Wednesday 5 May

Went for a walk - lovely woods so close to the centre of Munich - saw squirrals. Christina put on a great breakfast of a variety of rolls (German bread sure is fantastic), variety of cheeses and ham and excellent coffee. Caught the U-bahn into Munich with Helena and Veronica. Walked down the Isar River bank then down Maximilllian Strasse, the main "brand" shopping street of Munich, arriving in the centre at Marienplatz. Climbed the 13 levels of St Peters church for a panoramic view over Munich. Coffee at Woerners Cafe, from where we dashed outside at noon to see the Glockenspiel perform at the Rathaus. We met up with Helena's friend Lara who was to be our "official" tour guide. Lara is a volunteer with the student exchange organisation AFS that Louise worked with in Australia and has had some wonderful experiences with them in Equador and Malaysia. We walked around looking at various sites, including the huge women's church and opera, then had lunch at Pfalzer Residence Weinstube (Kings Residence) - bratwurst and sauerkraut - very good. Then to the amazing central market where there is fruit and vegetables from every corner of the globe with asparagus and strawberries being the main items in season in Germany. Shopping in the afternoon then dinner back at Krailling at Cross Countries restaurant, an eclectic mixture to say the least, with Helena's dad, Hurbert. Asparagus is a big deal at this time of year - there was a whole specials menu based on it so asparagus and schnitzel seemed a good choice.