And the exciting conclusion to day 1 in Munich.
Food and drink!
Kate and I waited amongst the happy tourists and locals at the Marienplatz (The Munich City Hall plaza). This was our arranged meeting place. While looking for Jens and Marija, I took a picture of this statue located in the plaza.
Marija suggested Italian food and Kate used Fodor's advice to help us find an appropriate establishment. Kate read about an affordable and recommended eatery called "La Valle". As luck would have it our destination was located on Sparkassenstrasse, not too far from Marienplatz, our meeting place. Sadly, I can't remember what everyone ate in detail, but I believe it is fair to say that we all enjoyed our meal. I especially liked mine which was a linguini pasta tossed in a pepper accented, olive oil based sauce. There were some tomatoes and peppers tossed in with the pasta.
Following our meal we decided to find some place for after dinner drinks. We got on the U-bahn and Marija wanted to take us to a bier hall that supposedly has quite the impressive selection. It was a nice evening, and it was nice to get to a part of Munich that was less tourist oriented. It appeared to be an area largely inhabited by students. It was around 22:00 or so and at this point most of the city was very quiet. We would get to the occasional hot spot where there was some night life. We had difficulty finding the bar, and Marija was going by memory of a place she had not frequented often before. Ultimately we decided on a whim to go to a nearby Mexican pub.... yes, Mexican, in Germany. The restaurant, Don Luca's was actually a good find. It was a nice place to get a drink, down to earth and affordable. The food was OK, but not authentic Mexican... even by American standards. Don Luca's is filled with long communal wooden tables, giving it a warm rustic atmosphere. The volume of the restaurant/bar didn't interfere with conversation, and there were plenty of people to watch. We decided to get some nachos because we all had a second wind of appetite. Even Marija dug into the nachos with gusto, after earlier proclaiming that she did not like Mexican food. Everyone, (except me) had a nice fruit based drink... I of course had beer. Hey, when in... um, Munich. I had an excuse to get beer this time (I rarely get mixed drinks). After filling our bellies we decided to call it a night. Marija and Jens needed to back track on the U-bahn through the city center to get to their hotel, so we all boarded the train and Kate and I exited at the Marienplatz stop to head to the "Golden Leaf Parkhotel Im Lehel" , our hotel. Another exciting day of Bavarian castles, the Alps, and Munich awaited us.
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