Wochenende in München

Last Friday after German class, I hopped on the train to Munich to visit our good friends Frank and Marlene.  Not only was Frank a groomsmen in our wedding, they got married just two weeks before us and decided to honeymoon in the States to attend our nuptials.

here they are at our wedding

adorable, right?

We kicked the weekend off with a trip to where else, but a traditional biergarten.  But this wasn't just any biergarten: this biergarten was located in Munich's Englischer Garten (one of the world's largest urban parks, bigger than NYC's Central Park) and was the second largest biergarten in the city, holding up to 7000 people (!!).

bottom tiers of famous 82-foot Chinese tower in background

dinner in foreground

As is true in all traditional biergartens, guests are allowed to bring in their own food and picnic.  Lots of patrons came with a full spread of dinner courses to enjoy with a few extra-large steins of beer.  

We, however, dined on traditional biergarten fare: 

From left to right:

Freshly shaved horseradish (amazing)

Obatzter (traditional Bavarian cheese cream to spread upon a gigantic Brezel)

Raddler (1/2 bier, 1/2 lemonade or sprite)

Brezel twice the size of my face

Ein halbes Hähnchen (half a roasted chicken)

Obatzter was originally created as a recycling of old soft cheese (most often Camembert).  To make the overripe cheese palatable again, it was mixed with butter and spices.  Today Obatzter is a classic and beloved biergarten favorite.  And after just one bite, it was clear to me why: there is absolutely no way to go wrong with any combination of cheese, butter, and bread.

The next morning we explored Munich's gorgeous city center and did some shopping at the local outdoor market.  

At one point we stumbled a long, long line outside what looked like some sort of historic building or museum:

It turned out to be an Abercrombie & Fitch.

The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying long, leisurely brunches in Frank and Marlene's lovely apartment,

sun-bathing in the Englischer Garten,

along with 1000s of other Germans you can see in the back

swimming in the Eisbach,

watching people surf on the river,

from here

biking through the city and park,

and enjoying more traditional Bavarian fare.

this time we enjoyed our Obatzer and Brezel 

with Leberkäse and Kartoffelsalat

By the time I got on the train back to Zurich, I was exhausted and very full: both signs of a weekend well spent!

xoxo

KK