Old Munich and Expedition to Austria

Our second day in Munich began in late morning with a stroll around the old town with Ali.  The buildings are interesting architecturally and many streets are pedestrian only which makes for easy walking and gazing.  It was quite crowded with tourists (lots of Asians) and locals.  Ali said that old town is always crowded.  We saw several historic churches (see photos) and the impressive cathedral.  The main plaza with the “Rathaus” or city hall was maybe the most impressive.  The Rathaus is a gothic splendor that was recently cleaned and is crowned by its famed clock which has characters that revolve to music.  We waited several times to view this spectacle but were disappointed to find out it only goes at 11 AM, noon and 5 PM, and we could be there none of these times.

One of the baroque churches of Munich, the Citizen's Hall Church

The over the top interior

The organ on the back balcony

A very cool weather vane (or just for decoration?) atop one of the tiled roof Munich buildings

Selfie in front of another historic church, St. Michael's

The interior of this church was also impressive and majestic

My new friend in downtown Munich - a friendly look wild boar (if that is possible)

Randy, wearing his Auburn University baseball cap as usual, was "War Eagled" by this couple along the sidewalk.  They had lived in Auburn when he worked for a German firm there.  Another War Eagle moment!

The Church of Our Lady, Munchen Frauenkirche

The very high vaulted ceiling

A somber Germanic wall carving

The "devil's footprint" - even bigger than my large foot!

One of the two towers - the other was covered for renovation

Pretty flowered window boxes often adorned the old town buildings

Selfie on the old town walk

At the Rathaus

Located on the main square - Marienplatz

A gothic masterpiece

The famed clock, the glockenspiel, which alas we failed to see revolve, portraying a jousting tournament on the upper level and a dance on the lower level

A panoramic of the courtyard of the Rathaus

Mary and Jesus watch over Marienplatz - Munich is the most Catholic and religious of German cities

How St. Peter's (the oldest church in Munich) was restored after World War II when it was heavily bombed

Interior of St. Peter's (Munich, not Rome)

Randy and Ali take a brief break on some side steps of St. Peter's

The Altes Rathaus is now a toy museum which we did not see but the outside is beautiful

The Holy Ghost church has a special modern art exhibit - very interesting integration of old and new

Here is the ceiling hung with the modern "clouds"

The altar piece - pretty ornate

We then walked through the center city outdoor air market, an appealing collection of shops selling food stuffs.  We bought some German cheese from a Turkish shop keeper and a few small bottles of schnapps to bring home for friends.  We then choose a nearby beer garden (what else?) for lunch.  This was a wonderful place with a great location, excellent food and really good beer (aged in wood).  It was a very nice treat.

A butcher shop at the city center market - the Germans do love their pork products

Handsome Ali at the market

Unbelievable assortment of foods - it made me want to buy a bunch and go cook and eat

Our lunch beer garden - very close to the market

We were hungry and ordered enough food for an army.  I had smoked local fish with a tasty potato pancake.  Randy had a huge sliced pork type meatloaf.  Ali also ordered a pretzel and some cheese type dip for the table.

Randy's hearty German lunch with mustard to die for

My delicious meal with an equally delicious beer aged in wood

Highly recommended if you visit Munich

A close up at a butcher shop of the pork meat loafs from which Randy had his lunch slices

Afterwards we headed to Casa Tezgor to retrieve Ozge and set out for our road trip to Austria.  We decided after much debate to forgo Salzburg as the hour was getting late and proceed directly to our lodging that night, the quaint and spectacularly located Berghotel Predigstuhl (Berghotel Predigstuhl).
The highway was OK but off of it, in Austria, the scenery was quite beautiful with mountains (not too high) and pretty villages and green valleys.  We randomly stopped at a place for a small break and found a wonderful trail into a canyon - the "dark gorge".  It was a short but unusual experience – as the hour was relatively late we had the place to ourselves (when we passed by on the way back the next day, it was packed).  A very fortuitous and atmospheric experience.

This is a place worth stopping at if you are in the area

The clear (and, I am sure, very cold) water flows through the gorge

Ozge checks out the gorge from the path

Another view showing the opening in the back to the canyon

Looking upwards from the end of the canyon path

Selfie at the canyone

The very attractive Tezgor's at the end of the canyon path

And two fine looking ladies in the same place

We look a little jet lagged in this photo...

Ali does a great four person selfie at this unique spot

The view walking back from the canyon path end to the entry point - certainly, a wild place

At our hotel Berghotel Predigstuhl (Berghotel Predigstuhl) we checked in and got similar rooms with rustic but reasonable furniture and big balconies overlooking the mountains and the far off lake.  We only had a brief chance to savor the view (with a glass of the local Gruner Veltliner) before finding somewhere for dinner.  The hotel receptionist recommended the closest place that would still be open – we found the Restaurant in the Gasthof zur Post in Bad Goisern (Gasthof zur Post) in a furious thunderstorm that sprang up after we started driving.

View from the balcony of the room in the dusk

Dinner was a pleasant surprise as the food was quite good (I had the local lake fish) and the atmosphere cozy and happy.  The drive back was less exciting as the rain had stopped and we settled into our mountain rooms.

An old well was surprisingly preserved in the lobby of the Restaurant in the Gasthof zur Post in Bad Goisern (Gasthof zur Post)

The local red wine was actually very tasty - a surprise as Austria is much more known for white wines

Randy's chicken salad came out huge and delicious and crowned with some fat bacon slices, of course

My fish was excellent and accompanied by potatoes, of course :-)