The English Garden

The breakfast buffet at the Hotel Uhland was impressive. There were plates of breads, luncheon meats, and cheeses; a large basket of eggs and a device to soft boil them; jam, cereals, and yogurt with fresh fruit. Sadly, as Jack had predicted, there were no sweet rolls as there had been in Belgium.

As we ate, we listened to the conversations around us. "What does Rick Steeves say we should do today?" one woman asked her husband. Another couple in the corner was pouring over one of Rick's books.

It was another beautiful autumn day, so we decided to head for The English Garden. I think Rick would have approved.

The English Garden is one of the world's largest urban parks - bigger even than Central Park in New York. It was laid out by an American in 1789, but gets its name because of the style of gardening.

Perhaps the most popular place in the park is the beer garden at the Chinese Tower. The original tower burned down after heavy bombing in 1944, but a replica was erected in 1951.

There are stands offering the usual German fare - sausages, pretzels, and large mugs of beer. I didn't feel like having a beer so I chose what looked like apple juice. It was carbonated and not at all sweet. I also had some delicious spaetzle with apple sauce.

When we tired of the music from the oompah band, we wandered over to the Monopteros to enjoy the view of the city. This structure on a small hilltop is modeled after a small Greek temple.

The columns of the Monopteros were covered with tiny ladybugs.

We paused to take the requisite pictures of each other.

Somewhere in the park there is a small man-made river where people surf on a standing wave generated by a pumping mechanism, but we couldn't find that. Rick Steves warns of naked sunbathers. We might have seen some of those in the distance, but we managed to avoid any close encounters.

Here are some more shots of Munich's intriguing architecture.

Eventually we came upon this charming little garden and another wonderful group of musicians.