We had another quiet week at home!
Thursday, we had dinner with one of Matt’s golfing buddies and his girlfriend. We met in downtown Stuttgart for Korean barbecue. It was so good, we haven’t had it for about two years so it was a treat!
This weekend, we went to Munich and Legoland. We dropped the dogs off at the kennel early Saturday morning and drove straight to Munich, about two hours away. Matt and I had visited Munich in 2017 but we still had some things we wanted to see and the kids had never been.
First stop was Marienplatz and we timed it perfectly to catch the 11am glockenspiel, where the clock plays a show on the hour change at 11 and 12.
No one had breakfast that morning so we got kebabs for lunch right after. Our plan was to climb the St. Peter’s Church tower but it didn’t open until noon so we wandered around the Viktualienmarkt until then.
The Viktualien is a big open air market with a huge Biergarten in the center. Oktoberfest would usually be opening this weekend but it was cancelled this year. It seemed like everyone was still dressed in their dirndls and lederhosen and enjoying their beer, just in a different setting this year. The Biergarten was packed!
We headed back to the church and waited for our turn to climb to the top. The climb was hard! We have climbed quite a few towers so I don’t know what made this one especially difficult. The steps were really steep and narrow so that was one thing, but the masks definitely didn’t help either. We were all out of breath by the time we reached the top.
The view was amazing! It was such a clear day, you could see for miles in every direction, including the Alps, miles to the south.
voted to rebuild it in its original design.
After we climbed back down the tower, we walked to Odeonsplatz and saw The Residenz, Munich’s royal palace. We decided we weren’t in the mood for a tour and snapped some photos and kept going.
As we walked around the side of The Residenz, we saw a side door was opened up. We peeked inside and the doorway led to the Palace’s central courtyard, one of the highlights of the tour. We walked in and got a few photos and then were on our way. We got what we came for!
Next up was the English Garden, Munich’s huge public park. Because the weather was so nice, it felt like all of Munich was there. People were picnicking, laying out, musicians were playing, and people were playing sports.
We walked and walked for ages. There are lakes and a canal that go through the park. We finally made it to our first intended destination, the wave on the Einsbach River. Because of the water rushing through at that point, there is a permanent wave that surfers take turns on. It was really cool, they definitely have quite an organized system of how to take turns and how long you can take. There were probably 30 surfers or more waiting and everyone went as though it was rehearsed.
Next up was the Chinese Tower Biergarten. We walked another long distance to the center of the park where there is a huge Biergarten. There were probably 1000s of people just in this area. We quickly found a table and got some beers and food. There was even an oompa band to complete the atmosphere.
Once we’d had enough, we headed back to the car. To put into perspective how big the park is, it took us about 30 minutes to walk directly out (without stopping like we did on the way in) and the Chinese Tower Biergarten is only about at the halfway mark. We still had to walk a further 15 minutes back to the car.
We got checked into our hotel, which is the same one we stayed in in 2017. It was MUCH different though due to covid. The bar was closed and there were no free cookies or water. The atmosphere was definitely different too without our huge Oktoberfest crew. Hopefully it will go back to the way it was. The hotel and room were still nice, the stay just wasn’t what we expected.
We had dinner and some drinks around the corner at an Italian restaurant and called it an early night.
Sunday’s adventure was Legoland. This was one of the demands on Ryan’s list for moving here so we were so happy to finally get him here.
At the center of the park is a huge “village” of lego models of German cities, and some other major cities around Europe. The displays even had moving trucks and boats and interactive controls.
We all had a lot of fun. There weren’t that many rides for older kids, but Brooklyn and Ryan were still super excited to get there. The lego displays and food made up for the lack of rides. Everyone was super tired on the way home.
Next week we aren’t going anywhere, so we’re looking forward to recuperating. Matt is also supposed to pick up his new car on Friday, so that will be our excitement for the week.
Gilcrests Abroad 