After last nights early night, woke up reasonably early, all rested and
keen to be virtuous and go out for a run. Then I looked out the window
and saw the people walking past with umbrellas and retreated back to
bed. Half an hour later the rain was stopping and I convinced myself to
go out for a short run. Towards the end of the run I found a nice park
with wooded paths and whilst running down one a red squirrel decided to
cross the path jus in front of me, the first time I have seen a re
squirrel in real life. How the virtuous are rewarded.
After a shower
went down to breakfast to undone the good of my run by enjoying a buffet
of cheese, fruit, cold meats, smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, sausage,
bacon, mushrooms and Danish pastries.
The weather seemed to be
staying dry, if grey and cloudy so we decided to go to the zoo.
Disappointingly the brown bear was having some gardening done so wasn't
out. However we did get to see the polar bears, one adult with two young
ones. I thought they were cute and fluffy, Andrew didn't agree.
Opposite the polar bears were the sea lions including one baby. The old
adults were sat on the rocks posing like old pros, whilst the baby was
struggling to get out of the water, it reminded me of trying to get out
of the swimming pool without using the steps as a child.
The elephant
house is still in the process of being rebuilt but the elephant herd
was out and about. Elephants always look like gentle giants to me. In
the monkey house the orang utangs were putting on a good show. There was
a baby one that kept trying to escape the nest and climb a rope but
kept getting grabbed by it's parent and pulled back. There was also an
empty plastic barrel in the enclosure. I never knew such a thing could
provide so much entertainment to two orang utangs as they hid in it,
rolled round in it and tried to grab each other and pull the one outside
in.
After walking round the zoo, feet were feeling a bit sore so we
headed back to the hotel for a break. Once we were feeling more
recovered we headed into the centre of town for that great German
tradition of coffee and cake. We managed to get a table in Somers, which
I consider to have one of best selections of cake in Munich. We
ordered and both drinks and Andrew's cake arrived, but there was no sign
of my rum torte. I drank my coffee and still no sign of cake,
eventually I reminded the waiter and shortly after it appeared and was
very good.
After the cake we went to sample that other great German
tradition, beer. After Augustiner am Dom and Le Clou we went to
Augustiner am Platzl were they had "beer from the wood" that is beer
poured by gravity dispense from a barrel behind the bar.
After
sampling the delights of "beer from the wood" we decided it was time for
food. On a previous visit we had had a drink at place near the hotel,
which seemed very local and nice, and decided to try the food there. It
was a good choice. The side salads were crisp and lush. I had steak
cooked with crispy onions which was melt in the mouth delicious. It came
with potatoes that reminded me of how delicious potatoes can taste.
Andrew had a pepper steak which he also declared as very good. This was
followed by pancakes with cream and ice cream, and a free schnapps that
came in a glass shaped like a chemistry flask.
Feeling full and slightly merry we headed back to the hotel.
