Dear devoted readers, this is my last blog of our trip. Tomorrow we will wake up bright and early to catch our 6:30 a.m. train to Frankfurt. We will arrive just after 10 a.m. and walk the short distance to the airport to check-in, get our boarding passes and check our bags. Our flight leaves Frankfurt at 1:20 p.m. and arrives in Seattle around 3 p.m. It will be a long day!

We both slept well last night. We are at the Aloft Hotel in Munich, right across from the train station. This hotel is new and modern. Our room is comfortable and we have AC! Plus there is good soundproofing so it is nice and quiet.

We meant to get up earlier because we needed to get the car turned in but the extra sleep was necessary. We were still out the door about 7:30 a.m. We needed to fill up the car before returning it and had to venture out to find a gas station. Jacob did a great job navigating and got us to a gas station just around the corner from where we needed to turn in our car. Then it was just a few more turns and we were in the Europcar garage. A nice young woman, who looked extremely bored, checked in our car and we were on our way. We really enjoyed the VW Golf it was a great car and got great gas mileage at about 60 mpg.

After turning in the car, I was hungry so we headed back to the main train station by our hotel. This train station is the central hub for Munich and therefore has many shops and places to eat. We got our dinner here last night. I got orange chicken and Jacob got a burger. We stopped by a Rischart. There are many of these all over the place, they have fresh pastries and coffee. I got a cappuccino. We also got two apfelschnecken, a pretzel for Jacob and a croissant (due to lost in translation). The apfelschnecken is basically a soft apple cinnamon roll and is so yummy!

We walked back to our hotel to eat our goodies and make a plan for the day.

After filling our tummies, we headed back out to the train station to catch a train to Schloss Nymphenburg. This was a summer residence built in the late 1600s. Even though we have been to Munich multiple times, we have never been here. It was beautiful!

I told Jacob I felt like I was in Bridgerton. Then I asked him if the queen was going to pick me to be the season’s diamond and he said sure, even though he has no idea what I’m talking about.

We walked along the palace grounds and then went inside to purchase two tickets to tour the palace. We learned all about Electors Ferdinand Maria and Max Emanuel and their families.

The palace was full of beautiful portraits of the families who lived there. Jacob said when we build our palace on our property in eastern Washington we will need to have fancy portraits done of us.

After touring the palace, we headed back out to the grounds again and then walked back to the train station. We took the train to the Englischer Garten. This is a huge public park in the middle of Munich. We have been here before. Jacob famously ate a bratwurst in the park in the rain there. It was one of his favorite moments from our previous trip.

Since we are seasoned travelers now, we decided we’d get our lunch at the Biergarten am Chinesischen Turm (Beer garden at the Chinese Tower). This biergarten had Hofbräu München beer. Here there are all sorts of foods to choose from including beer, wine, desserts, salads, schnitzel and bratwursts.

Jacob got a beef bratwurst and I got the local Munich white sausage. We both got fries and sodas. Jacob also picked out a giant pretzel. It was a ton of food! We found a table in the shade and enjoyed our lunch and the atmosphere. Many people were enjoying their liters of beer. We learned this place is only open when it is “beer garden weather.”

After lunch, we walked around the garden some more. We ended up near another beer garden, this one featuring Paulaner beer. This beer garden was much less busy but was right along the water for good views. We both got a chocolate ice cream cone to enjoy as we walked.

After a while, it was time to start heading back to the hotel. We were both pretty wiped and though it didn’t get to 90 degrees today like forecasted, it was about mid-80s and muggy. We took the train back to the hotel and will spend the evening getting our luggage organized.

Soon, we will venture out to get burritos at a place called the Burrito Company. We ate here in 2016 when there was only one location. Now they have six locations throughout Munich.

It has been a wonderful final day of our vacation. Wish us safe travels back home tomorrow!

Until then!