I apologise for not reporting for the last two days. But, unfortunately we have been kept busy, sightseeing.
Sunday, after the Marylebone Farmers market and a sumptuous lunch of a sausage roll and quiche with a small piece of aged Gruyere we settled down to watching the F1 race. Superb race and brilliant commentary. Dinner was at a Chinese restaurant in Soho. Arti, using her elephant like memory ordered something we had a few years ago, misc seafood to be wrapped in iceberg lettuce leaves. Like a fishy Crispy Duck. Nice. This was had with a hot pot of Pork Belly stewed with Preserved Chinese veg.
Next morning we had a 5.30 am start and flew to Munich. A short and very very expensive taxi ride from the airport took us to our hotel situated bang in the centre of Munich actually in the Viktualien Markt. The etymology of the word is from Victualing [or is it the other way around]. The area is pedestrianised. What a beautiful market. Divided into sections, flowers, fruit, meat, and cheese with the centre being a Beer Garden. The quality of the fruit and veg is astounding. The variety of tomato, cherry, plum, vine, beefsteak, heirloom, yellow, green is staggering enough. The mushroom [with fresh morel costing Euro 150 a kg] to the fresh white asparagus and luscious strawberry is enough to drive the staunchest non vegetarian mad with delight. I mean it’s really good, far better than what we see in the UK.
The Germans and the Mughals have nothing in common. The Mughals had their oh so pretty Miniatures. Germans have size; their buildings are built on a scale that is truly frightening. We first saw that when we were in Berlin. But here in Munich the size really matters. The city is truly beautiful. Every corner is a photo opportunity. The quality of sunlight is also very good. Everything sparkles and seems so bright. It’s like watching everything in HD as opposed to the usual cable feed. The sun is very bright so much so that today after a day of walking around in the sun have got me a cap. And to think of how this city was destroyed in WWII and has been restored is really to be appreciated. It’s obvious that all the money spent on restoration was actually spent on that unlike in our dear Bharat where most money never reaches the cause.
Our first dinner was at a well known Bavarian restaurant called Spatenhaus. Very nice. Naturally we had to have some asparagus that was tantalizing us thru the day. So Arti ordered the Asparagus starter which was boiled asparagus garnished with bacon and egg. I had a Bavarian Cold meat starter. The most delicious part on the plate was the serving of lard with crispy bacon which you can see at the bottom of the plate. The white stuff you see is radish cut with a Berliner [or equivalent] circular cutter. Great presentation. The lard was outstanding. Main course was sucking pig for Arti and crispy roast pork for me. The beer that we had was really quite something. Light, tasty and cold. Quite unlike anything I have ever had.
Check their website. The menus are available. We had the first floor menu.
Today, Tuesday we had a long had sightseeing day. We walked and walked to many of the Royal buildings. Then we had lunch in the English Garden which is the equivalent of Hyde Park or Central Park. There are 4 beer gardens inside. We sat at one and had our lunch which was self service from a cafeteria style set up. Sausage and potato for me and a mix meat and potato for Arti all washed down with Larger mixed with lemonade [shandy to us Desis]. The beer was very refreshing. I was hoping it would not give me a headache. So far so good. Then a long walk back and a visit to the Bavarian Royalty residence with treasury. Very nice very well preserved. A lot of the rooms were completely destroyed in WWII so they have been recreated. The treasury was nice too.
Germans also make the finest taps. Yes think Grohe, think Hans Grohe think Geber it. Bathrooms here are very clean including the public ones. I don’t quite know what tap making has to do with clean bathrooms but I threw that in for what its worth. The quality of things here is just so high. No budget stuff no cheap China Maal here. Even the POS [point of sale] credit card machines are just so advanced. Clothes are good but the English clothes are better. Everything seems so solid steady and well made. Room doors open and shut precisely, cupboards shut silently, locks work electronically internet speeds are high and steady. We have a long long way to get here, which is if the NGOs ever let us.
Attached are some photos.
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