Just being.
Starting the day with a Münchner breakfast for one of us…
then stepping out of the hotel and finding this little motorcade outside. We saw them again later, clearly having fun.
Such a grand city! We’d enjoyed Birgit’s company last evening, walking past the Opera House on our way to dinner in the Hofgarten.
The Residenz was catching the sunshine beautifully.
On such a lovely evening, the thought of sitting outside in a Biergarten was most attractive.
It’s always great to catch up with Birgit, remembering the old days and sharing more current family news. We’ve known one another since we were youngsters and the conversation never dries up! Every so often one of us would recall a moment: “Remember the day Helmut took us all to Rüdesheim?” which would set us off again, for Birgit’s father Helmut, the sweetest, most generous man, was sadly not the best driver, especially not with a car full of teenagers.
As the clouds were gathering over the dome of the Bavarian Prime Minister’s office, we thought it was time to leave before the rain started. The party on the street was noisy as the night’s big football match reached its conclusion with penalty shots. But who won? (We later found out it wasn’t “our” team, sadly)
Days spent in the city didn’t have to be full of activity, especially in this heat and the following day we had no plans. It’s fun to just wander through the Marienplatz, do a little people watching and stop from time to time to ensure we didn’t dehydrate 😉
I walked, camera in hand, snapping interesting details as we go.
On Sunday here, it’s rather different. In this Catholic region, the city is quiet and everywhere closed, except for the coffee shops, bars and restaurants.
The normally bustling street across from our hotel was peaceful and pretty as usual.
We had a simple plan for this “quiet day”. We’d get ourselves a day ticket for the tram and go where we pleased, beginning at the stop by the hotel. The word that always comes to mind is “fetzig” - spontaneous - which led to the phrase we often use, “come on, let’s fetz”.
So, fetz we did, hopping onto the number 19 tram to see where it went. I was glad to sit by the window with my camera and will try to remember what I snapped!
The tram turned around by the Pasing Town Hall and returned the way it had come. We’d had the thought that we might get off by the Hauptbahnhof, for my Hero thought it to be rather grand and a typical German station design. Sadly, we appear to have missed seeing it by a few years because since 2019 it’s been under reconstruction!
The cranes drew our attention to the spectacular building site. Hmmm…for sure, it will be grand when it’s finished. But in the meantime…
Never mind, we decided to get off at the Karlstor stop and stretch our legs.
This is where the inner city pedestrian area begins, and so we wandered slowly through, taking note of the interesting bits here and there, like the Three Musicians above and the Brunnenbuberl fountain below.
And of course, taking refreshment where needed!
We admired the sixteenth century church of St Michael, the largest Renaissance church north of the Alps
and the lovely buildings adjacent which don’t overshadow, but fit comfortably alongside it.
All the statuary around here is wrapped in netting to protect it from the pigeons. Occasionally, that hides much of the detail, sadly. We made our way back through the Marienplatz to the tram stop noting the window of the Bayern München team shop as went.
I didn’t know the answer, either…but I know a man who does and we were meeting him for dinner later. I took the snap and made a mental note to ask him!
Riding past the impressive building which houses the Government of Upper Bavaria, on Maximilianstrasse
and the statue of the man himself, the Max Monument.
Last but not least in the Max stakes around here, the Maximilaneum, which houses the Bavarian State Parliament. Taking the photo from the tram wasn’t easy and my apologies, it’s another of those which is tricky to adjust!
As the afternoon wore on, the sky darkened and we thought we’d better head on back. We really didn’t want to get a soaking!
Thankfully, we stayed dry!
We had a lovely evening to look forward to, at the Wirtshaus in der Au another favourite. Birgit’s brother Bernd was joining us too - and I had a question for him, didn’t I? A lifelong Bayern FC fan, I knew he’d have the answer: the cockatoo is the club mascot!
The full story is here
After a great dinner and another fun evening, sadly, it was time to say our goodbyes, “till the next time”, of course. We’ll move on from München in the morning but as always, will look forward to being here again before too long, we hope!
