chancellery.....

To what was once the royal garden of the Wittelsbachs; the Hofgarten.

It's a striking, relaxing, and elegantly beautiful green space.

There was a wonderful pianist playing in the Pavilion of Diana; which is in the center of the park.

One of the enjoyable parts of this visit was coming across interesting memorials and landmarks. I was curious about that rather simple stone memorial above. I took a photo and looked it up when we got back to the apartment later that evening. I found out that this is the memorial to the Trümmerfrau ("Rubble Women") who helped to clear and reconstruct Germany and Austria after all the destruction of World War II. And while there's some disagreement about the amount of women and such; I still found it quite touching.

I also noticed the fountain to my right....which seemed to have Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf on it. Turns out; it's called the "Wolfsbrunnen" (Wolf Fountain) which was created in 1904 by sculptors Heinrich Düll and Georg Pezold.

From here we headed down the very busy and quite touristy street known as Platzl, with the required Starbucks, Hard Rock Café, and a place that was recommended to me by a couple of folks. A famous beer hall named Hofbräuhaus. It was quite busy....

And quite touristy; which is not a bad things since; well, we're tourists, right? But this was a bit much for us....it seemed like every cliché was in fine form here; the Tyrolean Hats? Check. Lederhosen? You bet? It was just kind of overwhelming for us..... I guess Augustiner-Keller is more our speed.

We decided to head on back to the apartment and figure out where to stop for dinner. The Missus had fun doing some shopping along the way.

We made our way back to the apartment and relaxed for a bit. We weren't super hungry and I basically wanted some snacks and a beer (or three). There was a brew pub that we kept passing everyday named Schiller Brau, located in the MK Hotel München City. It would turn out to be just what we needed after a fairly busy day.

I was quickly told that the special beers are brewed onsite...…..and I got a Helles; the Missus Weissbier. I really enjoyed the lightly hoppy, hazy, full bodies Helles.

We started with the "trio of spreads".

Which came with a nice, slightly dense pretzel.  We both loved the slightly funky "cheese spread" (Obatza) which had some onion and a bit of smokiness went really well with the pretzel. The apple lard spread (Griebenschmalz) was a bit on the lighter side, but fine. The potato salad was routine and filled out the trio.

One of the reasons we had dinner here was that the Missus saw that the place had a special for the evening......white asparagus. She was still thinking about how much She enjoyed what we had at Plachutta Wollzeile in Vienna.

This was prepared quite simply; which we believe was for the best as we could really enjoy the sweet-slightly bitter-vegetal flavors. The texture was firm but not chewy......simple is best sometimes, right? The potatoes were perfect in texture...and heck; we didn't even use the sauce.

As this was our last evening in Munich; I have sort of a tradition of having a beer (or two) back in our room/apartment. So, I went ahead an bought two bottles of the Helles. In what was a very nice gesture; our Server gave us two Schiller Brau bottle openers as a gift.

One of which I carry with me when we travel. It reminds me of the joys of traveling and all the amazing folks we've run across over the years. I was just looking at it wistfully earlier in the week. It's resting right now; but hopefully soon I can put it to use again.

Schiller Bräu
23 Schillerstrasse
80336 Münich, Germany

Thanks for stopping by!

Munich - The Asamkirche, St Michael's Church, and a Caffiene Break at Dallmayr Delikatessenhaus

**** Not much food in this one as I'm trying to go through my backlog of travel posts.

After visiting the Viktualienmarkt and finishing up my "sir...please no not say Spam....please...… we continued meandering along.

This very modern looking structure is the Ohel Jakob Synagogue. I read that this area, around Sankt-Jakobs-Platz was where the original Synagogue stood; which was destroyed by Hitler in 1938.

On this day; it was a nice peaceful place; close to busy streets and businesses.

There are things that aren't in the guidebooks that you come across when you do the "Flânerie" thing; like these interesting colored tiles.

Sometimes they remain a mystery until I'm able to do a bit of research after getting back home. But this one had a sign in English.

This is the "Monument to the Gays and Lesbians Persecuted under the Nazi Regime". There wasn't much I could find in English; but you might find this article of interest.

A few blocks down Sendlinger Strasse; a busy shopping street was our next stop; the Asam Church (Asamkirche). Also known as Church of St. Johann Nepomuk; this 30 foot wide church was created in the Baroque style by two brothers, sculptor Egid Quirin Asam and painter Cosmas Damian Asam as a private church....so basically, they could really go for it. And I've read that the church could act as a showroom of sorts for the brothers.

So, basically every inch of this chapel is decorated.

In fact, if you do travel to Munich; get Rick Steves guide to Munich and Salzburg, the part on the Asam Church s highly entertaining and a hoot. Mentioning that this private pale of worship served as a "promotional brochure to woo clients, and is packed with every architectural trick in the books."

From the ceiling art....which is created in such a way to make it seem like a domed ceiling to the golden gilded grim reaper snipping off the thread of life.....there's quite a bit packed into one fairly tight Barogue space.

I had read that it was never the intention of the brothers to make the church public; but pressure from local citizens forced the family to allow for public access.

Whatever the intentions and backstory, the Asam Church was a fun short visit for us.

Like I mentioned earlier in the post; Sendlinger Strasse, the street the church is located on is quite a popular shopping area. The Missus enjoyed window shopping as we headed down the street. As always, half the fun is people watching.

I wish things were like Paris and there was a outdoor café handy; it would have been fun having a coffee and just sitting down to watch folks (and their pets) walk by.

We turned a corner and headed up Eisenmannstrasse and found ourselves in front of the impressive St. Michael's Church; with its distinctive façade featuring statues of the House of Wittelsbach; which ruled Bavaria from 1198 until 1918! The church is also considered to be the largest Renaissance church north of the Alps. The church itself was created by the Jesuits as part of the "Counter-Reformation" to counter the Protestant Reformation in 1583.

The Altar stands three stories high.

The crypt down the stairs contains the tombs of the Wittelbach. For us; the item that really stood out was the huge Monument to Eugène de Beauharnais who is also interred in the crypt of the church.

After visiting St Michael's we decided to find a café and grab a caffeine fix. I had a place in mind and along the way was the impressive Frauenkirche, which is the location of the Archdiocese of Munich.

It quite amazing that this Gothic inspired church was built in only 22 years - from 1466 - 1488.

Much of the church was destroyed during World War II, the towers survived and the church was rebuilt around that.

What really got our attention was the monument of Ludwig IV as you enter the church.

There's also the Der Teufelstritt (The Devil's Footprint); my photo unfortunately didn't come out.....hmmm......

There's also this relic of Pius X in the cathedral.

As for our caffeine fix; I decided on a place I thought the Missus, who really enjoyed the cafe's in Vienna, might like. Established in 1700, Dallmayr Delicatessen seemed like a place we might like. The "Stammhaus"; the original store is huge, has three entrances, consists of 19 departments, and we were greeted by a fountain...nothing strange about that, right? Except this one had live cray fish in it.....

Though we were tempted by the many offerings...….Dallmayr was given the title of "Royal Bavarian Court Supplier" in 1900 and it's easy to see why.

We headed upstairs to the Café-Bistro Dallmayr​.

While the possibility of Lobster Thermidor (a "light lunch"?) seemed interesting; I was still full of Spam Leberkäse, we decided to just get some coffee. The Missus got the French Press which came with the old fashion hours glass timer; very quaint.

I just needed a picker-upper and got a double espresso.

Which was just what I needed.

After finishing up; we spent a bit of time downstairs and the Missus got some gifts for friends back home.

And then we headed out; there were still a couple of other places the Missus wanted to see.

Dallmayr Delikatessenhaus
Dienerstrasse 14-15
München, Germany

Thankful for a nice little break and bolstered by our coffees we headed back out.

As we walked through Marienplatz for the umpteenth time, I was happy to have had a double espresso.

We still had a few sights the Missus had on Her "list"

Well, we're almost at 950 words now...….so, I'll continue on in a future post.

Thanks as always for stopping by!

Munich - A Morning Walk, Weisswurst at the Viktualienmarkt, and "No Please Do Not Call it....."

Our Monday in Munich was going to be our "walking day", as the Missus had a broad outline worked out. We headed out from our apartment and a few blocks away got to the Missus's starting point, a large square officially known as Karlsplatz, but which most folks in Munich call "Stachus".

Right past the square as you head toward the city center, you pass through Karlstor. While the city walls of Munich were torn down near the end of the 18th Century; three of the gates remain.

This gate is one of the entrances to Munich's "Pedestrian Zone". It is obviously one of the main shopping streets as well.

We were surprised at all the "little surprises" we found on our way to our breakfast stop. It was fun and there was a lot to catch our attention and I'm sure we missed quite a bit as well.

I thought the fountain to the right was quite interesting. It's named Brunnenburbel - "Fountain Boy". It was quite interesting; apparently the fountain depicts a Satyr spitting water on a boy. The story goes that the boy was trying to stop the Styr from peeing, so the Satyr grabbed the boy and started spitting on him. I mentioned this to someone and was told; "it is very German....you see, in Belgium, they celebrate a boy peeing (Mannekin Pis)...here, even the little boys know it's wrong, and try to stop it, even at a cost". I dunno know about that, but it's very quaint, no?

During our walk down Neuhauser Strasse we saw a few things that reminded us of places we had been to before.

The first was at this place.

This is the German Hunting and Fishing Museum. And no it wasn't the giant Wels catfish outside; but rather this fellow, do you recognize him from a previous post?

Yes, it's a copy of Il Porcellino…..you recall that in Florence, I managed to "feed Mr Piggy".....so, according to legend, I'm supposed to return to Florence one day!

And just a bit further down we came across this fellow!

Shades of Salzburg. We had just come from Salzburg, where you couldn't help but run into Stephan Balkenhol's "Sphaera". And here, leading to a shopping lane named Kaufingertor Passage was this sculpture. I had a bit of a time trying to find out the name of this one. After a bit of work; I found that the name of this piece was simply “Man with outstretched arms and white shirt”. Go figure.

And of course all roads....or make that pedestrian streets leads to Marienplatz.

Even on a Monday at right before 9 am, the place was fairly busy.

On our way back, later in the day, we'd actually get a chance to see the Glockespiel on the New Town Hall go off. It's quite entertaining.

It might be obvious to you; but Marienplaz literally means "Mary's Square". The column that stands near the middle of the square is named Mariensäule "Mary's Column", a Marian column that dates back to 1638 and was created to celebrate Bavaria's victory over Swedish Troops during the Thirty Years War. At the top of the column a golden statue of the Virgin Mary stands on a gold crescent moon, befitting her title of "Queen of Heaven".

In case you were wondering what happened to the Old Town Hall; well, it's right there at the end of the square.

In retrospect, the Missus and I were quite surprised at all the church's in Munich, we ended up visiting quite a few. Our last stop before "breakfast" was St Peter's Church.

St Peter's Church is said to be the oldest Catholic Church in Munich. It is also noted that as far back as the 8th Century monks lived around a little church on this hill. This church dates back to the 12th Century.

I found of this interesting and I really enjoyed the ceiling Frescoes.

But there was one main reason I wanted to visit. In one of the side Altars of the church you'll find a coffin of glass. The skeleton in that coffin is covered with a bejeweled body stocking....gold and jewels abound. The skeleton's eyes are glass.

This is the skeleton of Saint Munditia who is the Patron Saint of....wait for it.....Spinsters! Her remains have been interred in the church since 1675.

Well, after that visit.....it was time to grab a rather late breakfast.

We had enjoyed our short visit to the Viktualienmarkt on the day we arrived in Munich, so I really wanted to check the place out again and I also wanted the Missus to try some Weisswurst and it had to be eaten at the right time.....according to tradition Weisswurst should never be eaten after the bell chimes for noon. Traditionally, Weisswurst were made without preservatives fresh each morning, so they needed to be consumed before midday.

The Viktualienmarkt Beer Garden doesn't open until 10am, which is why we spent the morning wandering around a bit. After arriving we went and checked out some shops and produce stands.

Thing were fairly laid back and quite relaxed when we arrived.

And after exploring for a bit; we headed off to the Beer Garden.

And ordered the Missus Her Weisswurst. No beer for us; 10am is too early for "beer o'clock"....at least for us....even in Munich.

I instructed the Missus to peel off the casing before eating. I'd read that Weisswurst is white because no nitrites. which preserve color are used in making this pork, veal, and fatback, sausage. The Missus loved it! This was fairly mild in flavor, not salty, you could make out a bit of porkiness, some almost citrus tones....it was quite good. The Missus is now sold on Weisswurst…….She even prefers it without mustard. She also enjoyed the Sauekraut as well. This as enough for both the Missus and I for a pseudo brunch.

As we were leaving the Viktualienmarkt  area I passed the little shop above. I saw the sign.....displayed to the right and something caught my eye. Leberkässemmel….for 2 Euroes! Leberkäse is a Bavarian and Austrian specialty that folks compare to bologna. This was a nice slice of meat product tucked into a roll (semmel), with mustard to cut the porkiness and salt. I really enjoyed this.

You know, the flavor is very familiar. As we were walking up the street, I told the Missus, "you know this really tastes like...." when a tall gentleman turned around and in a very kindly voice said, "sir...please no not say Spam....please...…" Okay, then...…..let's just say it was delicious, how's that? (pssst, it does kinda taste like you know what...….)

We were having a lot of fun in Munich and our day wasn't even half done!

Thanks for stopping by!

Munich - Augustiner Keller Biergarten

What would be better after a busy day walking around Munich, than having a (couple of) cold one(s), right? And of course we were in Munich, so we had to check out at least one beer garden. Folks I knew recommended Hofbrauhaus, but I did a bit of reading and the place just screamed "tourist". Augustiner Keller on the other hand; well, I'm sure that many tourists visit; in fact we got to chatting with two fellows from the UK who were visiting while their wives were off on a "girls trip". Also, Augustiner Keller seemed quite close to where we were staying....at least it seemed that way.

So, we headed out taking a left down Landwehrstrasse, walking past the Church of Saint Paul and taking another right, then a left, eventually finding a pedestrian overpass to the large street below.

Then heading up a nice pedestrian path named the Kurt Haertel Passage, then crossing over all the train tracks on Hackerbrücke (Hacker Bridge), where I noticed couples climbing up the railing. I later learned that this is a favorite place to view the sunset for young couples.

We made it to the other side and walked East for a rather long block where I saw this rather discreet sign.

Which belies how huge Augustiner Keller is; established in 1812, first legally serving beer outdoors since 1842, the place seats 5,000 people under 100 Chestnut trees, has three restaurants, a fairly expensive regular restaurant, a table service outdoor area, and a self-service area, where I understand folks can even bring their own food. It was a happening place on this beautiful Sunday at the end of May.

We decided on the self-service side of things.

And while the pretzels and pork knuckle looked mighty tempting......

We decided on encased meats in tubular form. Beer was dispensed from wooden barrels and you can get half liter pours....but c'mon, you're in a beer garden in Munich. You need to get beer in a stein (rightfully called a "mass" in German) the size of your head.

The Missus, who just really wanted some sauerkraut, got the Nuremberg Rostbratwurstel which came with Sauerkraut (8,8€).

Six very porky sausages, with slight lemony-herbaceous tones, with a nice "snap" to them. The Missus loved the flavor of the sauerkraut; though the texture was on the soft-mushy side.

I saw a sausage I enjoyed earlier on the trip and got the Käsekrainer (8,4€), basically a sausages stuffed with cheese, which came with fries.

The beer was wonderful, quite refreshing, I had two. The fries were fairly crisp but standard issue, the sausage was not quite as good as what I had in Austria....but I still enjoy that vein of milky cheese in the middle.

We really enjoyed our meal...in a beer garden; in Munich, on a beautiful day, under chestnut trees, surrounded by mellow folks enjoying the day, and drinking a beer the size of my head.

I mean really...….

Augustiner-Keller
Arnulfstrasse 52
80335 Münich, Germany

Life was good!

Thanks for stopping by!

Munich - The Egyptian Museum, Alte Pinakothek, Lunch at Bar Mural, The "Michael Jackson" Memorial (Orlando di Lasso Statue) and Other "Stuffs"

After a wonderful dinner at Werneckhof by Geisel, we slept soundly. I of course, woke pretty early and just checked email, worked on a post, downloaded some photos. After the Missus woke, I went out and grabbed some coffee, organized stuff and then headed on out. While making some broad plans, I noticed that even though many places are closed on Sunday...which this day was, Museums in the Kunstareal ("Art District"), the city's Museum Quarter charged just 1€ admission! The Missus has been dreaming of travelling to Egypt and our last visit to the Louvre, where we spent most of the visit at the Department of Egyptian Antiquities added fuel to the fire. I told Her Munich had an Egyptian Museum....so of course we had to visit.

So, we headed off....it was a nice day....Sunday at the end of May seemed to be pretty quiet......

We knew we were close when we passed the Propylaea, a large city gate built in 1862 modeled after the Propylaea in Athens which is the gate to the Acropolis.

The main street, Gabelsbergerstrasse is very wide making things look a lot grander.

The Egyptian Museum looks kinda strange at first glance - big and boxy.

And there was this sculpture basically in front of the museum.

At first glance I was a bit puzzled; I actually told the Missus, "why is there a sculpture of what looks like a guy barfing in front of the museum?" After doing a bit of research, I found that this work is named Present Continuous by Henk Visch. If you want to know more, you can read this.

Upon paying our Euro and entering the museum, I got the design......it's to give you the impression you're entering an ancient tomb.

We loved the lighting, the nice spacing between exhibits, and there were just a few people in the place!

There are routes marked on the floors and it was just a fun place to visit.

And the Missus of course reminded me that I owe Her a trip to Egypt.

One of these days......

Right across the street is the Alte Pinakothek ("Old Art Gallery") and since it was only going to cost us a Euro and didn't look crowded we decided to check it out.

The collection features works by Raphael, Leonardo, Botticelli, Rembrant, and Rubens.

The Flemish paintings really caught my eye - like the Two Satyrs by Rubens (to the right).

And the Satyr and the Peasants by Jacob Jordaens. (below)

Things were starting to get crowded, so it was time to head off to lunch.

Like I mentioned earlier in this post....it seems like a lot of restaurants near the city center are closed on Sunday. I'd managed to find a place that wasn't too fancy; it was a sibling of a Michelin Starred Restaurant, and got some reservations for 230 in the afternoon. Which meant we could take our time walking there.

We headed South East, passing the distinctive Obelisk....apparently this was built to commemorate Bavarian Soldiers who fought with Napoleon's Army against Russia.

Then past the Statue of Max Joseph von Pettenkofer in Maximiliansplatz.

Then headed back up Amalienstrasse taking right turn on Theresienstrasse, noting that all the shops were closed and found Bar Mural....which was also pretty quiet.

Bar Mural was basically a wine bar, with a small eight item menu....stuff like Egg Benedicts.....Pastrami Sandwiches.....and the like. We decided to just get a couple of things....after all, we had a biergarten in our sights for dinner.

We got the cheese plate and the 63 Degree Egg with Tomato Compotte…...it was just meh......

The cheese was the wrong temp...too cold.

The egg was fine; the tomato compote adding some nice acidity, but this was underseasoned and kind of bland overall.

Can't win 'em all, right?

Bar Mural
Theresienstrasse 1
München, Germany

We decided to check out Marienplatz before heading back to the apartment for a nice afternoon nap. There was one thing I as kinda curious to see. It's that statue pictured to the right; it's of composer Orlando di Lasso. But look at the bottom of the statue...recognize anything? Yes....that's photos of Michael Jackson. According to Atlas Obscura, soon after Michael Jackson's death folks started laying flowers and wreaths at the base of this monument. Why? Well, there's no relationship between Jackson and di Lasso; rather this is because Jackson's favorite hotel in Munich; the Bayerischer Hof Hotel is right across the street. So this is better known as the "Michael Jackson Memorial" these days. Go figure....

Nearby is this interesting "statue".

It's an aluminum statue of Bavarian Statesman Maximilian Joseph Von Montgelas, aka "Maximilian Karl Joseph Franz de Paula Hieronymus de Garnerin de la Thuile, Count von Montgelas".....whew, can you imagine that signature?

As we headed to Marienplatz, we noticed police, road blocks, and could hear music playing. When we got to Marienplatz, we notice a very large, but really peaceful crowd.

We noticed folks.....adults, children, and even dogs and cats dressed in red jerseys. And then some folk appeared on the balcony of the Town Hall. Apparently, the local Football (Soccer) Team, FC Bayern had won the their league championship. It as great to see a large crowd, relaxed, mellow, celebrating with their local team.

It was a fun scene......Munich was turning out to be much more than we thought it would be!

Thanks for stopping by!

Munich - A Quick Visit to the Viktualienmarkt and Dinner at Werneckhof by Geisel

When planning our trip last year that started in Budapest and ended in the Missus's favorite city....yep, Paris, I needed to find stops in between. While the Missus does humor my desire to travel by train; She requested that no trip be longer than three hours or so. So, when planning our exit from Salzburg, I had to keep that parameter in mind. After providing a few options; the Missus agreed on Munich. It seemed an interesting city, we'd never been to Germany....and frankly, I'd always wanted to check out an honest to goodness Beer Garden.

Once, I started to do a bit of research, I got a bit excited when I read about Werneckhof by Geisel, lead by a German-Japanese Chef; Tohru Nakamura. I managed to snag reservations quite easily, considering the place has 2 Michelin Stars.

We arrived at the huge sprawling Munich Central Train Station after a uneventful two hour ride from Salzburg. I had made arrangements to stay at an Airbnb on Schillerstrasse a quick stroll from the train station. The rather "International" and slightly seed feel to the neighborhood bothered the Missus at first. But, in the end, She took to the area.

Of course, after settling in, the Missus wanted to head out right away....some things never change. I had wanted to check out the Viktualienmarkt, Munich's popular and very well known open air market. So, we headed on over. The Market has a long history, dating back to the 15th century....though it became a market by official decree in 1807.

Considering that the market is centrally located in Munich; it's amazing to consider that it covers an area of five-and-a-half acres!

Wanting just to quickly check things out; we started at the Maypole, which along with a bit of history, also lists out, like a typical traditional one, the various specialties of the region.

Among the many traditions that surround the Maypole is the mischievous one where rival villages try to steal their neighbor's Maypole. Here's a funny story of a group from the tiny village of Neufinsing (population 4300) who managed to pull off a heist of the Munich Maypole! When the terms of ransom was settled; the thieves managed to get two meals and beer out of it! You gotta love it!

We found folks in Munich and Stuttgart to be very well mannered and yet friendly in a reserved kind of way.

And also very social.

We'd return to the Viktualienmarkt and actually have a meal and spend a bit more time shopping later on during our stay.

We decided to take a quick walk to the Marienplatz ("Mary's Square"), considered to be the hustling-bustling heart of Munich. The massive New Town Hall ("Neues Rathaus") with its famous Glockenspiel takes up one entire side of the square.

We'd return here several times during our stay as well.

For now; it was time to head back to the apartment to take a short rest before heading out to dinner. Dinner was in the North Eastern part of Munich. We ended up taking the U-Banh from the Goetheplatz station and got out at Giselastrasse. From there, Google Maps was my friend and we found Werneckhof by Geisel.

The exterior is very low keyed; we were greeted immediately after entering the restaurant, shown our table, and then taken to meet the chef. We were the first customers this evening; so it was nice chatting with Chef Nakamura; whose father is Japanese and Mother German. The Chef was also interested in why we chose to dine at Werneckhof by Geisel. We mentioned our affinity for Franco-Japanese cuisine, we loved how well the flavors melded together, the precise cooking and presentation, how some places edged more on European and others more Asian. We then rattled off some of the places we'd been to; Sola, Takao Takano, Alliance, and the Chef smiled and mentioned cooking with these Chefs during events and having actually worked in the same kitchen as well.

Dinner started with nice aperitifs, then the appetizer course. We were thrilled that the appetizers revolved around white asparagus which was in season. Each using white asparagus in different preparations.

The pickled asparagus was a sight to behold, wonderfully presented, the tofu and sorrel vinaigrette amazingly smooth. The raw asparagus was amazingly sweet and was balanced out with rocket and camelina. The grilled version was probably the most mundane of the trio; though you really couldn't complain about the quality of the product. The preparations was a nice way to enjoy and appreciate how delicious white asparagus is.

The Missus and I each took one of the tasting menus so, even though there was some overlap we'd be able to get a nice, full range of dishes.

Up next for me was the "Hamachi". Basically a Yellowtail Tatare and some sliced like sashimi.

This was a wonderful range of textures; the firm, yet buttery Hamachi, the thick, rich parsley sauce, and in an interesting touch, the marinade in buttermilk, which added a pleasant milky-acidity to the dish.

First up for the Missus was the Langoustine in Shiitake Aspic, with Oyster and Anchovies.

I wasn't sure how all these really strong flavors would work together; but there was a good amount of balance in the earthy versus the oceany-savory.....and that langoustine basically melted in your mouth!

We both had the Bavarian Salmon Trout (Steelhead) as our next dish.

The sesame and kombu beurre blanc was quite interesting adding a mixture of nutty-slightly briny flavors to the very tender fish. Yuzu added a nice acidity that helped to cut the richness. In a fairly humorous moment, the Maître'd Markus, a very mellow and friendly young man, ambled on over and started explaining what Yuzu and Kombu was......I started laughing and told him "I'm Japanese" and he cracked up saying that most of the customers, especially the German customers have no idea what these ingredients are and for many, the flavors are still mysterious and exotic. I really enjoyed chatting with Markus and his twin brother, who is the Sommelier, Tobias.

Next dish up, the Gilthead Seabream, another overlap in our tasting menu.

The rice was a bit underdone; but the pressed octopus and especially the fish based sauce was an amazing umami bomb. The fish was perfectly tender; I'm thinking it might have been sous vide.

At this point, we were asked to stretch out legs and led downstairs.

And we were taken to....."Shibuya"!

In the restaurant's wine cellar, a little bar was set-up along with the fixins for some Kushi Shabu. And some great entertainment from the "Mad Professor".....

We got sake or shochu, and a couple of skewers......

We were regaled with stories of the chef and other staff, various jokes, and of course everything ended with the perfect photo-op as well!

We returned to our table for the "main courses". By now the dining room was starting to fill up.

Next up for me was a super tender, rich, and delicious Luma (a company from Switzerland which specializes in Aged Pork) Pork Belly topped with wonderfully earthy morel mushrooms.

The Missus had nice, though rather forgettable (compared to the pork belly) BBQ Eel.

And the meal's crescendo for me was the Ozaki Wagyu......whoa man.

And that truffle sauce....with a nice savory-spicy touch of Gochujang...….

The Missus's Koji Brined Grilled Saddle of Venison was also a big winner.

The lovely, flavor of the pasture, perfectly cooked, fork tender, the jus amazing....a touch of wasabi...good lord; an amazing dish!

And as a palate cleanser...the Missus absolutely loved Erna....the name of the Kombucha's Scoby…..

Dessert here were no joke......the Missus was in heaven.

Shiso, Medlar, Elderflower, and Yogurt.

Mara de Bois Strawberries, Tahitian Vanilla, Tonka Bean, and Sansho.

Hojicha, Raspberry and Lemon Balm.

I thought the snacks that were brought out with the check were presented wonderfully, on a map of Munich where these confections were created.

And I really enjoyed the fortune cookies.

We really enjoyed our meal at Werneckhof by Geisel. And much like our meal at Takao Takano a mere six months before; it was definitely one of the best meals we've had. We loved the effcient yet relaxed service and vibe; not stuffy in the least, a nice playfulness, but with seriously executed food. Markus and Tobias were amazing...….I still remember their names. And that's a photo of Chef Nakamura stirring the pot as a child to the right......he's been cooking for a long time!

I seriously think we'll try to return.

Werneckhof by Geisel
Werneckstrasse 11
80802 München, Germany

We caught a taxi back to the apartment....there were some road closures, so we had the very friendly cabbie drop us off a couple of blocks from our residence. The short walk back actually did us good. We'd get a great night's sleep and wake ready for another busy day!

Thanks for stopping by!