München Moments

After spending 2 1/2 days with us in Prague, my brother and his family drove away to continue their European vacation.  We said our goodbyes, or actually, our see you later's, since we would be meeting up in just 2 days - in Germany.

When my brother sent me their itinerary back in June I noticed that they would be stopping by Munich and Legoland, after a quick tour of Salzburg.  And seeing as the girls and I are on summer vacation, and well within driving distance, we made plans to join them on this part of their journey.  (And yes, I asked if I could crash their vacation first).  So, after driving the 3 1/2 hours to Dachau and touring the memorials, we all headed into Munich to see a few of the sights.

And it was fated to be only a few of the sights because Dachau was much more extensive and time intensive than we planned.  We arrived in Munich after 5 pm and really only had time to walk to the world famous Haufbrauhaus to have a beer and dinner.  It was quite a walk though, as it took us past some of the most famous of sights.

The New Town Hall.

The Rathaus-Glockenspiel.  Plays a 15 minute ditty 3 times a day.  We just missed it.

And some random pretty towers...

And then, there was our destination - the Hofbrauhaus.  Owned by the government, and known world wide for its beer, it is as impressive as its name. 

Founded in 1589 by Wilhelm V, the former Duke of Bavaria, it is one of Munich's oldest beer halls.  It was founded as the official brewery of the Royal Residense, hence the Hof (Court) in it's name.  The beer brewed here became quite famous, quite quickly, and many of the recipes they use today are the originals.  

The Hafbrauhaus actually saved the city of Munich from being wiped off of the map.  In 1632, during the 30 Years War, King Gustavus Adolphus agreed not to burn the city to the ground in exchange for some hostages, and 600,000 barrels of Hofbrauhaus beer.

We had to have a sample...or two.

Enjoying our liter!  These things are huge - and the waiter carries up to 5 of them in one hand.

Even the kids enjoyed their drinks - all non-alcoholic, I promise.

And a Polka band plays each hour!  So much fun.

We said goodnight to the beer hall.  And took a taxi back to the hotel.  We had already lost the littlest one to dreamland.  And they had Legoland ahead of them tomorrow.