Flying to Germany by way of London

Lunch at Heathrow Airport

By the time we awoke, we were near Ireland with two hours to London. The flight attendants distributed breakfast burritos and beverages. Peter didn’t want breakfast, so we watched in-flight movies until we landed at Heathrow. We had to go through security again at Heathrow but had no issues. Since the breakfast burrito didn’t appeal to Peter, we needed to find something that he would eat for breakfast, easier said than done. We walked by every restaurant at Heathrow airport and found nothing to his liking. Mary took him to a small market in the airport where she bought a yogurt and granola cup that Peter said was nasty, so he threw it out. He said that a ham sandwich might be good, so we tried that. Mary took the cheese off his sandwich as he requested but a small amount of mayonnaise remained and he didn’t want to eat it. On the other half of the sandwich, we removed the cheese and managed to avoid the offensive mayo, so he was able to eat that.

We had to laugh that Buffalo Trace has a large presence in London. There was a Buffalo Trace booth in the Heathrow airport. I walked by the booth and an employee asked if I would like a sample taste of Buffalo Trace, but I assured him that I had tasted it before.

The flight from London to Munich boarded quickly, and we took off for the two-hour flight. We were seated together on this flight and read our devices for the short flight. On landing at Munich International Airport, our bags were among the first to arrive in the baggage carousel. Peter spotted our bags quickly and grabbed them from the belt. We took a light rail from the Munich airport to the Munich Hauptbahnhof (main train station) using the travel vouchers that we received from the travel agent.

Our hotel, the Eden Hotel Wolff, was a short two block walk from the train station. When we arrived at 4 pm the helpful desk clerk got us checked in and gave us additional vouchers for attractions in Munich like the Royal Residence, Nymphenburg Palace and others as well as vouchers for light rail, subway and bus transport in the city for the days we would be in Munich. As with other trips that we have taken with to-europe.com, this hotel is perfectly located for access to many of the places we plan to visit as well as the train station.

Dinner at Augustiner-Keller Biergarten

Our third floor room at the Eden Hotel Wolff was very nice with a king-sized bed and a sofa bed. We unpacked and considered our choices for dinner. The desk clerk said that many locals eat at Augustiner Keller Biergarten only a few blocks from the hotel, so we agreed to give it a try.

Most of the tables were out in a beautiful tree lined courtyard, and we were seated immediately despite the restaurant appearing to be crowded. Our waiter had some knowledge of English, but since we had spoken with him in German, gave us German menus. We were doing fine with the German menus, but Mary wanted to confirm our choices with an English menu that the waiter offered. Peter had the Weiner Schnitzel, I had the cordon bleu and Mary had Kaesespaetzle topped with onion straws. Substituting is not generally permitted in German restaurants, so I traded my French fries for Peter’s fried potatoes. We were really proud of Peter for his willingness to try German foods to see if he would like them.  Mary had sparkling water, Peter had lemonade, and I had a local bock beer. Everyone enjoyed the meal, although the portions were very large. Peter was able to eat only one of the large schnitzels with his meal. The meal was not fast but in much of Europe meals at a restaurant are not intended to be rushed. While eating, diners socialize and enjoy the company of friends and family.

Dinner at Augustiner-Keller Biergarten

As light faded, we walked back to the Eden Hotel Wolff, showered and prepared for bed. We were all tired from two days of stressful travel. We had a busy few days lined up with a visit to Munich’s Altstadt in the morning and the afternoon at the BMW Museum and BMW World near the Olympic Center, site of the 1972 massacre by the militant Palestinian organization, Black September during the summer Olympics.