First Friday in München

With jet lag still going strong and half the office gone, the first week of work was a long one.  When Friday afternoon rolled around, I was incredibly relieved it had arrived.  In order to celebrate the weekend I decided to do some more exploring.  For Friday evening I started by heading to Marionplatz, the city center of Munich.
At this point my sole map was a Fodors travel guide to Munich, in German.  My roommate was kind enough to give me hers until I could purchase an English one.  The good news was that maps are universal.  The bad news was that it was a thick book, and everything other than the maps was useless to me.  I was directed to the largest book store in Munich, the Hugendubel.  It is a 3 story book store similar to a Borders in America.  Hugendubel had lots of travel guides, even some in English -- what they didn't have was a nice and small pocket map.  I ended my search and started north.

After walking for several blocks I stumbled upon the first of many truly european intersections.  See the photos below...

I then headed west and into a beautiful garden enclosed by a large 3 story rectangular building.  It appears to be an old mansion built by royalty, although I can't be sure of its exact origins.  I took a few shots in the garden.

I then began a pilgrimage home as I wanted to walk.  It took about an hour.  The first wonderful sight was a subway station containing no vowels.  I checked the signs on all four corners of the intersection in case I was seeing an abbreviation.  I was in fact not.  Enjoy pronouncing this.

Also on the walk home I stumbled upon the Isarinselfest, a street fair along the main river the Isar.  The street was lined with German carney food, and after spotting a sign for 1/2 meter bratwurst my dinner plans solidified.  Add a little ketchup, mustard, and mustard powder -- yum!

I got home a promptly drank a liter of water and collapsed due to excess bratwurst consumption.

Exhausted and well fed, I hit the sack.  Tomorrow was Saturday.