The plan for today was to use our bus tickets to explore some of Munich’s sites more thoroughly. There is no way anyone can see all a city has to offer in three days.

We had made our choices, based on our excursions yesterday, but there was one hitch – none of the art galleries we were keen to see were open today, being a Monday, but we still had much to do.

First stop: the Old Botanical Gardens which we visited on foot before the bus tour started. 

Next stop was Marienplatz so we could see the Glockenspiel display. An added bonus was a chance for Mick to taste Munich white sausage and pretzel dish.

The crowd started to build around 10.45am.

At 11am the display commenced, but the noise from the nearby construction work was so loud, it was hard to hear the 43 bells playing while the 32 figures moved around. The show was all over in about 8 minutes.

(There is so much construction happening here at the moment; we think it is something to do with the tram and train lines, but I can’t confirm that.)

Mick was very happy when we found some locals playing boules near the Hofgarten. I left him there for a short while so I could explore the gardens.

The Bavarian State Chancellory is located nearby – this is the office of the Minister-President. The statue depicts Otto I – who in the 12th Century became the first Bavarian royal.

Next task was to find the famous Hofbräuhaus.

We were so close. As Mick consulted the very-inadequate map, I followed a sign that brought us out into a very busy street.

And there it was – the three floor beer hall which dates back to the 16th Century.

We walked inside and found it even too busy to get a photo. This place was massive.

Later, we chose to have a drink at the hotdog-in-a-glass bar we’d been to before.

We then had dinner at the Com Viet Restaurant a few steps from our door . It was excellent.