Munich May 2011

May, 2011. I am attending German Travel Mart - trade show for travel trade.
Glad to be back in Germany!

First part of the trip is fam with theme Health and Wellness. We are group of 25 international Travel Trade professionals and journalists . First night and arrival is Munich and we are staying in Munich Westin Grand in Arabella Park. A little bit off center, nonetherless is really nice "grand hotel". Very comfortable, and restaurants look nice. Lobby is busy with groups - Emirates airlines personnel, some Chinese groups, otherwise business travelers.

Checked in and had few hours to rest until we meet in the lobby for a walking tour of Munich.
We met in the lobby with representatives of Munich tourist board and our group escorts and went to the center by subway . We got out on Oden Platz and passed through Residenz Palace. There was the border of Munich's beautiful park which spreads 6 miles and larger than central park in NY. We walked through the city, enjoying nice weather, beautiful designer stores, and variety of delicious food at the market. I grabbed pretsel and croissant to eat since I did not eat anything since morning breakfast on the plane. The breads were delicious... Pretzel is like ours but tastes better, crisp, fresh.

We stopped at famous Hofbrau Haus brewery. Last time I was there with George. I think I handled it OK. We did not have beer now, but stopped there.

The guide showed us the beer cups which locals keep there under locker. We went to hotel Bayrescher Hof for inspection and had a drink on a terrace with beautiful view. Very nice hotel ,mix of traditional and contemporary design, with 1 Michelin star avangarde restaurant Atelier, designed by Belgian designer Axel Vervoordt. Great central location. Beautiful views from the terrace.

We took subway back to hotel, inspected Westin spa and rooms. Some rooms in Westinare with Bavarian design - beautiful wood instead of regular Westin decorations. We finished day at Bavarian restaurant dinner.

There was accordion player at restaurant who was kind of loud so it was hard to carry conversation. We had an interesting company. Out of 25 people besides our German hosts, we had people from USA, Ireland, Scotland, Australia, Russia, Spain, Italy, China, Belgium, Czech Republic, Hungary, Sweden, Denmark, France, India, South Korea. So it made very interesting discussions especially after Hofbrauhaus, locals keep their beer cups in the lockersfew rounds of beer!

While dinner cuisine was Bavarian, the menu included nice shrimp and avocado salad, grilled turkey with leeks and tomato coulis, and desert was cottage cheese and mainated fruit! Everything was delicious but service was very slow. Fighting jet lag, after dinner, I went to the room and tried to write blog, but fell asleep.

Next morning, we had breakfast at hotel. Westin is great hotel. The "heavenly bed" was just as it promised - heavenly. I slept soundly all night. But internet is 16 euro for 24 hours! Good towels and toiletires. Attentive staff.

Rushed to the breakfast. The selection was huge, very good breads , cold cuts and cheeses. Fortified with food, we went to the bus for our second destination - spa town Oberstaufen. It took about 2 hrs on a highway. The scenery became more rural with beautiful views of Bavarian Alps. ... Next... Oberstaufen