Arrival
We arrive in Monaco of Bavaria with an Alitalia flight from Rome. Flight on time, quiet ride without bumps thanks to good weather along much of route. Once in Monaco before us a long gray with -8 degrees. Not really a good day, considering that throughout the city there are 20 cm of snow due to heavy snowfall the previous day. To reach the central station Hauptbahnhof
Munich Monaco definitely recommend the train. There are two opportunities: the S8 and S1 using more or less 25-40 minutes to get downtown by making several stops along the route. The cost of the train is 9 € per person. Do not help yourself to the station but the line of vending machines, you first, you pay cash or credit card and the display is in multiple languages ??including Italian. Arriving at the station, we immediately direct to our hotel booked on booking.com, Arthotel of Monaco. Two words are dutiful hotel: Close to the station, well connected by public transport with excellent breakfast included in the price and small changes which are definitely always appreciated, has left its mark. The room is very spacious with a large living area with a sofa and a coffee table. The double bed is placed in front of a desk with a comfortable and useful LCD TV located in a corner shelf in the fridge and the bottom of the fridge stocked and non-alcoholic drinks (reasonably priced). The cabinet is enough for two people but not for two mega large luggage or for a stay that is not a weekend. Pleasant surprise is the bathroom, very large with washbasin with mirror and shelf, hairdryer and mega bath with shower. There is also a need for wash and some useful gadgets (such as a needle and thread the cap for hair, essential for the ladies).
Two notes: the first is that the heating in the bathroom, whereas the radiator is not very large and the room is rather large, in my opinion is not enough. The second hand is much more important fact: there is a vacuum cleaner in the bathroom and of course there is not even the window. How you can! The room overall, although new, is certainly not design and you can not really say whether it is related to the concept of "art" as it suggests the name of the structure. There are metal sculptures of deer on the wall (of questionable taste), but otherwise nothing. I wonder then why the name. Well, mysteries German ... Useful instead wi-fi access throughout the hotel room included. Just ask at reception the password and you're done. Really appreciate. The hotel in general you can not say that it is not efficient but certainly not for the striking beauty of the structure. The elevator is microscopic and if you have luggage you have to take one reserved for the staff. In general the structure is still friendly, but not hot, a little impersonal and say 'aseptic. The front desk staff that the German perfect. Perfect English and education at the highest levels and great willingness to give information and maps, the usual things for unwary tourists, in fact. There never have to wait because when there are other people waiting for arriving receptionist to help out, coming out of nowhere. The bar is next to the reception very nice and colorful. The prices are acceptable, and what we have seen appears to be used by non-hotel. The offer is wide and in line with the German bar (beer of all kinds, and cocktails at reasonable prices with happy hour). It is certainly not a hotel for business people since there are no offers for meeting rooms or anything, and I have absolutely seen the welfare support services such as spa, swimming pools or other. The restaurant area is dedicated solely to breakfast that we took advantage of being included in the price. It 'been a great experience, really excellent. The buffet has lived up to expectations in line with 5-star hotel. There is everything from cooked foods, raw, sweet, salty, International, Local, dozens of jams, meats, eggs and many types of bread, tea ... impossible to describe everything. Obviously, all fresh and always refill by diligent waiter. There is a large room with two levels and an additional room that is open to second del'affollamento. People are so because the rooms are not huge but the turnover is quick and the waitresses still help everyone to find. Of course, the classic German style, you can split the table with customers who do not know. The hotel is located 5 minutes walk from the main railway station in Monaco. Then down from the train that arrives in a few steps away from the airport and you get here. With a walk of 10 minutes or so you get to the city center, Marienplatz in the heart of social life and nightlife. The area of ??the hotel obviously suffer a little bit of the proximity to the station, as usually happens in all big cities, not just the maximum: there are numerous game rooms, clubs managed by foreigners, some homeless and some local strip joints. But there was never a feeling of insecurity or fear of men than ever, but certainly not the top for viewing.
The town is very pretty, tidy and relatively small city center. I think you can run safely on foot and take the highly efficient metro Teutonic only to move out of the park and then to the area of ??the Olympic Village or to the great parks and the Allianz Arena.
Christmas markets. If, as we went, during the Christmas holidays, the city is literally invaded by stalls set up in the famous Christmas markets that emerge everywhere in every square and every where. They are always overflowing with people, usually sell groceries of all kinds (of course sausage sandwiches) and hot wine but also objects to decorate the Christmas tree, candles, small gifts of crafts and many other things. The most famous and certainly the busiest ones are: Karlsplatz (where there is also a skating rink), along Neuhauser Strasser, Marienplatz (the town hall square). We have also found all'english garden (large park north of the Monaco) and even in tiny squares, these are definitely tight angle to see why the prices are definitely lower than the famous cousins.
Viktualienmarkt. It 'an outdoor market, historical, Marienplatz, which is just after going south. Very great is the famous and very popular because it is one of the few markets that are open in Monaco on 6 days a week (closed only on Sundays). They sold all kinds of food from organic cheeses and French meat from fish to dry cucumbers from jams and honey. There really is a variety of important agricultural products rather than stand along the 140 ordered that comprise this market. Of course the prices are high but the quality and service are ristornante to 5 stars rather than local market: in summer there is also the opportunity to eat a sandwich or what you bought in the small but fresh beer , with long wooden benches, where you can relax and enjoy a good Bavarian beer.
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Food. We eat very well at Monaco, without spending a fortune. There is a chance to eat pork shank (Schweinshaxen), the huge steak breadcrumbs (Schnitzel), meatloaf, pork (meat loaf). But you can not get away from Moanco without tasting the famous sausages with Sauerkraut (cabbage), but what precisely is the famous Weißwurst which is a sausage made with veal instead of the pork and served in the cooking water. And 'to eat after removing the skin, fresh pretzels, senf (mustard) and of course with a good and fresh wheat beer Weiss. There are many places where you can taste these delicacies, but they point out two of the many that have impressed me. The first, in my opinion the best is Augustiner Braustuben (Landsberger Strasse 19) and the other is the Wiesses Brauhaus (Tal 7). The first is located in the west about a 10-15 minute walk from Central Station and the second is just behind the Marienplatz. The service, get used once, is notoriously rude, rude and in some cases you would want to go for as much alzartene and have little patience with tourists in particular but I have to say that the food is good and you do not ever spend more than 15 - € 18 per person eating well and drinking so much.
What to see. Obviously in the central Karlsplatz square starting to get to Marienpltaz you through the whole historical part of Monaco with the Old and New Town Hall (Altes and Neues Rathaus), the Church of San Pietro (St. Peterskirche) and Cathedral (Frauenkirche). During the Christmas season in the New Town Hall Square are also held to 17 Christmas carols rather nice (if it were not for the temperature in Siberia where we see the concertmaster) and of course there is the music box (Glokenspiel) of the tower, very famous and is one of the major attractions of the city sounds with its 43 figures and 32 bells every day at 11 and 12 to 17 and even in summer. For lovers of luxury shopping Maximilianstrasse highly recommend the road with the best luxury brands in the world. I really did not say much, and it is far from the glitz of other European roads dedicated to fashion. Among the interesting things and not particularly point out the historic English garden or the Englischer Garten's second largest city park in Europe (after the one in Dublin) and bigger than Hyde Park and Central Park. Very nice in winter too has some nice elements of attractions such as the Chinese Tower (Turm Chinesischer) where there is also an ancient beer garden is also open in winter of course with the adjacent Christmas market. For lovers of football and sport, or just the architecture and engineering, I can not report the Allianz Arena (you can get there easily by metro) and the Olympic Village area (near there is also the seat of the BMW with adjacent museum).
A weekend well spent is definitely going to visit this city orderly, beautiful, magnificent, but also noisy and frequented by a lot of people happy. Council during the visit the Christmas markets because they are really beautiful.