Munich's New Town Hall

The gorgeous neo-gothic facade of the New Town Hall

We hired a car to take us from Frankfurt to Munich today, about 400km which took five hours with a lunch break in between. It was a pretty smooth ride overall. Yesterday we learned from our driver how every driver in Germany is well trained -- they all must enroll in professional driving schools for three months and the tests are pretty extensive.

Looking at the tower from inside the town hall complex

Once someone gets their license they have to drive carefully for the first two years -- if they get a speeding ticket, their license is revoked and they won't be able to drive for two years. Apparently the practical driving test is also difficult as the examiner will sometimes ask the driver trick questions to throw them off.

Our hotel is walking distance to Marienplatz, or Mary's Square, and we wandered there after an early dinner.

There's a lot of free entertainment, lots of musicians performing for any spare change you may have. One really good performer was a soprano accompanied by a guitarist.

The square has been around since 1158 with farmers selling their produce and merchants hawking their wares, but these days the area filled with international shopping brands like H&M, Vodafone, SportCheck, United Colours of Benetton, and discount clothing store TK Maxx. There are also mobile fruit stands that are also selling white asparagus which is in season.

The highlight of Marienplatz is the New City Hall or Neues Rathaus that is a stunning neo-gothic building made of brick and limestone that was built between 1867 and 1874.

The tower features a glockenspiel

Meanwhile the facade of the building features a glockenspiel in the tower balcony and everyday at 11am, 12pm and 5pm, mechanically powered figurines represent stories from Munich's history, along with the city's coat of arms, and then angel of peace.

We didn't get a chance to see the show, but maybe we can check it out in the next day or so, as well as take the lift up the 85-metre tall tower to see the views of Munich from above.