Europe 2016: Day three

Read ahead to hear about our day sightseeing in Munich, including a visit to the largest Urban park in the world...

We arose early to make our way to the central station so we could catch our train to Munich, which lies about 100 miles away from Nuremberg. We got to the station in good time and stopped at the bakery chain, Le Crobag, for breakfast. After eating I went to look at the board and discovered our train wasn't displayed. In confusion I went to double check our prebooked tickets and discovered I had actually booked from Munich to Nuremberg instead of the other way around. They couldn't do anything about it at the customer service and we had to rebook tickets, a rather expensive mistake by myself!

The hotel lobby

When things don't go your way I just think you've got to get over it and just carry on, we managed to get on the next train heading out to Munich and within an hour we were arriving at the central station. We caught the S1 line to Moosach and we were able to see our hotel from the tracks, the Letomotel. The hotel was part of a small local chain, there are 3 in Munich, but it had a lot of personality and independent touches. The area it sat in was lively with plenty of shops and restaurants and our welcome to the hotel was very warm. We paid about 60 euros a night for our room.

We went to our room, which was clean and modern, albeit a tad on the small side. We dropped off our bags and headed back out. It was a very hot day, about 32 degrees and we jumped back on the central line to Marienplatz, in the centre.

As we came out the station we were greeted by the impressive town hall. It looked stunning with its floral decoration and impressive architecture. Within the town hall sits the cute glockenspiel, although we didn't catch the 'performance'. The glockenspiel contain 43 bells and 32 figures and three times a day, at 11am, noon and 5pm it rings for 15 minutes. Next to the square you can find the St Peters Church, the oldest in the district.

The town hall

The church

Marienplatz square was very busy but already I was struck by how incredibly pretty Munich was. Munich is the third largest city in Germany and plays a large role in economy, finance and politics. I had expected something more modern, industrial and I was pleasantly surprised by a huge city that still managed to be quaint and charming.

We spent the afternoon walking around the town. We saw the Asamkirche, a beautiful baroque church, built by the Asam brothers in the 1700's. We also saw the St Michaels Church, which is the largest renaissance church in Germany. We were able to visit some of their funky shops, such as the Kare design shop. It had some pretty amazing and fun pieces in.

Asamkirche

St Michaels church

By this point we were pretty hungry and returned back towards Marienplatz so we could eat at the  Viktualienmarkt, the daily food market. The sunshine meant it was quite busy and the large area of tables were practically full. We managed to grab a sausage, some beer and a table and replenish our energy. The sun was still beating down as we ate. Behind the market sat the Heiliggeistkirche, a gothic church from the 14th century.

The neatest fruit and veg stall ever?!

The sun meant it was the perfect time to visit the Englischer Garten, one of the worlds largest urban parks. They have an artificial stream which surfers can use and I gazed enviously at the people screaming in joy down the lazy river. Adam can't swim so it meant we couldn't join in. It was still nice though to wander around.

By this time we were pretty exhausted, I think the heat makes you feel this way, so we decided to grab something quick to eat and go back to our hotel. Right next to our hotel was a Subway and tiredness drove us to this as the easiest option. However despite the whole menu being in English the staff didn't speak a word of it which made the process not so easy. The biggest frustration being the server having no idea what I meant when I asked for mayo, for me only to find out later that its exactly the same in German.

Anyway now full up we were happy to collapse back at our hotel for an early night!