We didn't make it to Schloss Nymphenburg. It was 3pm by the time we were caught up on our internet, so we headed over to the Viktualienmarkt. It's kind of like a giant Farmer's Market, plus cafes and beer. (Always beer.) There were so many neat stalls and we had a good time just perusing.
Allen and I both agreed that if we lived in Munich we would do most of our grocery shopping here. The photos don't do it justice, but there were so many stalls with fresh, seasonal produce. Just fantastic. There was one stall devoted to mushrooms of all shapes and sizes. They sell packages of dried mushrooms too, so we may buy some to make cream of mushroom soup when we get home - to relive the stroll in the Viktualienmarkt if nothing else.
En route to the Viktualienmarkt, we stopped briefly in Marienplatz so Allen could snap a photo of the famous Glockenspiel. It's still fairly crowded in the central district, but nothing like the weekend. We literally had to fight our way through crowds and were exhausted by the time we reached our destination. But now it's just normal (well, normal plus) tourists.
When we walked through Marienplatz on the way to the Hofbrauhaus a few days ago, there was a huge "Viva Vegan" sign. Allen and I were totally amazed so we walked in to see what was going on. It turned out to be a protest - a fairly graphic protest - against the fur/leather industry, as far as we can tell. Maybe to protest all the lederhosen? I would say probably 80% of the men are wearing lederhosen at any given time so far - probably only for Oktoberfest, but still fun. They are leather pants, though... We've actually been looking for a pair of corduroy ones for Allen, but so far, no luck. (Much to Allen's relief, I'm sure.)
After Viktualienmarkt, we walked to Prinz Myshkin vegetarian restaurant for dinner. Ont he way, we passed a yarn store! We went in with hardly any griping from Allen. :-) The yarn seems to be a bit cheaper here, but I also get the feeling this was just generic yarn and not necessarily top-of-the-line. Plus, the proprietor was pretty snipey about Allen snapping a photo of me, so we decided I didn't really need any of that yarn.
Our dinner was delicious, and we ate outside to enjoy the cool evening. I'm not sure there will be many (or any) vegan-friendly restaurants in Stuttgart, but we've been pretty lucky finding them here. And the one near our apartment (Cafe Kopfeck) has soymilk hot chocolate, which I plan to enjoy when we get back to Munich in a few days.
Starbucks has been very generous with their internet, so we're heading home for the day. We bought a bottle of cider and some olives for a snack and we are plan to relax over a game of Scrabble before bed. The Stuttgart adventure begins tomorrow! Finally, as we sign off for the night, we'll leave you with the guardian of the bathroom in Starbucks. This guy hangs on the wall right before the bathrooms... Only in Europe!
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