Munich, Germany: Day 15

Our visit to Munich seemed so short- already our last day?? We hardly just arrived. It was also the one city that we didn’t have a guidebook for, and that also made a difference in what we felt like we saw… Husband and I (but especially he) had done a lot of research before our trip, but no amount ahead of time can arm you for once you get there and can actually read along with the book as you go.

Many of the books provide you great restaurant recommendations and that is sorely missed when you are starving and just wandering around hoping to find a restaurant that serves a type of food or fits into a budget. Next time I think we will buy (and lug) books for each place we go. Even though we copied pages from some books to bring along- it is so messy and never has all the information that you want. I think, interestingly enough, it is a good idea to read a couple of different books on each place you are going, take notes, but then pick the one that is most useful to bring along. We have found the Rick Steve’s is the best by far. In 1998 when I traveled through France and Italy, I brought him along. This trip the books have also been great. Although for Copenhagen, the “Time Out Copenhagen” book that Arne and Athena borrowed us was the most useful, so you really just have to put in the time to find out before you go.

Anyways, we started out our day by heading to the Viktualenmarkt in one of the town squares. This market, much like a fancy farmers market, had fresh cheeses, meats, nuts, vegetables, potatoes, fish and does it almost every day. We had a fun time shopping around in this area that Munich has refused to allow any chains or big businesses buy into. I couldn’t stop taking pictures because it was all so pretty and cute.

We did a little shopping along the pedestrian mall and then headed toward the Englisher Garten- the biggest green space park in Europe- where there is a huge stream running through, horse and buggy carriages, miles and miles of walking and riding paths, and lots of grass for the nude sunbathers (spotted at least 7 yesterday while it was barely warm and very overcast). We stopped and ate our lunch there by a nice little waterfall and then went walking up to one of three biergartens where there was a band playing and lots of fun being had- even though by now it was sprinkling heavily.

After a small meltdown from having just exhausted legs and bodies from walking so much and being really tired from not much sleep, we regrouped for a short while near the Hofgarten and headed to the Residenz Museum. The Residenz is a grouping of about 10 different buildings all built at different times by the royal family of Bavaria in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries. Much of it was damaged by bombs during World War II, but has been rebuilt since and is still being renovated.

Inside is now a museum of parts of the palace, the living space, and many of the jewels and heirlooms of the crown. We only had about two hours but it was time well spent to see some of the most amazing rooms, jewels and fine materials, and historic pieces. One of the coolest things we saw was the Grotto courtyard where there is a huge fountain (with women’s breasts shooting out water) all made of shells. It was destroyed in the war, and so the people of Germany saved and collected shells just to make the rebuilding possible. It was a totally worthwhile stop and one of the best things I will remember from Munich- very enjoyable and interesting.

While we were in the museum, Munich had exploded literally. Their city or regional futball team had gone undefeated and had finally finished off their season. Munich was celebrating their team being the best in Germany, and almost everyone was gathering In the old town square near our hotel. At around 6 there were probably around 5,000 people gathered watching footage, cheering, and singing. We watched for a while, amazed, and then went further from the square to find something to eat. On our way back from a great meal (yum, wheat beer made in Germany), we needed to pass through the square to make it back to the hotel.

Just kidding. By now there were probably 8-10 thousand people gathered- flags waving, massive chants happening, and just general cheering happening. After again watching and taking pictures for a while we knew we needed to get back in order to pack our bags for an early morning departure. Just kidding again. We tried to get on the metro, but that included a ten-minute session of pushing through the crowd for fifty feet just to get to the entrance. Then, just as we were buying our tickets from the machine, a voice (in German) announces that the train station below the square will be shutting down. They didn’t want any more people getting off there, so no trains were going to be stopping.

We had to get back out of the station and walk through crowds down to the next station, which was piteously close to our hotel anyways and take the train from there back. It was a crazy night, where once again we were packing late at night for a very early train ride. The good news is, within about 15 minutes of getting back to our hotel room- it started to rain. Our luck with the weather has been great, with the trains, not so much!