My fellow American was on a mission assigned by her nephew: She had a 6-inch cutout of her 8-year-old nephew, and she needed to take this “flat nephew” with her into the city to photograph at different locations. What an adorable class project, don’t you think?! When she asked me if I would be her partner-in-crime, of course I accepted her invitation.
I went up to Munich briefly early last week, but I didn’t get to do much sightseeing, so Sunday was a real treat for me.
The easiest way to navigate Munich is by subway, and there’s a convenient parking garage on the south side of the city at one of the subway stations. We parked at this station and jumped on the subway headed to Marienplatz.
Marienplatz is, well, breathtaking. When you get off the subway at Marienplatz, you step out from the underground to an amazing view of the cathedral housing the famed Glockenspiel. And everywhere you turn, there is another amazing architectural masterpiece. Churches, city buildings, apartments, everything was beautiful. Needless to say, I was a bit overwhelmed.
We traveled throughout the Marienplatz, where we saw Victoria Plaza, home of a renowned open-air market. Since it was Sunday, everything, including the market (and even the big department stores), was closed, but it was still a sight to be seen. And my colleague told me it was worth driving up to Munich and taking the subway to visit the market when it’s open. Just her descriptions of the food alone made me hungry and eager to return. :)
We also saw several churches that I would like to tour when mass is not being celebrated. Some of the churches invited you to come in and tour even when mass was being said, but neither of us really felt like that was appropriate, so I made a mental note that I have to come back to do the tours (and see so much more of Munich!) next time, not on a Sunday. That or attend mass one Sunday up in Munich – how amazing would that be (even if I don’t speak the language)?
Once we saw a few other monuments and landmarks, we set our sights on the English Garden in the east central part of the city. On the walk there, we walked through several smaller parks and saw statues and monuments of literary and historical figures. At one point, I dare say that I had a fairly magical moment that I wish I could have frozen in time: In one of the small parks, while looking across the main yard, the blooms on the trees overhead started shedding their petals and, as they fell, the sun hit them and made them look like snow. I tried in vain to capture the moment on camera, but I failed. I just have to keep that memory fresh in my mind.
Before we reached the main entrance to the Garden, we found ourselves standing in a plaza that I recognized from a riot in response to a major speech given by Hitler. I need to look up the names of this plaza and many of the other buildings, but it was surreal to suddenly recognize a place I’d never been from something I’d seen in a history book or documentary. Despite the sad circumstances, the plaza was beautiful and it served as the entry point into the Garden.
As we passed under the archway into the Garden, we were greeted by more architectural and botanical structures that I could have probably spent days exploring – and we hadn’t even technically entered the English Garden yet!
To add to the picturesque setting, in a gazebo to the north, a cellist was performing a beautiful classical piece that I couldn’t place. He was so engrossed in his music that he seemed oblivious to the crowd gathering around him, which in turn allowed those of us in the audience to step out of time for a few moments and become engrossed in his moment. Much like the moment in the small park earlier, this was a memory I wished to freeze in time. And it was only as we walked away that I realized that I had a video recorder on my camera and could have captured the whole thing had I taken a moment to think. But I really think that I was so caught up in the music that the world slipped away.
Doesn’t this all sound romantic and dramatic all at once?! :) And this was all before I saw the sunbathers, horses, or traditionally dressed Bavarian band.
As we continued to hike, I thoroughly enjoyed people- and dog-watching. So many people had their dogs with them, often off of their leashes, who were all well-behaved. Watching the dogs made me really miss Buckley (and Cagney!), though I know he’s in good hands with his Uncle Josh right now (and probably loving life without Justin or me around). Dogs were playing in the certain parts of the garden, while others were walking or jogging with their owners, and even more were lounging in the sunshine with their owners. I secretly wanted to pet every dog that we came upon, but I refrained.
We walked until we reached the “Chinese Tower,” which was our destination for lunch. The Chinese Tower, which is another name for a pagoda, is in the center of the English Garden (ironically). There are several food stands along the walkway and a formal restaurant right in front of the pagoda. Within the pagoda, a traditional Bavarian band was performing, and at one point, I swear they were playing some Sousa marches, a friendly reminder of home for me.
The weather was incredible (mid-70s, low humidity, no clouds, and a cool breeze), so we wanted to sit outside, but all of the tables were reserved. Only after we were seated inside did we remember that it was Mother’s Day and many families had reserved tables for the special day. Once seated (which was a great seat because I had a great view of a fellow diner’s golden retriever who was trying so hard to behave inside), my fellow American translated the menu for me, and I decided that this was the meal I was going to try true Bavarian food. What a great decision on my part! :)
For lunch, we split some Nurenburger sausages (think: small bratwursts), kaesespaetzle (a traditional Bavarian noodle with cheese and crispy sweet onions, kind of similar to mac and cheese in the US), sauerkraut, fresh horseradish, and pretzels. Oh, my goodness, my mouth is still watering! Everything was delicious. I could have grazed on that food all day long. I’m not sure our waitress really understood how much I meant it when I told her how delicious my meal was. And I wanted nothing more than to clean my plate and order seconds, but that just wasn’t possible, of course. I will just have to come back.
Once we finished lunch, we found our way out of the Garden and headed back to the subway to go home. I was thoroughly worn out from walking all day, and with a full belly, I was ready to get back to my flat. My colleague gave me a quick driving tour of Penzberg (from an American’s perspective) and then dropped me back off at home.
I got home, napped, and then called my mom to wish her a happy Mother’s Day. It was a perfect ending to a pretty much perfect day. I cannot wait to go back to Munich (hopefully when Justin is back here) and explore some more now that I have a general comfort with traveling through the city. And I need to go back to get pictures of features I’d like to have on my dream house I plan on building one day. :)
I have no idea what’s on tap next weekend, but I think I’m off to a great start, don’t you think?
No comments:
Post a Comment