Munich

Well, here we are in Bavaria's capital, and it's not even Oktoberfest! Truthfully we don't make the most of this lovely city.  We are suffering from tourist fatigue ... AND ... we have yet to make plans for the non-Schengen part of our trip, which starts tomorrow.  We need a day in the hotel to do that.  We're talking about Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro.  We so want/need to plan some beach time.

We turn on the hotel TV this morning to these headlines:

Adriatic fires prompt evacuations in Montenegro and Croatia.

Terrific ... not only at home but here too.

We head into Munich for 1 day ... a 10 km ride on the S-Bahn...love public transport in Europe.

We stroll the Marienplatz square with its Neo-gothic town hall, which we explore.  We stand with hundreds of others to see the glockenspiel show with chimes and re-enactments of stories from the 16th century.

This town hall is so large it's impossible to capture the whole building with our camera.

We exit Marienplatz to a fabulous market...fresh food, flowers and crafts...and of course the huge beer garden.

Some of the great food on offer:

Colourful garden accessories for sale:

Bread, Flowers and Crafts:

...and so much more: teas, bottled beverages, sweets ...

The crowds here are so thick its hard to walk.  For breathing space, we head for the Englischer Garten, which is a huge urban green space.  We never make it to the lake at the end of the park, but enjoy our time there ... so peaceful compared to the streets.

We pass through this arch on the way to the park, then walk by a long wall with many paintings:

Some interesting structures on the way:

Now, this is fun.  A place in the park waterway that generates one (not very big) wave but surfers are lined up to ride it:

Random photos from the park:

Then the workday, making reservations for travel and accommodation.

We take some breaks to just get out and walk the neighbourhood.  On the first walk, we discover a waterway through the hood...people cooling their feet in the water or sitting at tables having refreshments.

On the 2nd. walkabout we discover a man-made lake with benches, ducks and huge carp-like brown fish.  Stepping on the dock causes the fish to surge toward you.  They swim near the surface so their dorsal fin is above water - creepy.  I guess people feed them.

On our final escape from work and hotel, we pick up street food plus grocery store salad for dinner back at our room.

Tomorrow we are off to Zagreb.