London1_2018

      I arrived in London yesterday. I came on the Eurostars train.  It only took 2 hours and I gained an hour coming west.  It was @125 euros and fast.  Ernest met me at St. Pancras station and put me in a cab.  There was bumper-to-bumper traffic the whole way and it took 1 1/2 hours and cost a little over 30 pounds.
     My hotel the Hilton Trafalgar Square St. James is beautiful and right on Trafalgar Square.  My room is great.  The breakfast so-so.  Mostly because you have to order hot dishes from a menu and the service,while very polite, is inefficient.
     Ernest came this morning at 11 am and we walked up the Mall to Buckingham Palace.  It is still open to the public and we were able to buy tickets and go right in, so we did.  Great!  It is always wonderful to see thing on person that you have only seen on books. We saw, I think, 16 public rooms.  In the gallery I saw another new Vermeer, - Girl at the Harpsicord.  I saw the Ramsey state portraits of George III and Charlotte. I saw the Winterhalter of Victoria and Albert and their first 4 children.  I also saw the Winterhalter of Vicky.  I saw the portrait of Queen Alexandra that I have seen a thousand times in books.  After we had a coffee in the terrase and then walked around to the Mall and Ernest left and I went for a couple beers at a pub, Halfway II Heaven.  Only 3.90 puond for a pint.  After I came back and got ready for an early dinner.
    I ate at a Lebanese Restaurant in St. Martin's Lane. It was very good but it cost me 40 pounds for a soup, a main dish, a water and 2 glasses of house red.  They added on a 12.5% service charge!!  Now I am back at the hotel bar drinking an equally expensive 1/2 liter of red.  Tomorrow, I am meeting Ernest at the Victoria and Albert Museum at 11.  I don't remeber ever having been there before.

Brussels _ 2

   Today was my last full day in Brussels.  I took the UBahn up to the park where they have several museums.  It was built by Leopald II for the 50th anniversary of the founding of Belgium.  I went ther to see the carving of Queen Ti.  She was the grand mother of the famous King Tut and led a very important life in Egypt at the time.  This carving is mentioned in books but it does not tell you that there are no signs so you  have to make your way through the Egyptian exhibit on the th.ird floor to find her.
   I went through some of the other exhibits and spent about 90 minutes there.  It is worth the walk and the time.  This museum is so large that I can not tell you all that is in there.
     Anyway, it was time well spent and after I visited various establishments before I went back to the hotel.   I am sad to leave and do not know if more time is the answer?

Munich-finish

     I realized that I only wrote once about Munchen and even though I am gone, I want to record the trip.  The weather did improve.  Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were fine sunny days.  I got to see the Alte Pinokotek, the Neue Pinokotek,  the Residenz Museum and the Schatzkammer, and the Bayrisches Museum which had a special exhibit on Barock Luxury.  I also went on Friday for a walk through the English Garden to the Beer  Garden.  I ate a Bratwurst with Fries and drank a Mas(1 liter) beer.  It is the Hofbrau in the pictures.
     I did eat at two familiar places in the end.  On Thursday night I ate at Pizzaette where I had eaten some years ago.  It was very nice.  All I had was a salad and a plate of penne arrabiatta but it was good and the 3 glasses of wine I had to go with it were even better.  Nothing beats sitting outside on a beautiful evening and having a meal and then hanging out and having a few drinks.  We NEED this in the US.  On Friday night I went to Simplcissimus.  It is a small beer hall and I ate there once last year.  The menu is small and it is just basic German food but the beer is Augustiner Brau and the price and atmosphere are perfect.  If I am in Munchen again and stay at the same place I think I will go to these 2 places more than once because they close, local and make for a great night.
     One thing I will complain about has to do with the Hilton Munich City.  This is the third time I have stayed there and I still like the area and the overall service.  The renovation is done and it looks great but...  In the past the bar was a nice place with food, drinks and 2 big screen tvs with either football or tennis to watch.  With the renovation the bar is really nice to look at but there are no more tvs,  there is only a bar food "chic" menu of food which is way over priced and sucks and they play loud music all the time and the service sucks.  So it puts a damper on the overall experience especially when you know what it was in the past.

Brussels_1 2018

     I left Munchen this morning at 9:30.  I went by train to Koln and then transferred and went to Brussels.  It was an easy, yet long trip.  I walked across the street from Gare Centrale to the Hilton Grand Place, where I am staying.  I showered and shaved and dressed and walked in the direction of the Grand Place.  I found a restaurant called Brussels Grill and ate there.  The food was good and the price was ok.  I stopped on the way back for a glass of wine at an out door bar and the price was not ok.  10 euro for a glass of Merlot!!  Oh well!  Now I am enjoying a few Stellas in the hotel bar.
      I had wanted to watch the Women's final at the US Open but no one here seems to know if it is on TV and I believe it will not be on till about 2:00 am Europe time.  I did get to speak a little of my bad French tonight.  At the restaurant the waiter did not speak English or Flemish or German.  So I muddled through and got what I wanted and he seemed to appreciate the effort.  He helped me with some words and seemed genuinely pleased when I gave him a whooping 3.60  euro tip which was just under 10% of the bill!  I love Europe!! 

Munchen Beers

Here is what I have had to date.  I got a list of Bavarian beers and feel it is my duty to drink them.

List of Completed:  Hacker Pschor,  Franzikaner, Paulaner, Ayinger, Spaten, Lowenbrau, Hofbrau

Munich 2018 - Day 1

     I arrived in Munich today.  I am sorry to leave Weimar but excited about this trip.  I took the train to Erfurt and then straight through to Munich.  It was an easy trip and it was quicker than I thought.  I took a taxi to the Hilton and arrived at about 13:00.  I checked in right away.  There was a problem yesterday with my reservation.  They asked me to check-in online and one option was to take the room they had picked for me, which I took.  I then find out they gave me a Twin room!!!  I had to write several emails to fix this because they just kept saying they couldn't CHANGE my reservation.  I did not want a change, I wanted the room I reserved and paid for on 30 May.  Eventually I had to send my copy of the confirmation to the hotel.  But when I got here all was well.
    This hotel is finally totally renovated.  But, they took away the old bar and instead there is a very nice bar but it is supposed to be a "happening" place.  There is only over priced bar food, and no other restaurant.  The prices for the drinks are ok but there is no tv anymore.  So I have to watch tennis on a bootleg website.  Roger Federer is playing Nick Kyrios.
      Last year when I was here at this time the weather was shit and today it is again.  It is dark, cold and rainy. I went up the street for italian for lunch after I checked-in and had a pastrami sandwich here.  I hope tomorrow is nicer.  If not I will go to the Alte Pinakothek.  I want at least one if not two nice, sunny days to walk around and look and drink beer and enjoy.  We will see.