Munich - Johannesburg - Port Elizabeth

This is a continuation of our Munich & South Africa trip. You can find the full trip itinerary here. 



We took the train to the airport and checked in our bags. We waited at the Lufthansa Business lounge and had some Indian food, pretzel, and beer. They also had a couple computers for Internet connection for free. It was nice waiting at the lounge :)




Boarding started around 1 hour before our flight time and this time we were seated in seats 2A and 2C. There was no first class in SAA, only "Premier class" which was like business class.



The seats were a little older but the space we had was amazing! It felt even more spacious than our Lufthansa business class seat. I had to really reach over to grab stuff from the seat back pocket in front of us.

Service was efficient but our stewardess wasn't very warm, and felt a little bit hurried. Anyways, I discovered a new drink that I really liked called Grapetiser, which is basically a sparkling grape juice. It became my favorite drink during my stay in South Africa. The drink was served with the 3 amuse bouches: smoked salmon crostini, ham with cheese, and tomato mozarella.

Grapetiser and amuse bouche

I ordered the shrimp scampi appetizer and the vegetarian moussaka for the entree.The shrimp appetizer was ok, and a bit on the salty side.

Shrimp appetizer

The vegetarian moussaka was quite tasty, although again, tasted a bit on the salty side. I was too full at this point so didn't finish.

Vegetarian Moussaka

Dan skipped the appetizer and had the chicken and rice dish for dinner.

Chicken & Rice

For dessert, Dan ordered the passion fruit cheesecake. The passion fruit cheesecake was overly sweet and so he couldn't finish.

Passion fruit cheesecake

I ordered the chocolate torte, which was actually quite good. Much better than the passion fruit cheesecake.

Chocolate Torte

After dinner we put our seats in sleeping mode and they turned into a fully flat bed. They provided a "pad" as well as blanket and pillow. There's no turndown service though, which was fine by us. It was easy enough to make the bed ourselves. :)

Amazing flat bed

We also used the socks in the amenity kit and the toothbrush. We slept well and woke up around 2 hours before landing. Breakfast was served 30 minutes after waking up. The breakfast fruit platter was served, and then we got a choice of "continental breakfast" or "hot breakfast."

Breakfast fruit platter

I had a continental breakfast and misunderstood what it meant. I thought, like Lufthansa, it meant muffins, croissants, etc but when it came, it was cheeses and cold meats. Hmm. But the stewardess did bring the bread selection so I got my croissant fix then.



Dan ordered the hot breakfast which was egg, sausage, potatoes, and veggies.



Soon enough after breakfast, it was time for landing. We had to get our bags through custom and re check it for the domestic leg. I saw an arrivals lounge but we weren't sure if we can use it so we went straight to claim our bags, went through customs/immigration, and then re-checked our bags for the domestic leg.

Johannesburg airport

We were flying to Port Elizabeth which was the closest airport for our safari destination.  Our flight landed in Johannesburg at 8:35 AM and after immigration, checking in luggage, and ATM, we reached the lounge at around 9:30 AM. Our flight to Port Elizabeth was not until 1:05 PM so we had quite some time to kill at the lounge.  We went to the SAA domestic lounge called the Baobob lounge.

SAA Domestic Lounge

There were 4 available restrooms with showers, and Dan went straight to take showers. He didn't realize that you need to get towels first from the front desk, but it was too late for him. :p I knew better though and got a towel before I went to take shower. It looked like for the most part the showers were occupied since I saw a lot of people coming through with towels.

Shower at SAA's domestic lounge

Food selection in the lounge was so so. In the morning there were some muffins, fruits, and cold sandwiches. Around lunch time they added some soup and cheese & crackers. Drinks were not self service; there was a bar area which was manned. We left the lounge 10 minutes before boarding time and went to our gate.

There was not a separate line for business class, so we waited in line in the regular line. We sat in seats 2A and 2C which was the first row. The business class was the really old style; the plane looked quite worn. The seat configuration was 2-3 which is interesting, and there was probably about 6 rows of business class.

I of course ordered the Grapetiser. The choice for lunch was beef salad or a vegetarian salad. I ordered the beef salad but it was almost inedible, so I only had 1-2 bites.

We landed in Port Elizabeth at around 2:45 PM. The airport was really small. As soon as we land, we walked directly to the baggage pickup area. Our hotel had arranged for a pickup from Blunden transportation service.

Next Post: Manor 38

Food in Munich

This is a continuation of our Munich & South Africa trip. You can find the full trip itinerary here.

Sausage & Pretzels at Arabella Bar
ArabellaStrasse 5 Munich, 81925 Germany

For our first night, we didn't feel like going out to the city center for dinner, so ended up going downstairs to grab a bite to eat at the Arabella bar in the hotel. Dan got a beer, and we shared the veal sausage with pretzel.

The veal sausage was soft and somewhat sweet, probably because we were used to very salty sausages in the US. Oh, and you're not supposed to eat the skin apparently. Our waiter told us how to eat it properly after seeing we just ate the sausage with the skin like we normally do. :)

The pretzel was probably the best we have had, very soft and warm, though a bit salty. The mustard sauce that came with it was also different from regular American mustard. It was a more like honey mustard, a bit on the sweeter side, but paired well with the slightly salty pretzel. Our total bill was 14 euros, not a bad price for hotel food!

Sausage and Pretzel

Cheese Pretzel

The Germans do know how to make pretzels. After our yummy pretzel the previous night at our hotel, we grabbed a quick cheese pretzel from a random bakery in Hauptbahnhof (Central train station) the next morning, and it was SO GOOD! I wish they made cheese pretzels like this in the US!

I loved it so much that we got a 2nd one that day! And after that I always wanted cheese pretzel for breakfast while we were in Munich. Unfortunately, the best one was at this random place which I forgot the name of. :( I tried a couple cheese pretzels from other bakeries/cafes, but they were not as good.

Heavenly Cheese Pretzel

Schnitzel Sandwich at Vinzenzmurr

While we were on our Munich Walking Tour, we were given a quick 15 minute snack break, and our guide suggested a quick bite at Vinzenzmurr. We got the schnitzel sandwich, and I've never seen a sandwich where the meat size was twice the size of the bread...haha. It was actually a really good sandwich. Simple but good. The bread was warm and toasty (which I like), and the schnitzel was cooked perfectly with a slight crunch.

It looked like Vinzenzmurr was quite a common fast food place as we saw them all over Munich. So if you are looking for a quick bite, we recommend this place.

Schnitzel Sandwich

Nürnberger Bratwurst Glöckl am Dom 

Frauenplatz 9, 80331 Munich, Bavaria, Germany

After our Munich Walking Tour, we went to this place for lunch and beer. Dan & I both got the same beer (Augustiner) which was really good. I'm not much of a beer drinker but Munich beer is tasty!

Our tour guide explained that the city passed a law that Munich beers cannot contain chemical and had to be pure, and we could definitely taste it.

I originally wanted to order a Radler, which is 1/2 lemonade and 1/2 beer, but the waiter heard us wrong and just gave me the regular beer. But I did try the Radler at a different place, and it was good. They say it's a ladies drink though, not really for men. :p

 

This place was famous for their small pork sausages, so we shared the sausage platter which had a variety of different types of sausages. The small pork sausage was quite tasty, but I think at this point we were quite done with German food and sausages. :p The sausage was served with a serving of lukewarm potato salad.

Sausage Platter

Brenner Grill 
Maximilianstraße 15 80539 Munich, Germany

As we were quite tired of eating typical German food (sausages), we went to an Italian place for dinner called Brenner Grill. This place came highly recommended from someone on the Trip Advisor forum and the ratings appeared to be quite good. I made a reservation about a week before online.  The restaurant looked very trendy, and it was really full when we came on a weeknight. Reservations are recommended. Service was super slow though, but overall we would recommend this place.  The restaurant was located towards the back from the main street so it was a bit hard to find.

Calamari Pasta

Dan ordered the calamari pasta, and I ordered the grilled salmon with pesto sauce. The pasta was cooked al dente with perfect calamaris and spicy tomato sauce. The salmon was also great and served with fresh pesto which was wonderful. It's probably the best pesto I have had outside of Italy.  Dan commented that this was his favorite meal on the trip so far.

Grilled salmon with fresh pesto

Sachertorte at Hotel Sacher, Salzburg
Schwarzstraße 5-7 5020 Salzburg, Austria

My friend told me to visit Hotel Sacher and try the Sachertorte, which was supposed to be famous. It is basically a chocolate cake with thick chocolate icing and apricot marmalade jam.

The story on how the cake was invented was quite interesting. Apparently the head chef at the restaurant was out sick and so the assistant chef had to come up with a recipe to entertain some important people who were coming to the hotel, and the cake became a huge hit, and the rest is history.

Inside the Cafe

The hotel's decor was very traditional and a bit old style, but I guess that's part of the charm.

We shared a slice of cake, and we both thought it was just ok. The icing was very thick and sweet, and the cake was a bit on a dry side. But, we're glad we at least gave it a try. :)

Zum Alten Markt

3, 80331 München (just behind Viktualienmarkt)

This restaurant also came highly recommended for German food. Even though we were quite tired of German food at this point, we gave it a try anyway.

The restaurant was much smaller compared to Brenner Grill. It's nice and has a cozy, intimate atmosphere. Reservations were necessary, and I booked it online about a week before and the owner actually emailed me back to confirm, which was nice.

As soon as we got there, the owner immediately know who we were. I guess they probably don't get that many Asian customers? :p 

We were promptly seated and the restaurant was quite full at that point. Most of the patrons appeared to be businessmen. Actually, the table next to us were American businessmen.

Their menu appears to change seasonally. I ordered the mushroom and leek pie appetizer, which was actually quite big and definitely enough for an entree. The mushroom pie tasted like a quiche, creamy and delicious!

Dan got the pork with noodles. The pork was tender and the sauce was really good. I felt the pork was a bit undercooked, but still a good dish. Overall we enjoyed the food. When we were paying, the waitress asked us how we heard about the restaurant. Like I mentioned earlier, they probably don't get a lot of Asian tourists here it seems like. :)

Thoughts:

Looks like typical German food consist of beer, sausage, pretzel, schnitzel, and so on. :)

Our guide even told us that if you're vegetarian AND if you don't eat pork, you'll have a hard time finding something to eat in Munich.

Our highlight from Munich's food scene was definitely the yummy beer, the cheese pretzel, and the sandwich at Vinzenzmurr. We enjoyed dinner at Brenner Grill and Zum Alten Markt as well, and would recommend those places if you are visiting Munich.

Next Post: Munich - Johannesburg - Port Elizabeth

Exploring Munich

This is a continuation of our Munich & South Africa trip. You can find the full trip itinerary here.

Sandeman's Walking Tour

For our first full day in Munich, we booked a free walking tour with Sandeman. I was not familiar with this concept before but apparently these "free tours" are common in Europe. The concept is that the cost of the tour is free, and the guide works only for tips. Most of the guides are typically not originally from the particular city. Our guide, for example, was from Ireland but he had lived in Munich for the past two years.

We met at Marienplatz, the city center in Munich. It was beautiful but a lot smaller than what I imagined. Our guide explained that the new city hall (pictured below) ironically is older than the old city hall since the original city hall was destroyed during world war.

Munich is part of Bavaria, which is a special state in Germany. The people are very proud of being Bavarian and our guide compared it to the state of Texas in the US.

We visited the world famous Hofbrahaus, a popular beer hall. Bavarian beer has no chemicals and it is actually a law not to put any chemicals, hence why the beer tastes so good (so our tour guide said). There are 6 main breweries in Bavaria and our guide's favorites were Augustiner and Paulaner. Beer gardens (outdoor) are popular during summer, and during winter people move to beer halls (indoor). 

Hofbrauhaus

There was a section where mugs/steins for "regulars" were kept. In order to get a spot to store one's mug, one must be an uber regular. Some people pass down their spot from generation to generation. 

The steins

Our tour ended at the Viktualienmarkt which is an outdoor market. It's a nice area to browse around and visit all the different shops.

Beer garden

The tour took three hours total, and we thought it was quite well worth it considering it's free. We definitely felt somewhat obligated to be a little generous with tipping since we enjoyed the tour.

BMW Welt and Museum

We wanted to do the BMW factory tour but the only day that we could do it, they were all sold out. Reservations could only be made by phone. So unfortunately we couldn't do the factory tour, but we did make a visit to the BMW museum across the street.

In front of the BMW Welt

The entrance fee to the museum was 9 euro per person. We actually came around 5ish and since the museum closes at 6 pm, we got a 3 euro discount each. Not bad!

They had a cool display with various balls that changes shapes into different car shapes.

There were displays of the various BMW models throughout the years.

And we saw the 007 car!

We thought the museum was a bit small and not sure if we would really recommend it. We've heard the factory tour is much more interesting. However, if you are a BMW aficionado, then you might enjoy the museum more than we did.

Salzburg Day Trip 

We booked a Salzburg city tour for 39 Euros per person from the Munich tourism office. The cost actually included the regional train ticket. We met the guide in front of the Munich tourism office at Marienplatz. Our tour guide was a German lady named Astrid. We really liked her as she was very nice and we had a really small group so the experience overall was better. We went to Hauptbahnhof to took the train to Salzburg. The train ride took about two hours one way. We left Munich at 9:40 and arrived in Salzburg at around 11:40 am.



Salzburg is actually in Austria, and the name means salt fortress. In the old days, salt trade was the main income for the city. It was interesting when we passed the "border" as it was just passing over a small river. Our guide took us around Salzburg for one hour and then gave us three hours to roam around on our own.

Mirabell Garden

We visited the beautiful Mirabell garden where some scenes of "The Sound of Music" were shot. Our guide explained that sound of music was not a popular movie in Europe even though it was shot there. But because a lot of tourists kept asking about it, they now have Sound of Music tours. The garden was built by the archbishop who was also the prince of Salzburg, and even though he was an archbishop, he had a lover and had 15 children! The garden was built as a gift for his lover.



Salzburg is also the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. We visited his old birth house which is now a museum.

Mozart's Birth house

During our free time, we grabbed lunch and then walked around town. We both thought Salzburg was a really pretty town; it reminded us of Sorrento in Italy. We both preferred it to Munich actually, as it was more quaint and picturesque, even though very touristy. We didn't get a chance to visit the fortress up on the hill, but one of the couples from our group went and loved it. Here are some pictures:

There were lots of outdoor cafe which would be nice to spend an afternoon drinking coffee and enjoying a light snack when the weather is nice.

Our guide told us that the Red Bull drink was headquartered in Salzburg and was actually one of Salzburg's biggest employers. The owner is an Austrian men who discovered the drink when on a vacation in Thailand. Interesting tidbits, huh?

We took the train back at around 5 PM and got back to Munich at 7 PM. Overall we would recommend this tour, or you could do it on your own, too. It was nice though not having to figure out the logistics and having a qualified guide to follow :)

Dachau Memorial Tour

The town of dachau is around 10 miles northwest of Munich. It is actually a beautiful town and the local residents lament the fact that now it is mainly known for the concentration camp. We took the Dachau tour from Radius Tours but booked via Viator and actually got it for a slightly cheaper price than the advertised 21 euros per person.

Our guide, Alun, was originally from London but now lives in Munich. We had about 15 people in the group. We met at the Hauptbanhof central train station at 10 AM and took the S-bahn train to Dachau. Once we arrived at the Dachau train station, we took the bus to the concentration camp.

Gate to Dachau

The tour was quite disturbing and sad but at the same time it provided a clear message that mankind is capable of doing great things but also terrible things. It was really hard for me to wrap my mind around how such a thing could happen.

Inside the cell

Some summary from this tour:

• The Dachau concentration camp was originally intended for political prisoners, or German citizens who were against the Nazi. Over time, the camp grew to hold outcasts, Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, and even priests. Basically anyone that the Nazi deemed unfit, or dangerous where they could cause the public to question the Nazi's supremacy.
• The site was designed for 3,000 people. However at the time of the prisoners release by the American military there were around 30,000 prisoners. 
• The citizens were kept in the dark for the most part and did not know the whole truth that was going on in the camp. They might have suspected something, but questioning it would have caused them to become prisoners themselves. 
• We saw the barracks where people slept as well as the gas chambers. They were quite disturbing.

Sleeping condition

Overall this was a very thought provoking visit. It was very hard for us to grasp how humankind could do such a thing, but it's probably because we grew up in a very democratic society. The main message was that something like this should never happen again anywhere.

Next Post: Food in Munich