Let's pause from talking about Greece and spend a day in Munich, Germany. Lizzie and I flew on Lufthansa, the German airline, from LA to Athens and back, and we had a layover in Munich on the way home. We figured since we had to spend one night in the city, why not add a day and see the city? I mean, when are we going to be back in Munich? We arrived there on a Saturday night and went to our hotel called Yours Truly. We went out exploring just a little after we settled into our room, but we were a little off our game and I, at least, felt a little overwhelmed by the Munich. After spending a week in the fairly small city of Chania, Crete, Munich was a lot. We wound up heading back to the hotel and getting to bed fairly early.
The next day, Sunday, we had scheduled a walking tour of the old city. Lizzie wasn't feeling great; she had a bit of a cold. Thankfully she had some cold meds with her because we learned that Munich is basically closed on Sunday. There were a kabillion pharmacies within walking distance of the hotel, but they were all closed, as were all the stores and shops. Basically, the only things that were open were cafes and restaurants. I'm not kidding. We did not get any souvenirs in Munich because there was no where to buy any on Sunday.
I'm going to post a bunch of photos here from our walk around the old city with some info in the captions.
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| The Ring sculpture in the Old Botanical Gardens |
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| Karlstor, the gate in the old city wall |
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| Bavarian architecture |
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Frauenkirche, the cathedral of Munich
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A couple of interesting things about
Frauenkirche. It was built in just 20 years back in the 15th century, which is nothing short of remarkable. The big towers weren't added until later, in 1525. The towers were unharmed in WWII because the Allies used the towers as landmarks on their bombing runs. Another fun story, it is said that the devil's footprint is inside the church. We didn't get to see it, though, because we didn't have time to go in the building.
Watching the Glockenspiel was my favorite thing that happened in Munich. It just felt perfectly right.
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| View of the Frauenkirche towers from the top of the New Town Hall |
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| View of the Olympic Tower from the top of the New Town Hall |
I did enjoy the walk around the old city. There are some wonderful buildings, and there is a lot of history here going back to medieval times. There is also a lot of more recent history from the 1940s which puts a shadow over the place, in a way. Nazi history is tucked into little corners all over the place, from not-quite-painted-over swastikas' in Hofbrauhaus (I'm told) to the bronze path in Shirker's Alley. It's probably just me, but I got a weird vibe from Munich.
That night, we went on a Ghost and Spirits tour of the old city. We stopped by most of the same places we had seen during the day tour, but with some different stories about the locations. I love a good ghost tour, and I think this one was fun enough. I just couldn't shake the feelings I was having about the city. Plus, I was tired and ready to go home. I'm sure that's the bulk of my issues and feelings about the place. I wonder if I would have had warmer, fuzzier feelings if I had gone to see Neuschwanstein Castle instead of staying in the city? Or maybe I would have been happier in Munich on a Tuesday rather than a Sunday when I could have gone to the Biergarten Viktualienmarkt.
Maybe someday I'll find out.
PS: I did have a couple of beers with lunch while we were there, and the beer was very, very good. Bavaria is well-known for it's beer.
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