Friday 26th December 2025

Munich

No more snow, but a chilly breeze welcomed us to a feels like-5 day when we ventured out on another PH in Munich. Crowds still around, but sadly markets have all but disappeared and only a few restaurants, cafes and beer houses open.

it’s a shame the Cheese Shop was closed as its window offering was very appealing .

We wandered down to the main plaza and popped into a couple of beautiful churches and pondered on why so many old buildings are being restored- perhaps the influx of  refugees has given a surprising lift in available workers.

Arrived at the Town Hall spot on 1100 for the musical clock to perform its 12 minutes of entertainment with its  characters parading below the clock face to a couple of unknown pieces of music.  There must have been a couple of hundred people watching.

Headed down some wide boulevards to pass the residential palace and offices of the Chancellor of Bavaria. The later was an amazing mix of architecture with new wings built around the restored remains of the original building. The palace was typical of the symmetrical buildings over here and had grounds as big as 6 football fields.

Speaking of grounds we ventured to the still snow covered English Gardens which were rambling parklands with the river meandering through at a steady flow.

Much to our surprise there was a ‘stand up wave’ created by some mechanical infrastructure which was being ridden by 4 wet suited surfers. It was interesting to watch them surf, fall off and wash down to the shallows to pop out and start the process again. They attracted a pretty good crowd who seemed to shiver in sympathy.

Walked through the suburbs where even more old buildings were being refurbished before ending up at our lunch spot from yesterday the Hopbrauhaus. 

With so few eating options we could not resist the temptation to experience the hospitality again. The place seemed even more packed than yesterday and the band was pumping out songs and getting the place heaving.

We found a seat, almost in the kitchen, and worked our way through another chunk of the menu- both food and beer.

Couldn’t resist a visit to the Souvenir Shop to pick up some goodies before continuing on our odyssey through the Old Town. 

Not sure if it was thirst or a call of nature had us stop later in the afternoon to sip Aperol and coffee inside a warm igloo type shelter. There was an explosive start to the session when Jake’s glass shattered in his hand leaving him stunned and looking like an advertisement for an incontinence product.

Thankfully no injuries and a free replacement drink from a very apologetic host.

Sunset was soon upon us and we headed back home to dry down and warm up on our last day in Munich. Dinner was a pick through a bundle of nibbles whilst watching the only English speaking channel on TV which was great if you liked biathlon and cyclocross.

Tomorrow we split in two with kids heading to Scotland and Jane and I to Heidelberg for a couple of days before heading home to catch the last day of 2025 in Australia. These 4.5 weeks have sure flown and we have packed in an amazing amount of travels, with fantastic experiences in that time.