Meandering The Marienplatz

Finding a cab at the Munich airport was easy, but the ride into town was anything but easy. With our cell phones still rebooting, all I could muster from my college German was "Wir gehen zum Hotel Atrium" (We are going to the Atrium Hotel). To make matters worse, we hit rush hour traffic, complicated by numerous construction sites. By the time the cabbie figured out the right hotel, our fare had reached 130 euros. The driver practically scoffed at his 10 euro tip. He was in a mood.

Relieved to have arrived at our hotel, we hauled our bags into the lobby and checked into the four-star facility. Other than our unfortunate timing in hitting rush hour traffic, late afternoon is actually the perfect time to arrive in a European city, especially when coming from Oregon. After all, it's cocktail hour! Fortunately, our hotel was conveniently located just blocks from the Karlsplatz (above), one end of the busiest shopping and dining districts in Germany. Where to go for dinner?

The "town square" in the old section of Munich is more of a series of plazas within a circle around the city's core, bounded by the Karlsplatz on the west. the Odeonplatz on the north, and the Isar River on the east and south, creating an incomparable dining and shopping hub. The Marienplatz resides at the center of the pedestrian zone along Kaufingerstrasse (above). Though we were sorely tempted by the Rathskeller (below), we settled on the Augustiner instead, another fine restaurant.