Day 56. Munich.

We woke up to a rainy day so we got a hop-on hop-off city tour in an enclosed double-decker bus with a helpful guide. Munich is the 3rd largest city in Germany with 1.3 million of which 30% are immigrants. It was founded about 1150 as a walled city, some of which can still be seen. When WWII ended, 88% of the city was destroyed; most of the city has been rebuilt as it was before the bombing. The rubble was moved to an old airport and became the hills where the Olympic Park was built in the 1970's.

Olympic park:

 
We saw the Summer Palace outside the city which was built the same time as Versailles,

Summer Palace:

the Winter Palace in the city that was started in the Middle Ages, the BMW complex, the English Garden which is the largest city park in the world, many government buildings, many churches, and much more. So many buildings had ornate decorations like gargoyles and frescoes that they made walking slower and more interesting.
 
We revisited many areas that John showed us yesterday. We had lunch in the Hofbrauhaus, a famous tourist beer hall.

Crabs and beer, is that safe for us?

Band at beer hall:

We again discovered how small the world is: we sat with some German tourists with family in the US and Chris offered an English menu to a group from Potomac MD. We walked through the city food market and its famous Maypole and visited a couple churches on the way to the hotel. We had time for a rest before dinner with a friend of Andy Sundberg.

Maypole:

Bicycles are everywhere:

Dinner was a trip, Susan picked us up in her Mini Cooper and it was a challenge to get in and out. We had a lovely dinner and good conversation and a likely meeting in DC in January 2012.