Munich 9 : A stroll in the city (慕尼黑.9:城市閑溜)

Munich is one of the most habitable cities in Europe.



It's got a huge fountain at Carlsplatz right in front of its Federal Court building.


 

Another view of court building

Some of the flowers at the side of the fountain



Flowers on the flower beds in the pedestrian street.

A flower stall selling all kinds of flower

Flowers at the courtyard of a restaurant



The outside of the town hall is lined with flowers

Trees along its wide boulevard



Apartment built around the tree in front

Trees surrounding neighborhood gardens

Open air restaurants under trees in the neighborhood square

Cheese bread and cheese for sale under the shades

Old city gates lined with creepers

Road side fruit stall

Another one

A stall selling all kinds of nuts

8 kinds of nuts at the same stall. I begin to have an inkling about the body size of some of its older women

This is how they fry their nuts: all done by a powered revolving heated copper bowl

Another chestnut stall

an original designer sofa

Table decorations in simple elegant minimalist design

Another window display

workers working on a window display in the morning

Inspecting their work

Nearly done now

The latest ready-mades

Salts on offer at a church charity sale: Munich grew rich upon it salt monopoly in the Middle Ages

Huge beer mugs with all kinds of lids and designs 

Guess what this hawker is selling?

Grates and slicers! from 1956 to 2009!

Some of the churches are now converted into a shopping malls: leaving behind the tell tales gables and windows 

A spiral staircase in one of the old buildings

The courtyard of this old building is now turned into  part of a restaurant. In summer, this Wirtsgarten or "beer garden" would be filled with Germans with their huge mugs of golden liquid sparkling in  hearty laughter

This is one of the oldest "beer gardens" in Munich, the "Hofbräuhaus am Platzl", now a state owned brewery, built in 1589 as a royal brewery by the Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria as an extension of the Staatliches Hofbräuhaus in München brewery and used to be reserved exclusively for the use of the nobility. The general public was not admitted until 1828 by Ludwig I. In 1897. It was completely remodeled by Max Littmann when the brewery moved to the suburbs. However only the ground floor (the "Schwemme") remained during WWII bombings but it was  rebuilt in 1958. The restaurant comprises most of the Hofbräuhaus am Platzl, which also includes a ballroom and outdoor Wirtsgarten. Its menu features such traditional favorites of Bavarian cuisine as Brezn (soft pretzel), Obatzda (cheese dip), Schweinshaxe ( a roasted ham hock (or “pork knuckle”),especially popular in Bavaria as Schweinshaxn orˈSauhaks or Sauhax. It is usually marinated or pre-boiled in a caraway seed and garlic brine, roasted until the skin is crisp, and served with mustard, horseradish, and pickled chili peppers. The Bavarian version is often served with potato dumplings and red cabbage or with sauerkraut and potatoes It also serves sausages such as Bratwurst and Weisswurst. Brews include Helles and Dunkles served in a Maß, Weißbier, and wine.

Its exterior: orientals everywhere

Specialties of the day

beer mugs for sale

My neighbor at the beer house, a German-Italian cartoon artist. I learned that Amadeus Mozart used to take his beer here. So did Vladimir Lenin before the Russian Revolution in October 1917!

This is his recommendation for my lunch: the traditional boiled Weisswurst (white sausages), specialty of Southern Germany made with veal and bacon and flavored with parsley, onion, lemon, and cardamom, eaten without the skin but with sweet mustard, beer and soft pretzels. Weiβwurst is usually eaten before noon since it traditionally contains no preservatives. Delicious with the beer.

The German sweet and sour mustard sauce to go with the Weiβwurst.

One of the busy waitresses; they work practically non-stop!