The fever of New Year is cooling down as we get used to write the dates ending with 2010 on our agendas. Now that it is just a year we are in and will get old in blink of an eye. Before the a lot spoken New Year cookies, I was telling you about Munich and promised to mention details of pleasant stops in the city afterwards. So get ready…

As a sightseeing spot you may consider visiting English Garden even if it snows.

During the time of our visit there were stalls around the Chinese Tower where you can find different Bavarian street snacks like Auszogne, the equivalent of doughnut without a typical ring shape and Weisswurst, white sausage made from minced veal and pork bacon flavored with cardamom, ginger, parsley and onions. This sausage is generally eaten before noon. Since there were no refrigerators in early times and the daily produced sausage was not smoked, it was going bad before night time. So some Bavarians still follow the rule that Weisswurst should be eaten before you hear the church bells ringing. As for me, its taste was nice but even if I lived in the past I might prefer something else to eat without this Cinderella rush.

If you are an inexhaustible shopper, city promises you a lot. Elegant mall, Fünf Höfe, designed by Herzog&de Meuron will definitely be caught on your radar with its stylish looks. Maximilian Street may also be another address to visit for high-end fashion followers. Keep in mind that Munich is one of the richest cities in terms of income per individual, this information might be helpful to make sense of the price tags you come across.

As far as I am concerned, shopping must also entail food and Munich gave me what I was looking for, Viktualienmarkt. It is a daily food market with around 150 stalls offering exotic fruits, different cheeses, various fresh vegetables, herbs, poultry, fish, and so on. The quality and exclusiveness of the products sold make this place a gourmet destination of the city.

I lost myself in a cheese shop where they sell numerous varieties like a French beauty; Comté cheese. I would be more than happy if it was possible to take one of those huge cheese wheels back home but I had to content with a few big slice of my favorites. Better than not having any I guess.

Since Munich is situated very close to Italy it is also possible to find insanely delicious Italian olives of different types brined with herbs at Viktualienmarkt. No need to mention the top quality fruits coming from all over the world. Just looking at the pictures is enough to slaver.

If you can help yourself not spending your every penny at Viktualienmarkt get ready to spend the rest at Dallmayr, a luxury delicatessen food store in Munich.

The store was first established in 17th century and in early 1900 it became the preference of royal families in Europe with its outstanding products and innovative recipes. Personally I would love to stay in there for weeks and taste their more than 6000 products one by one. I felt like the Hansel in the Hansel & Gratel who found the candy house and went crazy to eat all of it up.

The store is divided into a number of sub sections like confectionery, specialty coffee beans, chocolate desserts, wines and spirits, luxury snacks decorated with caviar and crab, fresh olive oil, etc. This fabulous place is as reputable as the Fauchon in Paris with its 2,5 million visitors every year. This is the difficult part I have to admit, it was so crowded and packed that you have to be determined and patient to reach the stuff you want to have. Dallmayr has also a luxury brand of coffee started after the big depression in 1930 to protect itself from financial downturn. They even cooperate with BMW to expand through vending machines.

Another well thought detail of the Munich’s food scenery was an upscale restaurant, Lenbach, decorated with subtle details of seven sins concept which are envy, greed, lust, sloth, wrath, vanity and gluttony. Particularly “vanity” was the most impressive one to be symbolized with an illuminated catwalk situated in the middle of the restaurant so while you are coming in or going out everyone can see you as if you were a star.

If you are lucky enough you may bump into real stars like Nicole Kidman, Hugh Grant or Mick Jagger but I was unable to see any celebrities that night to gossip about them here. Unlucky me… However, absence of celebrities in the restaurant did not prevent us from getting a kick out of the food. I can still recall the taste of cream of chestnut soup and tender chateaubriand coming after the delicate appetizer embracing a piece of white truffle. As for the desert, I had parfait of maple syrup with fig beignets.

As we were on our way back to Istanbul, I knew that we would definitely visit Munich again, but for sure next trip would happen in summertime!

As you may have already realized, a bit more break than usual between two posts means I am out of the town for a trip. This time we set off for a place cherishing the Christmas spirit at its very best. Let me give you some hints; beer, sausage and Oktoberfest… No need to hear one more I guess. You are perfectly right, Munich is the answer. Even though I have been to Germany before I had no chance to visit the capital of Bavaria. Most of the city dwellers consider Bavaria is a place different than Germany. For them Bavaria is Bavaria, not Germany. I guess they are right in some fashion.

The city is very close to Italy, affects of which can be felt in various aspects in social life. Munich is more like a half-breed child of a marriage between German discipline and Italian coziness. Every well-thought detail in city life imitates clockwork, but when it comes to savor the blessings of the world, a relaxed atmosphere is over there. Enjoying long running dinners with delicious dishes, sipping a huge glass of beer while chatting with friends, strolling in the English Garden and going Alps for skiing are just a few of the regular activities of city residents.

Our starting point was Marienplatz, the city centre from where you can simply walk to most of the city’s sightseeing places. In 19th century wheat market was set up at that point and also it was the place they used to hang criminals. Did I mention that I climbed more than three hundred steps of Peterplatz tower, the aisle of which one person can barely fit, just to take the picture above for your eye pleasure? No matter…

Marienplatz hosts a building you can never miss, the famous new town hall (Neues Rathaus). Even the name says new, it is an old Neo-gothic building with a big set of bells accompanied by some animated puppets on top to demonstrate different scenes from Munich history.

During this time of the year a Christmas market is opened in front Neues Rathaus where you can find various tree ornaments, sweets and a Munich classic, hot mulled wine called glühwein.

Mulled wines I tried up to now were quite different than the glühwein in Munich; they were more on the “spiced grape juice” side I may say. However, glühwein has some additional liqueur in it which makes it a stronger drink to combat the freezing -10 °C (14°F) weather outside. While drinking up a cup of this tasty liquid, I burst out ”Good idea!” since I suddenly started feeling my already frozen nose again in its place.

After a short break, we started walking again to discover other historical places around. Most of the famous buildings and churches are meticulously reconstructed after the Second World War when they were extensively damaged. This reconstruction was so successful that many of them gained almost the same look they were first built like Treatinerkirche and Royal Residenz.

Another Christmas market was there, in one of the Rezidenz’s ten yards. Residenz was the home of Wittelsbach family, a German dynasty, since the14th century with its 23.000 square meters of living space. That’s what I call a spacious house but setting aside their real estate, the family is of great importance since they developed Bavarian cuisine and refined it with some influences from Austrian and Czech cuisines. You know royal people, they like getting married with foreigners and generally they move in with their cooks and servants. What a life!

When the clock in our stomachs alarmed for the dinner time, we headed for the famous brewery, Augustiner, to try typical Bavarian dishes and fine beer. Bavarian style roasted duck and goose were our top choice, served with Kloesse, a sort of boiled potato dumplings made out of mashed potato, egg and flour mixture (bread crumbs are also used to replace potato). Bavarian style goose was really tasty with its crispy texture on the outside, so if you are fond of poultry take a note about it. Another typical side dish we had was Bavarian style red cabbage, basically containing onion, green apple, and vinegar besides red cabbage, served warm. No need to take a note, just forget it!

Beer is the indispensible part of almost all dining tables and it goes very well with their famous pretzels, a knotted loop of bread pastry. The strange thing is that you should count how many pretzels you ate during the meal so that you would not be dumbstruck like me when the waitress in traditional Bavarian costume asks the number of pretzels you ate to add their price on your bill.

Munich stories will be continued after I bake the New Year’s cookie and share its recipe with you in the next post. So stay tuned for more delicious details from Munich trip.