Hofbrauhaus, etc

I felt like a little girl whose mommy had dressed her in a snowsuit for the first snow of the winter and was put in the yard to play, arms outstretched by layers of clothing, when we left in the pretty falling snow for town. Unfortunately it all soon turned into a slushy rain that I have noticed does not deter the local people from living their lives fully. I suppose the highlight of the day was Hofbrauhaus, described by the local guy who was sitting at the same long table as, "The most famous restaurant in the world." It did not disappoint, in fact I thought it was great. We chose to sit at in front of the Bavarian band that played off and on several times during our visit. During one particular song everyone would pick up their steins and cheerily say "Guten Appetit!" or "Cheers" (they thought we were from England at first) or something German and clank their glasses together. We sat across from a nice, family of three from St. Petersburg, Russia. In carefully selected English words, the München guy next to me said that people come from all over the world presumably to enjoy the beer, sausage and pretzels, music, history and conviviality.

After that we headed back to the shops at City Center and Marienplatz, but there was not much I had the heart to buy. Even if the dollar and euro were equal, everything would still be terribly expensive. We stopped for truly what must be the world's most delicious hot dog and then down a few outdoor stands for something like crispy potato pancakes that we ate like cookies. After such a filling breakfast, and onion soup and pretzels at Hofbrauhaus, that was all we needed.