Exploring Germany and Austria

The view from our hotel room in Lindau was wonderful, especially at night. (During the day, our room had a gorgeous view of the Alps.)

It was hard to chose whether we wanted wine or beer with dinner. We were never disappointed with either. Tina, rarely the beer drinker, here with a beer while I sip a white wine. We were not ourselves on this trip!

The streets of Lindau were winding and made for some interesting exploration.

Wandering away from the main street, we found a restaurant with some wonderful pizza.

 ...And some of the local beer. The glass here notes the beer offered by this restaurant.

We ended our stay in Lindau with some tasty fish from Lake Constance, paired with some local Bodensee white wines. Tina had a variation on mac n cheese, made with German spaetzle instead of pasta.

Our first stop in Munich was the Haufbrau Haus. I am sure it gets crazy in the evenings and on the weekends, but it was perfect for a Friday lunch.Even if it took two hour to drink such a large bier, the notorious "mass"-sized beer. We never made THAT mistake again!

We spent a lot of time just wandering around Munich, enjoying the sites. We even managed to climb the tower at St Peter's to get a bird's eye view of the city.

The spring weather was still a bit cool, but the bars were prepared, so we could sit outside and enjoy the sun.

...Or we could just join everyone enjoying the English Gardens. Although we'd avoid the area for sunbathing a la nude.

The beer was great, but we did manage to find a wine bar for dinner one night, among the many dinner options along the Neuhauser Strasse.

Of course, the beer was great everywhere we went. And it was great to have some interesting options, like Edelstoff, a more complex Pislner.

...Which went great with one of my favorite dishes; a crispy skinned pork with a cold potato salad.

Munich: Pork, beer, and High Gothic architecture. What more can you ask for in a visit to Germany?

Of course, Vienna had that, and so much more.

We stayed at the Hotel Altstadt, just blocks from the Museum Quarter. It was a perfect location, and the hotel was a mixture of classical architecture, with modern design elements.

Vienna had everything we could ask for: local pubs...

...Wine Bars,

...Great Coffee,

...and interesting neighborhoods.

But we also got out of the city to see the wine region along the Danube.

We tried to explore some of the more interesting restaurants in Vienna, a city well know for food. This one, a traditional Heuriger (wine tavern) down in the cellar.

We had a simple meal there that included some more great pork, and wiener schnitzel.

And we finished our trip at a great farm to table restaurant, with a long and complicated meal, and several great glasses of wine.