Day 6 in Munich - Visit to the English Garden and Festival

Sundays in Germany are fairly relaxing, meaning one is forced to relax because mostly everything is closed. No shopping malls, stores, supermarkets, or much of anything else is open. So everyone was free to choose his or her own activity.

One group decided to get in touch with some local culture in Munich. A typical Sunday for locals is a gathering at Englischer Garten (English Garden);Englischer Garten is a beautiful green park located near the center of the city and is comparable to Golden Gate Park of San Francisco or Central Park of Manhattan. The Sunday gathering is at a Biergarten (Beer Garden) which can be found after a brisk 15 min. walk through a forest surrounded by green grass, streams, and the occasional rider on horseback. Trekking the various paths, your ears are greeted with the sounds of accordion players who serenade the morning joggers, cyclists, strollers, and alternative exercise advocates we saw including a surfer and a cross country skier.

As we approached the gathering, we came to a tall Chinese tower built in the style of an old temple.

Atop the tower is a space for a band to play (although, they had just started setting up as we were leaving). The biergarten has various stalls and structures serving typical bavarian breakfast: sausages, potatoes, bretzels, beer (1 liter or .5 liter only) and much more.

After enjoying our bavarian breakfast, we stumbled upon a festival that spanned about 15 city blocks. It was an organic food, wine and beer festival! Musicians, dancers, lots of food and other exhibits lined the streets bordered with classic architecture. A couple of hours at the festival was not enough to see everything but it was quite an experience.

Another group decided to travel to another Bavarian region southwest of Munich to see the two famous castles: Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein (this one is the castle that inspired the Disney Castle!). The group was not allowed to take photos inside the castles but here are some of the photos that were captured from outside. Enjoy!