Hey guys! I’m so happy to finally write about our family summer vacation of 2019. Initially this trip wasn’t even in our plans, but about 2 months ago, on our way back home from Paris, the idea crossed my mind. Why not go backpacking or on a road trip?? Knowing that the Husband only had about 10 days off of work this summer, this couldn’t be too far away from home. We finally settled with a Germany – Czech Republic – the Netherlands trip and you know what, we have absolutely no regrets!!!
Our trip started with 3 excited travellers waiting at the Gare Routiere in Metz, France (at 2:30AM!!). Armed with our backpacks, jackets, and travelling pillows, we were more than ready for our Flixbus ride to bring us to Munich.
We were right on time, but halfway in the ride, we had a little police check-up which took almost an hour! I don’t know what they were looking for or if the police found something, but we checked out just fine!
While waiting for everything to wrap, Baby Girl and I took the time to pick up some snacks. We agreed that we would only buy snacks not sold back home. Both snacks we bought were too sweet for us.
Close to 11am, we finally arrived at Munich. Overall, the trip was quite good. Obviously the delay because of the police check-up was completely out of Flixbus’s hands. Did I mention that at around 4am a group of young adults who had partied all night and were drunk rode with us in the bus? I was shit-scared the whole time that one would vomit on me or even in the bus!!!
Because it was too late to check-in in our hotel, we decided that the first thing we wanted to visit was the famous Marienplatz. Well, that’s before we had a little « lost in translation » situation. LOL. Sure of himself, the Husband led us here (see photo above) to this church. Obviously, this wasn’t the famous city center we were looking for.
I decided to take control of the situation (with the help of google map). Turns out we were a few couple of kilometres far from our destination. After a quick tram ride and some walking, we were finally heading in the right way.
My first impression of the city was how green it was. Everywhere I turned I could see plants, trees, and more plants! We were under the city’s charm. What we were not charmed about though was the fact that a lot of things in the city were closed. I know, I know –it’s a Sunday. But does the Viktualienmarkt (see photo above) have to be closed?! It’s a touristic spot for Chrissakes!!
We continued to wander off. But I have to admit that while I was taking photos of everything and everything around me, I was a little worried thinking of what other places were closed that day as well. Boo.
Aside from the green scenery, we also couldn’t help but notice the number of locals using bikes and how into it they were. I learned that the hard way when I was shouted at a« Allo!! »when I accidentally found myself standing in the bike lane. I swear I leapt about a foot high while the Husband and Baby Girl were laughing at me. This has since become a family inside joke. LOL.
And so we continued walking in the streets of Munich, always on the watch-out for bikes. Haha. When I finally saw St. Peter’s Church, I knew we weren’t too far away from what we were looking for.
I’ve always been fascinated by this kind of art.
Finally, Marienplatz!!
Marienplatz is Munich’s main square since 1158. In the photo above, you can see the New City Hall or in German, Neues Rathaus. I laugh now, but I kinda was confused back there about what the hell was a « rat house ».
We got there just before noon which was perfect for the Rathaus-Glockenspiel show. Apparently every day at 12 noon, the Rathaus-Glockenspiel chimes and re-enacts two stories from the 16th century. I honestly had no idea what was going on, but like most tourists there I was in awe.
A family who gets lost together, stays together??
A personal favorite of ours – listening to music being played in the streets. Sometimes we even find the artists on Youtube when we come back home.
After we were done going around Marienplatz, we decided to go down by foot to the Beer Garden. Thankfully, Sunday or not, this was not closed!! We decided to grab something to eat and no shock there – some beer. Well, visiting Munich wouldn’t exactly be visiting Munich without beer. Think Octoberfest. However, out of excitement perhaps, I did forget to take a photo. Oops? ?
We shared a Bretzel which was bigger than Baby Girl’s face. It was quite salty, but went down pretty well with the beer.
We also grabbed aBratwursteach. I’m not a huge sausage fan, but I mentally prepared myself to eating mots of sausages during this trip. It was alright, a bit expensive for just a sausage. What I did notice was that the mustard in Germany was not as strong as in France. I needed to put a lot to get that sharp bite that I love.
Visiting, eating, … next thing up – sleeping!
As it was time to check-in in our hotel, we quickly made our way to the tram to go to our hotel. We decided to travel with only backpacks during this trip and they were starting to feel heavy on our backs.
For the first time ever, I used the application Hotel Tonight to book our hotel reservations for this trip. It is a very easy application to use and we were able to book rooms at a very cheap price. Plus, these were hotels that we’re quite good in standard.
By the way, if you use my code EAMORA1 you will receive 20€ off your next hotel reservation on the application.
New Orly Hotelin Munich was the first nice surprise of our trip. First of all, the hotel staff were very friendly and accommodating. Baby Girl was given an extra bed just for her for no extra cost.
The rooms were clean and spacious for a standard room. They were equipped with whatever you would normally need in a hotel room. It was great in all aspects except perhaps for one thing … its location. We were a bit off from the city center. On one hand, it was in a calm neighborhood so it was pretty quiet especially at night. On another hand, we had to walk at 10-15 minutes to get to the tram stop to go to the center. If I had known this beforehand, I might have looked for something else. Moreover, there were no stores around in case we needed to get junk food or drinks.
But that didn’t stop me from having a nice long shower and take a nap before leaving for another round of exploration.
While I was napping, Baby Girl was doing … well, I don’t know actually. I want to say – smiling while staring at our clothes? But why?
So after showering, taking a nap, walking 10 minutes to take the tram, and riding the tram, we found ourselves looking forThe Englischer Gartenor theEnglish Garden.
That was obviously interrupted so Baby Girl could get a nice scoop of Chocolate Mint ice cream (her absolute fave).
After walking for several minutes, we finally arrived at the garden. But on the left, I saw this gated area which left me wondering what was behind those gates. A museum? A castle maybe? In any case, there was a wonderfully beautiful garden.
Once we got in the park, we walked over to a woman selling fresh fruits. She had cherries which are for those who know one of my favorite summer fruits. These were perfectly plump and sweet!
I have to admit that the idea of going to the park was not mine. I didn’t particularly want to walk a lot that day, but the Husband enjoyed how much he wanted to, so I did. Ahhh the things we do for life.
And although I might have bitched while waking around the park for 3 hours, I will never forget the beautiful landscapes my eyes and soul enjoyed. The photos above don’t even make justice to the real thing.
It was a beautiful summer afternoon. Not cold at all, but not warm either. Just perfect to spend a day napping or enjoying the water at the park.
The Englischer Garten in Munich is one of the world’s largest public urban parks.
Because it was such a lovely day, we saw lots of locals and tourists having a picnic. If only we lived here, I think I would come here for a picnic on a regular basis!
This is it!!! We found what the Husband was looking for.
After what seemed like an eternity of walking *insert the drama queen*, we finally reach a point in the park where we saw surfers. Actual person river surfing. River surfing in the middle of Munich!!! That was beyond cool and just so fun to watch.
Our stay in Munich was relatively short. In fact, it was a stop before Prague, but we did enjoy the little that we saw and visited. What really didn’t help was that a lot of places and stores were closed that day. We ended up going to the train station to stop by a convenience store to pick up some junk food to enjoy back in our hotel room. I had some leftover chicken that I had packed at home and so we finished the first day of our summer vacation stuffing our faces (Toffee is life ) back in our hotel room and talking about the days to come.
Next up, Prague!!
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