Thursday, August 25, 2011

German Foods = Honeymoon Foods

After our wedding on July 23, we left 2 days later for our honeymoon in Munich, Germany. We had a great time and I wanted to share some of our food experiences. We ate a lot! And it was all so scrumptous. I failed to take pictures of everything we ate but I did get photos of our favorites. g

To begin, as soon as we arrived in Munich, we dove right into exploring the area. We stopped at a restaurant at the Marienplatz - city square - around 10:45 am for a snack and to watch the Glockenspiel - a 10 minute show of figurines dancing in the bell tower of the city hall. We ordered weisswurst, a traditional white sausage in the Munich area. It's historically eaten in the morning because it is not smoked and can spoil after noon time. You eat the sausage with a pretzel and mustard. Our waiter failed to tell us that you do not eat the skin of the weisswurst :( But we still enjoyed it's unconventional creamy texture.

We also had a bratwurst and sauerkraut. The sauerkraut was the best I've ever had and I'm a huge kraut fan!



During our touring adventures in the old town of Munich, I took a break and slipped into a bakery and got a huge meringue. So sweet and crunchy!

While Adam was in a crowded soccer shop getting his Bayern Munich jersey, I enjoyed a gelato! So many flavors to choose from but I settled on raspberry! Look how divine the flavors look all mounded up in their containers, screaming at me to try each one!



We then wandered on to the Viktualienmarkt to see what the vegetable, fruit, meat, cheese and florists had to offer. I really wanted a pickle. Adam played along and tried it first so I could get a photo. It was both sweet and spicy at the same time - like no pickle I've ever had before. I like it but Adam did not (he's strickly a bread and butter pickle man).





Oh the beer!! We drank lots and lots of beer! Again, the beer was so much better than any beer in the U.S. And I think Adam has only had one U.S. beer since we've been home because nothing can compare to the brews in Bavaria! Pictured below is weissbier and a radler we enjoyed near the English Garden. During our trip Adam drank mostly weissbier. I fell in love with radlers - half beer and half lemonade. So freshing, especially for someone like me that can't drink a ton of beer.
Adside from all the beer we had at cafes, we visited beer gardens and beer halls. Adam's favorite beer was Augustiner and we visited the Augustiner beer hall. We also visited the famous Hofbrauhaus. While in the English garden we drank at the beer garden by the Chinesischer tower. Below are photos of the Hirschgarten, a beer garden a few blocks from our hotel. We went there twice!



Here, Adam enjoys a liter (or mas) of dunkel beer.


Of course we need pretzels with our beer! I ate several soft pretzels on our trip. The outsides were quite hard but the inside was so soft and doughy! In the background of this picture you can see the little shanty where you go to get your beer.





Ahhh! The beer garden cuisine! Let me say, I am hooked on currywurst! A sausage covered in curry ketchup with a side of fries! I was sure to bring home a bottle of curry ketchup and we're going to recreate this dish! I had currywurst 3 times on our trip!



Adam's favorite beer garden fare was schweinshaxe - a pig leg with incredible crispy skin! In this photo he had it with potato salad but other times he had it with fries.




After spending 3 days in Munich, our friends Susi and Jeff came to pick us up to take us to Susi's hometown, Furth im Wald - about 2 hours from Munich.



While in Furth we had some great food! We had one of the most traditional Bavarian meals, schweinsbraten - sliced pork served with gravy and a knodel. One of the best pork dishes ever!





We also enjoyed some local schnapps one evening! And we knew we loved schapps because we've had it several times at Susi's house in Maryland.





In Furth Adam mostly enjoyed Erdinger beer, brewed locally.





One night we went to a beer tent and Susi and I enjoyed gluwein - a hot spiced wine - because it was a very chilly night for July!





Below is a photo of Susi's sister serving up a snack of little sandwiches - delicious bread, some smothered in herbed cream cheese topped with cucumbers and radishes and some topped with sliced cheese and a gerkin.



We were also in town for Susi's son's christening. It was very special becuase I am his U.S. godmother and we was able to be there for the service. After the christening, we went to a restaurant for a champagne toast, dessert and coffee. Here is Susi in front of the dessert table.



To sum things up, we had pork and beer every day and were as happy as can be! We had an amazing trip and we cannot wait to go back soon!








2 comments:

  1. that food looks mighty tasty. I would love to revisit that.

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  2. This post makes me SO nostalgic for Bavaria! Oh, how I loved our trip there last fall. We enjoyed many of the same things you did -- some favorites were weisswurst and weissbier, everything in the Viktualienmarkt, and schweinsbraten. Oh, what I wouldn't give for an authentic German meal right about now. Thanks for the jaunt down memory lane!

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