Day 9: Germany- Munich or 'München' (July 17)

18:25 17, Jul 2012 

We ate breakfast and then I kissed Travis g'bye and Laura Schaefer Hyde and I waited for the bus to Munich.

We drove by many hops farms. We are in Bavaria = Beer.

We drove down Ludwigstraß and got out at Odeon Platz. We have a German (but English-speaking) tour guide and saw the Field Marshall Hall and an Italian style baroque church called Theatinerkirche. Odeonplatz is famous for it's initiation of a Natzi (Hitler) Rebellion for the killing of police in November 1923. The church is famous because it's one of the few Catholic places left in the predominantly Lutheran take-over during the 30-year war where religious division tore the country apart (literally!) Maximalian I, Ludiwig I (his son), and Maximalian II did a lot to reconstruct Munich after this war and to rebuild the city to glory. They did a great job reconstructing this seat of power in commerce and politics.
 

Theatinerkirche
It's bold yellow color and intensely baroque inside are iconic to Munich.

Odinplatz's Theatinerkirche

Laura inside the Theatinerkirche. Really, you can only get a small hint of how heavily this church was decorated. I took a few pictures of a cherub an angels, but it's hard to get the feel for it unless you're standing inside. Oh, and it was still being used as a church; even at the moment we were inside people were worshiping and touring.

Here I am standing in the Odeoplatz aith the Field Marshall Hall right behind me.

It took 20 years to construct another church in Munich: the Frauenkirche. I ttook such little time to construct, so the folklore says, that it was thought the Devil helped. Part of the deal was no windows, bu tthe church was blessed and the devil couldn't pass the entrance. So, what he was able to view, upon conclusion of their contract, was only the from the front vestibule and although there were no visible windows (the columns blocked them) there was lots of light inside the church. He was so furious that he was tricked that he stomped his foot, leaving an impression on the floor. This church was not bombed during WWII because it was a landmark. This is also the Bishop's church (Döm).

My foot next to the Devil's print in Frauenkirche.

Tabletop model of the old city Munich. This shows the size of the wall containing the city in Roman times, but also the landmarks of the Frauenkirche (the double-tower church in the front right corner) and the Theatinerkirche (close to where the man is pointing).
Oh, and we walked all through this area during the few hours we were in Munich.

From the Frauenkirche we walked to Marienplatz and its Rathous and church. Our tour guide got us there at 12:00 so that we could watch the clock dance. H eexplained that the top was a wedding of 1568 of a nobleman complete with the wedding entertainment of a knight tournament. The bottom showed a cooper (one who makes barrels) and dancing men for a festival (May day?) In winter it only plays once at 11am, but for summer tourists it plays at 11:00, 12:00, and 17:00.

View of another church clock tower from Marienplatz. The center pillar is another famous tribute.

St. Peter's clock tower. If it hadn't been windy, cold and spitting rain, I would have walked up to the top (see the iron railing?) and been able to have a stunning view of Marienplatz, Victualeinmarkt and other parts of the old city. However, I was too cold and hungry to attempt that.

Here I am in front of the Neu Rathous, the new parliment buliding. It is only 30 years old, but during reconstruction after WWII they purposefully "aged" the building so it would appear to be as old as it would've been.

Above my head is the Glokenspiel- dancing bell tower.

Closer-up to the tower.

You can see the clock above the performing window

You can see some of the figures that will soon be moving.
Top: wedding feast
Bottom: dancers

We walked down a side street to St. Peter's church, all baroque on the inside. It was also bombed (as was Marienplatz) and since rebuilt. We then walked to the Viktuaeleinmarkt where we split from the main group (who went to Hofbrähause for beer and brats). While we bought HUGE pretzels and ate them outside at the Markt.

The Maja Bee!
Isn't she cute? Although, not as adorable as Maja is.

Eating lunch at the VictualienMarkt. We bought these pretzels at the beer stand. We could hardly finish them! We also ate some yummy cherries that Laura bought from one of the fruit stands.

A world-famous beer garden, we bypassed this eatery place
to walk around more of Munich.

We then walked west to the river, pausing at St. Lukas Kirche and then going to the island and walking along the water to the main government building. We arrived at the meeting point at 14:14, one minute before we were supposed to be there and then waited 30 min for the rest of the group-- they'd been at Hofbrähaus eating lunch the entire time. I'm so glad we got to see more of the city!

St. Lukas Kirche

View across the Isar river to another group of clock towers and churches.

Another view of St. Lukas church.

In the background is a dam on the Isar river that surrounds most of central Munich. Behind that, on the skyline, is the church of St. Lukas.

Laura is examining one of the locks on the bridge. Couples would buy a lock, inscribe their names/initials on it, lock it to the bridge and toss the keys into the water- this would signify that their love would locked so long as the keys were not found.

Isar river and Maximalian Street crossing it.

This is the New Rathause (government building).

View down the Isar river and all the steps/locks it had.

Nymphenburg Schloss a century ago.

We then rode our tour bus to Nymphenburg Schloss, but we were so late we only had time to see the hunting lodge. Amelienburg and a quick view of the gardens. I was disappointed we didn't have time to see the Hall of Beauties nor the carriage house, but I was very glad I finally found some postcards!

View of the back of the palace, while standing in the gardens.

I loved these deep purple flowers that were outside Nymphenburg Palace. This picture doesn't do justice to how rich the color and texture of the flowers were.

Walking to the main lobby of the Nymphenburg Palace where we spent a few minutes browsing the gift shop as we waited to see what tour we would go on.

Another clock tower on the side wing of the palace.

Inside the hunting lodge, they royalty had kennels built into the walls. I cannot imagine how awful it smelled, but it was surely a warm and cozy place for the animals to rest.

A "napping" room. I don't think I'd be able to rest at all in a room this busy with decorations!

Inside the all-siver all-baroque "Room of Mirrors" at the hunting lodge (Amalienburg Palace). It was quite a spectacular room, and I wish I could've done it justice with a photograph.

Postcard photo of the Hall of Mirrors.

Outside of the hunting palace. The crenelated railing was where the Princess would shoot fowl.

Map showing the places we walked. We made a HUGE loop, starting at the top of the "inner circle" and then walking SW then over to the river, back along Maximalian and then back to Odeonplatz.

This is a list of 'sites' we saw in order on the walking tour of the city:

Odeonplatz and skyline highlighting some of the buildings we walked past.

Odeonplatz: Theatinerkirche

Residenz: Opera house

 

Frauenkirche (Dom)

NeusRathaus with the clocks

 

Picture of Plaza's statue (left in gold) and the Glockenspiel in the Neu Rathaus.

St. Peter Kirche, 

No commercial photo available

Victualienmarkt,

St. Lukas, Isar river, 

Maximilian, the "5th Ave" of München at Maximalian Strasse, then back to the Opera house.

We then drove back to Bad Gögging.

On our drive home, we passed some iconic landmarks of more modern Munich

We drove this Olympic Tower on our way out of Munich.

There were quite a few BMW vehicles on the road. I think I saw more Audi's, though.

We drove past these BMW buildings (during the day, so they didn't look as cool) on our way back to Bad Gögging.

This is a giant soccer dome that has walls that allow lights to be projected and therefore can change the color of the building. Apparently you can even see this HUGE glowing beacon from the Alps!

The weather was cool and cloudy and threatened to rain- until later evening when the sun came out (when I was with Travis again).


I'm so excited! We booked a car rental for Friday so we can drive down to Schwangau to see Ludwig II castles. Laura and I got it together and Muna Nash adn Kriszdina Valter decided to join us. The car will be delivered ot the Monarch and Travis and I will drive it back to Ingolstadt Saturday morning (to catch our train). With all coverage, + GPS, and a car for 4, and hotel delivery, it will cost €129. I'm sure gas will be another €40 +/-, but because there are four of us that will cut the cost a LOT. :) Hurrah, I get to see Neuschwanstein castle :).

Although I saw very little of my husband, it was still a good day. I am looking forward to spending the day with Travis in Regensburg, the boat on the Danube, etc.

We just played at the hotel before going to sleep. Travis was surpised (and, sadly, puzzled) by my pearls. But I wanted to dress up for him. Still, it was a great anniversary- and celebrating tomorrow will be awesome!