Munich at the edges

23 April 2022.

A leisurely breakfast at home before getting ready for our hop-on/hop-off tour of the attractions beyond the city center. It took us about 20 minutes to walk up to the meeting point at Karlsplatz where we exchanged our mobile tickets for paper ones and boarded the bus.

There were few other riders this morning so we had most of the upper deck to ourselves. We plugged our headphones into the audioguide jacks on the seatbacks in front of us and off we went. On our way to our first stop, the Nymphenburg Palace we had the opportunity to hear about several interesting features of Munich's history as we whizzed down the Nymphenburgstrasse passed the Löwenbräukeller, home of the eponymous beer.

Arriving at the Nymphenburg Palace, we hopped off (hopping is required) and strolled over to the entrance to the palace, once the summer home of the ruling Wittelsbach family. 

At the entrance we were stopped by a staff member who asked if I was wearing an FFP2 mask (the equivalent of our KN95) under my cloth mask and I said no. "You can't go in," she replied matter-of-factly. (I recalled later that the filter in my fabric mask is in fact a PM2.5 which might have worked.) Anyway, almost immediately a woman walking by whipped out a fresh mask and handed it to me. Problem solved from the kindness of a stranger!

Once inside we got our tickets and headed upstairs to the palace. My primary objective here was to see the Gallery of Beauties, a collection of 36 19th century portraits of the most beautiful women in the region. Painted by Joseph Steiler over a period of over 20 years and collected by Ludwig I of Bavaria,  they are indeed stunning images of young women from all classes of society. 

Ludwig was keen on the women being beautiful in both body and spirit and also required the images to be as accurate a rendering of the subject as possible. 

To see the complete collection go here.

palace from the front

palace from the gardens side

one of the many hallways

grand hall

and its ceiling

gallery of beauties

Once back on the bus we headed for our second stop of the day: BMW Welt (world).

Located across from the Olympic Park (1972 games where Mark Spitz won his 7 gold medals) this complex of futuristic buildings includes the company's HQ (in the building that looks like four cylinders), a museum and our objective - BMW Welt. 

BMW Welt

the HQ is in the far distance

Walking into the building one is struck by how everything floats and flows together. We strolled among the various car models, amazed that they were all unlocked and people climbing in and out of them, getting the feel I suppose for what it would like to own one of these. Except for the Rolls-Royce display, that is. It was all look and don't touch.

The electric car area was fascinating and we loved seeing so many Mini Coopers! 

The second level consisted primarily of the BMW motorcycle displays and there were certainly plenty of people up there playing on the bikes. You could also see the showroom as well and, if I recall correctly this is where you would pick up your new BMW.

We opted for lunch here before walking back to the bus stop. 

Rolls Royce Cullinan

the new electric I series

note the batteries in the floor of the car

our favorite stop, the Mini!

the showroom, from the upper level

We just made it to the next bus and found this one had the roof open. A bit chilly to be sure but we weren't on it long before we arrived at the English Garden stop next to the Siegestor.

Siegestor, tor is gate

After a short walk from the bus stop we found ourselves in this incredible green space. The so-called English Garden is a large collection of lakes and streams set among a green space some three miles long much of which parallels the Isar River. 

We strolled up one of the many meandering paths to the Chinese Tower (the one landmark we had come across somewhere) where there was a band playing amidst a large biergarten packed with folks drinking and eating. 

the Chinese Tower

From the biergarten we made our way back roughly in the direction from which we came and walked up to the the temple-like Monopteros for a lovely view of the park and the old town in the distance.

Returning to the Siegestor stop we waited for the next bus which seemed forever to arrive. But the day had turned nice so it was pleasant to just sit and take in the sun.

We left the bus at a starting point different from where we began the day and felt a bit turned around. But we asked directions and soon found our way back to Karlsplatz and home. After dropping a few things off we headed back out to the Aroma Kaffeebar to get our afternoon hot beverage. 

Then on to Edeka to pick up a few groceries and back home before dinner.

I had made reservations at a nearby Vietnamese restaurant, Jack Glockenbach. The food was incredibly good (the best spring rolls we've ever eaten) and the service was equally so. 

filet of beef with betel leaf and rice noodles with a cucumber salad

curried chicken and rice

The end of another wonderful day in southern Bavaria.

Tomorrow it's off to Salzburg - stay tuned!

Munich old town

22 April 2022.

Munich's alte stadt or old town is the historic center of the city and is where we began the first full day in Munich and our Bavarian experience.

It was about a  50-minute walk from our apartment to the Sendlinger Tor where we turned onto the pedestrianized Sendlingerstrasse past the Apple store and soon found ourselves on Marienplatz, probably the true center of Munich. Beneath the Glockenspiel (we weren't on hand for one of the two daily performances) was the Tourist Office, our first stop. We wanted information on multi-day transportation passes and, after chatting with the agent, opted to pass on them for the time being. 

We are taking each day as it comes. 

Sendlinger Tor

Sendlingerstrasse

From the TI we walked a short distance to the Frauenkirche and to the nearby St. Michael's church. 

Frauenkirche

cenotaph for Ludwig IV in the Frauenkirche

St. Michael's church

We then backtracked crossed Marienplatz and kept our eyes open for a potential lunch stop. We soon found it: at Rischart's rooftop cafe overlooking the viktualienmarkt (more of that later).

Susie opted for a goat-cheese salad. I had promised myself to to try spaëtzel whenever and wherever possible and so I did, a delicious plate of spaëtzel with Emmenthaler cheese and caramelized onion. Sehr lecker! The place accommodated a large number of diners and was pretty much packed the entire time we were there. Service was attentive but harried to be sure.

lunch at Rischart

Bergspaëtzel

goat cheese salad

After lunch we walked maybe five minutes to the nearby Hofbrauhaus, certainly one of the most well-known and frequented attractions in the city. 

Capable of seating some 5,000 people it serves beer and local hearty dishes to eager customers sitting on benches around long tables. Beginning as a brewery and subsequently turned into a beer hall, you'll notice some of the tables reserved (permanently?) for certain families while many of the locals have their own beer steins locked up in small metal cages (only the owner has the key). There was also an oompah band playing!

On our meanderings we came across this replica of the Juliet Capulet statue, given as a gift from the city of Verona to Munich in 1974. We had seen the original some years ago on one of our Italian adventures. BTW, in case you're wondering - rubbing the right breast is reportedly good luck.

Hofbrauhaus entrance

more tables in the Hofbrauhaus courtyard

It appears my family once had its own staat.

Leaving the Hofbrauhaus we continued on our stroll and made our way to the Hofgarten, once the backyard of the Wittelsbach family home, which once ruled this part of the world. This small garden links up with the nearby English Garden, reportedly the largest garden park on the continent and which we hope to visit tomorrow.

Hofgarten

Leaving the Hofgarten and skirting the immense Residenz, home of the Wittelsbach dynasty, we walked down Residenzstrasse back toward Marienplatz, another pedestrianized part of the old town. 

Residenzstrasse

National Theater - note the Ukrainian flag

We stopped at the famous Dallmayr delicatessen where we picked up a bottle of locally produced walnut liquor for after dinner.

At Marienplatz we turned back toward where we had lunch, and soon found ourselves in the food lover's dream: the viktualienmarkt. The large open air market of food products, food to go and large sitting areas was a wonder to behold. The people of Munich certainly like their food and beer, of that you can be sure. 

  

entrance to the Dallmayr deli

falafel and wraps on the street

in the viktualienmarkt

Across from the market we stopped at Bite Delite and grabbed a pair of sandwiches to take home for a light dinner. As we strolled back up Sendlingerstrasse we stepped into the Asamkirche. A very unassuming church built into a long row of living and retail spaces you are immediately confronted by an amazing riot of color and stories packed into a very small space. Just when you thought the art couldn't get better you look up at a ceiling that made one understand why the Roman Catholic church has made such a mark on the world. The space literally takes your breath away.

As we neared the Sendlinger Tor we popped into a pastry shop and grabbed two pastries for our morning coffee. It was back to our digs for the night.

Asamkirche

Tomorrow we do a hop-on/hop-off bus tour. Sounds touristy and indeed it is, but we've learned this can be a great way to see a large city's environs easily and quickly. We hope to stop at the Nymphenburg Palace and Gardens, then past the Olympic park and hope to get off at the BMW Welt and Museum complex. From there we plan to end up seeing part of the English Garden. We have dinner reservations at Jack Glockenbach Vietnamese restaurant (right around the corner from our place).

Stay tuned!

Departures and arrivals

 Wednesday, 20 April 2022, 9:25am. 

The Uber pickup and drop went off without a hitch. Susie and I woke up about 0300 before the alarm went off, got dressed and made a final inspection of the condo. Uber notified me that the driver was going to arrive early and so he did. (The Uber app is trés slick, very intuitive and doesn't rely on Google Maps, thank god!).

We were dropped off at the GR airport at 4:30, and checked in soon after. Although quite a few folks were traveling at such an early hour we were through security and at our gate in no time at all. 

The flight left on time and less than two hours later we found ourselves wandering around aimlessly at Charlotte Airport. (The place is HUGE, but well signed.) For reasons unclear to us the agent at GR could not check us in through to Munich -- although our luggage cleared that hurdle -- so we had to find an American Airlines customer service desk in Charlotte. That done and with boarding passes in hand we made our way to the Amex lounge to hang out for the next six hours or so. . . 

concourse E as seen from concourse D (Amex Lounge)

our Boeing 777 Dreamliner

We boarded on time, found our seats and settled in for the next 8 hours or so. Fortunately I had booked Premium Economy and out of 18 seats in that cabin only ten had been sold so we had plenty of room to stretch out (so to speak) and enjoy the flight. 

The onboard evening meal was mediocre but the service was pleasant and the onboard entertainment stellar: I watched the new Dune (part one apparently) and Susie and I both watched JLo and Owen Wilson in Marry Me. It was no Notting Hill to be sure but the music was good and Jennifer Lopez was terrific. 

Thursday, 21 April 2022,  0700 (Munich time)

After a relatively smooth flight with minimal turbulence we arrived in sunny Munich on time, slid through passport control with no problems (they didn't seem at all concerned about our vaccines cards), collected our bags and made our way to find the train that would take us into the city. I took the opportunity to let our landlord know we were in town and hoping to be at the apartment within the hour. A 45-minute train ride followed by an even shorter taxi ride and voilá! There we were standing in front of Prestalozzistrasse no. 18. 

Our hostess Agnes met us at the main door and took us through the courtyard to our apartment. (You can find the deets on our home for the next week right here: https://abnb.me/1lZJxRX3dpb.

We barely settled in before we laid down and took a much-needed nap - having the foresight to set an alarm giving us about 2.5 hours of the sleep we craved so much at that moment.

Once we were up, we unpacked, showered, changed clothes and headed out to buy some groceries for our home for the next week. We found a wonderful market just 3 minutes away, 

Edeka Market

After returning to the apartment and dropping everything off, back out we went to explore the neighborhood. Just two doors down from no 18 was the pleasantly funky Aroma KaffeeBar where we stopped to sit, relax, drink some spectacular coffee and eat freshly baked pastry.

Refreshed and refueled we pushed back out into the sunshine. 

After a ten minute stroll down our block (and the blocks hereabouts tend to meander every which way) we found ourselves at the Alter Südlicher Friedhof (friedhof is German for cemetery) literally just around the corner from our place. Naturally we wandered in. . . 

Two minutes after leaving the friedhof we were back home in time to catch up on various settling in tasks.

With early evening came a belated hunger and so we opted for one of the local eateries; in this case Junge Romer, a place known for its fresh pasta, tasty pizza and friendly and incredible service. 

We were lucky enough to score a free table inside the small cafe -- outside was too chilly for us although the outdoor seating would be full by the time we left. I had a ragu du carciofi (artichoke) and Susie had a delicious pistachio pasta, all washed down by an Aglianico red wine from Campania. 

After dinner we strolled for a just a few minutes through the cemetery next door before heading home.

So, all-in-all not too bad for our first day in Munich -- we had no idea there was so much to experience right in our neighborhood. 

It wasn't long before our bed called to us ever so persistently and of course we had no recourse but to oblige.

Tomorrow it's off to the Marienplatz, getting our transport passes, visiting the Alte Pinacoteke, strolling around the old town, spending time in the English Gardens and who knows what else?

Stay tuned!

Final preparations

This past Sunday, which happened to be Easter, we were enjoying an extended family dinner at at the Galloway home on Clear Lake. At one point Scott's dad Gordon asked me, "So is this the longest you've ever traveled abroad?" 

In formulating my answer ("yes"), I realized that not since 2005 when we went to Siena to study Italian have Susie and I "traveled" overseas for this long: two months!  (For the record, we studied in Siena for two months and then traveled for a third month afterwards. Of course, this also excludes our move to Italy and then France in 2005-2007.)

All our detailed planning and meticulous preparing for the 2022 trip began to make perfect sense. 

Aside from the typical travel stuff most of us take on trips (clothes, toiletries, camera, computer), we realized the need for such novelties as a first aid kit, home supply kit (sewing stuff, etc.), office supplies and the like. If we were going to be in one or two places the duration we could undoubtedly manage to find such necessaries locally. But we'll be changing locations nearly every 4-6 days until we reach Paris where we spend our final two weeks, so having things like rubber bands and paper clips will save us unnecessary hassle while scooting around Europe.

One of our neighbors, Sandy, will  get our mail (the Post Office will hold for only 30 days), another neighbor Carla will be looking on Susie's mom (we've stocked her up with those things we occasionally get for her), arrangements have been made for emergency contacts (hopefully to remain unused), Uber is scheduled to pick us up at 04:15 Wednesday morning, the CC companies informed of our planning to be overseas for some time, reefer cleaned out, house cleaned, laundry done, non-flannel sheets on the bed, and a dozen other little things to ready the condo for our absence.

We're getting there. . . piano piano as they say in Italy.

Carla and Bern