I decided to have a late breakfast, so immediately went out to find the Viktualienmarkt (Victuals Market). It's a large open air market with fresh fruit, fish, meats, drinks, bread, and anything else. It was about mid-morning and it wasn't crowded at all. But oh, the smell!! It was wonderful! I walked past all of the shops with meats first. It was heaven. The smell of the sausages wafting thru the doorways, enticing me to come in.
In the middle of the market is a giant May Pole.
Around the May Pole are all of the stands and stalls filled with everything under the sun. If I lived in Munich, I'd have a frequent shopper card at this place!
Today's lunch was courtesy of the Victuals Market. Actually, I guess it was brunch. I ate it while waiting for the 11am chiming of the glockenspiel at Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall). The very nice woman at the counter sold me a few pieces of many different sausages. She even told me my German was better than her English! Between the two languages, we got it all sorted out. I also had my first pretzel. The pretzel!! Oh lordy was it good! When I broke off my first bite, I thought, "This is all hard and crusty. She sold me a stale pretzel!" But oh no, my friends! It was the perfect blend of hard on the outside and soft on the inside. Mmmmm. Hard, soft, salty goodness.
While the outside of the New Town Hall has the glockenspiel, the inner courtyard has some interesting architecture and some more Christmas Market stalls. I found a glass work stall with some beautiful stuff that I bought. I don't have pictures of it because it is all nicely wrapped and packaged for the trip home.
You can take an eleveator to the top of the Town Hall to get a great view of the city. Of course, you have to cram inside the tiny thing with other people, but the views are worth it!
The Siegestor, or Victory Arch, was built to honor the achievements of the Bavarian army during the Wars of Liberation (1813-15). The inscription on the side facing the inner city reads: Dedicated to Victory, Destroyed by War, Admonishing Peace.
Before I decided to go back to my room for the night, I wanted to hit two more places. I wanted to go back to the glass blowing stall to pick up a few more things (after an additional stop at the ATM). It was a good thing too! The man remembered me and told me I left some things there this morning. They had forgotten to put them in my bag and held them in the back. What are the chances!!!?? He was very apologetic, but mistakes happen. I didn't mind. I was just glad that I actually went back.Then I went to a store called Dallmayr. It's a great little gourmet food store with all sorts of things. I made out like a bandit in there! I have no idea what the things are that I bought, but people were buying them up in droves. So I figured I'd give them a try too. They're also known for their coffee, so I selected a blend at random. Can't wait to try it. And of course, chocolate!
I did also buy something at the Victuals Market to try at home. I chatted with a very nice lady who spoke English. She was so sweet. We actually talked about some friends of hers who live in New York, where I was from, and why I was there. It was so nice that she took the time to just chat. She operates an organic farm outside of Munich and brings her things in to sell. So I bought some local honey made with their own bees and garlic flower buds to put on bread and cheese. I had never heard of doing that before. It sounded intriguing. 
One of the stores I saw on the city tour had some cooking items in the window and I knew I wanted to go back (if only I could remember where it was!). I tried to back track as well as I could and happened to stumble upon it on my way to the Victuals Market. While inside, I found some springerle boards. Springerle is a type of German cookie with an embossed design made by pressing a mold onto rolled dough and allowing the impression to dry before cooking. My grandmother made these cookies all the time when I was young. They're thick, but light and flakey with an anise flavor. I don't particularly care for anise, but it's more the memory of the cookie that I want to preserve. My aunt makes them now and I want her to teach me how to do it to keep the tradition going. Now I have the boards to do it if I can get her to come visit.
Dinner was a sandwich from a corner deli. It was raining, my shoulders ache from carrying my Man Bag (which I can call it now that I'm in Europe), and my back hurts. So I just wanted something to enjoy in my room.
And my late night snack was landjager sausage from the Victuals Market and another pretzel. Mmmm...pretzel.
After all this eating and typing, it's time to pack. I've really enjoyed my time in Munich, and now that I've finally learned my way around, I have to head off. I didn't get to see everything I wanted to, but there's no way I could. There's just too much.Today's observations:
There are no pedestrian rules of the road. They walk where they want, when they want.
Blogspot's formatting sucks.
Soda in Germany is fizzier than soda in America.
Germans take their dogs everywhere (even on the trains).
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