Munich, despite of the fact that it has circa 1.5 million people living in the city, feels more like a quaint town but with everything a large city has to offer.
A common association with Munich is: beer.
Even that is only a part of what Munich characterizes... yes, it is an important part of the city's culture and flair. Every visitor will notice the -again- quaint looking drinking establishments and restaurants -- commonly called 'Wirtshaus' in German language.
I captured some of the very typical visual impressions you get ... when in Munich.
This is Munich, part 1 (Beer & more) of a series documenting Munich's facettes.
In part 2 I will show Munich's buildings, landmarks, and other typical impressions.
In part 2 I will show Munich's buildings, landmarks, and other typical impressions.
This is the 'Augustiner', a 'Wirtshaus' (beer hall and restaurant) right at the main pedestrian shopping street in Munich downtown. Not only this place has outdoor seating.... most Wirtshäuser have that feature. Just along this pedestrian zone you'll find easily may be 5 more of those top beer places and the food is great as well.
Not to forget, it is totally appropriate to enjoy a beer in the let's say late a.m. hours for a hearty 'Weisswurst' breakfast.
This is how a 'Bierschänke' in a beergarden looks like. Short version is 'SCHÄNKE'. It is the booth where you go to get your 1-Liter mug with beer.
All major beergardens have self-service -- just a small area of those beergardens is marked as a serviced area with a waiter, but, that's not the 'authentic' part. You should go to the self-service areas.
Biergarten means beer garden.
That is the look of a typical liquor store in Munich. However, it is not the case that the store their stuff on the sidewalk -- here in the picture you witness the delivery day when the liquor store gets all the beer from the distributor.
All beer bottles are refund bottles in Germany (...there are just a few exceptions). Beer comes in boxes that contain either 20 half-liter bottlers or 24 1/3 liter bottlles. That is the common size of what you buy. The boxes are plastic and the bottles are glass. You return the empty box and bottles to any liquor store and get your deposit back.
A HB (Hofbräu) beer mug.
These are stone mugs. In German they are called 'Steinkrug'. They still exist but glass mugs are common in beer halls and beergardens.
Franziskaner is another major brewery. Franziskaner WEISSBIER (wheat beer) is considered one of the best on the market.This place is also located in Munich downtown in the pedestrian zone.
Well, that is a beer raft (like a party bus but on the water) on the Isar canal in Munich. Usually folks are drinking quite a bit, sing along, and end up sun-burned.You either like it or hate it.
