Despite the closure of almost everything on Easter Monday aka Phil's birthday - and the Bavarian ban on dancing - we ended up
spending the day at a very cool brewery in the neighbouring town of Maisach. Phil's stepbrother Niko found the place, booked us in for lunch and then picked us up!! Talk about being spoiled...
Kaiserschmarrn for dessert... basically chopped up pancakes and apple sauce - Yummm...
Niko is awesome!! Check out his birthday present to Phil (waaaay better than my birthday pressie, which was a waterproof travel bag):
Phil's very own pair of Lederhosen!!
Niko also ensured we had a fun b'day eve on Thursday night with a trip to the Rattlesnake to see a fantastic country guitarist, Albert Lee. I'll confess to having the incredible spareribs again (they are just so very very good!!)
We spent Saturday in Munich's city centre, keenly anticipating the arrival of our friend Joelle who is joining us for the next few weeks. She arrived after a couple of weeks in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai and Italy - how exotic!! The three of us will be heading to Budapest and Prague... but more on that later.
On Easter Sunday morning, the three of us joined Phil's two stepbrothers - Niko and Chris & his lovely wife Karina for brunch.
Love the pink-theme, including hot-pink boiled egg...
We spent Tuesday running some
travel errands in the hip area of Schwabing, which was preternaturally successful. We had an ambitious list and started out pretty late - it's becoming a theme... But we managed to bag a jacket, 2 pairs of prescription glasses, a hat for Phil, notebooks and even had time for cake (which was actually on the errand list). We were so efficient, it took Joelle less time to find a gorgeous jacket she needed than it took me to find the bathroom in the department store. I think it must be a German efficiency thing??
Our generous hosts, Klaus and Cornelia have been away over Easter, but returned on Wednesday night. So we all spent today together to celebrate Phil's bday at Kloister Andechs - a monastery that has also been a brewery since about 1400!!!
Andechs is quite a special place. It has an incredibly decorative baroque church, but the monks also farm organic grains, make their own commercial bread, brew beer, run a distillery and even host retreats and conferences. The setting is pretty spectacular with views to the Alps on a clear day and overlooking farmlands and forests.
They have a gorgeous beer garden and roasted meats to die for. This was lunch:
That's sauerkraut, a giant bretzel and some roasted pork - you can stop salivating now...
Inside the beerhall they even have a spot where the locals can keep their beer steins locked up - apparently these are passed down by will from generation to generation!!
Beer steins kept under lock and key!
There was even a Hermann!!
Tomorrow is our last day in Munich and the plan is for Phil, Joelle and I to get on the bikes and ride into the city. Then we're on an 11.30pm train overnight to Budapest!!
Despite the fact that I'm really looking forward to our next city, it's been a fantastic, chilled out, fun month in Munich both on our own and hanging with family and I'm sad to leave...
But at the same time, adventures await. First a week in Budapest, followed by a week in Prague - sounds pretty good to me :)
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