SOLO EUROPE III: DAYS 12-14 [MUNICH]
i left in the morning when it was still dark to take an early train to munich. luckily, i was able to have a seat for the entirety of the train ride. unfortunately i was starting to feel a little sick with a tickle in my throat. as this is a world after a global pandemic, i was nervous about showing symptoms in public. i arrived pretty early, but was able to drop off my pack at the hostel. more about the hostel in the next post.
the next post will include dachau, but after returning to munich, i took the local u-bahn to the museum villa stuck, artist franz von stuck's home. he was inspired by the art nouveau movement, which has some of my favorite art. his art sticks out as it is a little bit more mystic & celestial. unfortunately a good section of the home was closed, but i still enjoyed looking at the fancy rooms. there were several references to orpheus (all my knowledge is from hadestown).
i purposely arrived in munich a few days after octoberfest. when i was planning, by chance munich landed during the last few days of octoberfest. i pushed my trip a week later so i would miss it. the biggest reason was the cost as hostels were ranging anywhere from 80 to 100 euros a night! some other reasons is i do not party or participate in nightlife. it has never been my thing. i also did not want to stay in a hostel of drunk people. it is a pet peeve of mine.
from the hostel i took the train to marienplatz which has been munich's main city square (and now also the main tourist square) since 1158, so it was really busy. i wanted to get there in time to see the glockenspiel show on the new city hall. it is kind of like a giant cuckoo clock on the exterior of the building (or like it's a small world at disneyland). the facade plays music & there are moving parts.
in front of the building, someone was playing the theme of game of thrones on the piano. it made the experience even better!
new town hall (c. 1890s - neo-gothic style)
the building has tons of statues on the exterior & pretty greenery.
i spent my time walking around the square & seeing the nearby historical buildings.
i also went to st. peter's church. inside is st. munditia's skeleton bedazzled in jewels inside a glass box. funny enough this spinster viewed the skeleton of the saint of spinsters.
i then made my way to victualienmarkt near the old town to find some food and look at the local goods. the food market has taken place daily (except for sunday & holidays) since 1807! i found a wonderful soup place (i love soup). it was so good i came back another day. the market is still used by locals for produce & groceries, but is also popular with tourists to get a meal or souvenirs.
the maypole
i had a carrot, ginger, coconut curry soup & a ginger shot as it is delicious & i hoped it would make me feel better.
next i visited the munich city museum located inside the gothic old arsenal & stables.
a display of traditional clothes.
most of the day was spent just walking through the streets & looking at all the buildings. occasionally, i would walk inside a historical building for a quick peek. i also incorporated rick steves walking audio tour.
the "devil's footprint" at the doorstep of munich cathedral.
hofbräuhaus am platzl, the most well known beer hall in munich
a beautiful storefront of cheese. it was a very fancy store, so i only looked at the window.
for dinner i wanted something quick, so i bought a sandwich at the train station, ate some of my snacks i had, & took advantage of the free lemon & ginger hot tea.
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the next morning i used my free breakfast coupon (more about that in the next post) which also meant i had free espresso & a selection of breads, meats, cheeses, & fruits. i then started my day with a bit of a far walk, but i had nothing else to do this early & there were some interesting sites along the way.
karlstor, a medieval gate from the 14th century.
eventually i got to the maxvorstadt area of munich, which houses a lot of the museums. the first museum of the day was the munich documentation museum which shares the history of nazism & the nazi regime in munich. munich was known as the capital of the nazi movement. the museum is in a modern building on the old grounds where the nazi headquarters were located (that building was damaged during the war & further demolished).
next i went to 2 public art museums. from my belief, munich is known to have the best art museums in all of germany. the first one i visited was alte pinakothek, which focuses on art from medieval to modern times. i went to see art from the old masters, the italian rennaisance, & the german rennaisance. the second museum i went to was pinakothek der moderne, which focus on modern art. i should have known the latter would not be my taste. i do not understand the appeal of most modern art, but i thought i would try something new. on a side note i felt so dumb as it took me forever to find the entrance. i literally walked around the entire building.
a painting in alte pinakothek
the alte pinakothek building was mostly rebuilt after the war, but in in 1836 was the largest museum in the world.
i decided to be bougie and have coffee & a dessert in the museum. it felt fancy. i had a slice of cherry chocolate cake & a moccahino.
the pinakothek der moderne
next was a long walk towards the residenz, the royal palace of the wittelsbach monarchs of bavaria. the buildings are mostly from the 1500-1800s. much of the expansion was made by king ludwig I in the 1800s. the palace is a mix of baroque, rennaisance, rococo, & neoclassicism. i walked it so fast as it is very large & there are many rooms. i wish i had more time, but i did not as it was late in the afternoon. i felt like that scene from the olsen twins' passport to paris; the rooms & hallways were never ending. luckily there were arrows & english signs everywhere. there was also an interesting exhibit about the art was damaged during the war. on display was art that was melted & burned.
an inner courtyard
the grotto courtyard with a hermes fountain
the most well known part of the palace is the hall of antiquities, a rennaisance antique collection hall from the 1500s.
there are tons of extravagant rooms. excessive, but beautiful.
a music room
the green gallery
as you can see, the building is very long with many doorways
a statue of pan
after, i continued my walk to see more sites, including the gold line along the viscardigasse which memorializes the walking path germans took during nazi occupation to avoid a nazi memorial for "comrades" who died during the first attempt to overthrow the government. germans were required by law to salute when walking by or risk arrest. therefore, they took this detour to avoid it. i did not realize this existed until i walked by & noticed it. i then googled & learned about the this nazi resistance memorial.
i randomly chose a place to eat & i think this ended up being my favorite place i ate in munich (other then soup), it was a cute cafe that was casual, but super glamorous. i like feeling like i am walking into the past. it had marble tables & velvet chairs and curtains. i ended up eating a shnitzel sandwhich & a museli. i also had one of my favorite german drinks that is sold everywhere, apfelschorle. it is an apple sparkling water.
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franz von stuck's villa (c. 1898 - classical style)
the celestial ceiling was cool.
the courtyard. some of the red autumn leaves had arrived.
across the street is a memorial to boris nemtsov, a russian putin dissident who was assassinated in 2015.
friedensengel, a peace monument for the franco-german war from 1899
because i had extra time i went to another art museum, the sammlung. even though this was museum smaller, i enjoyed seeing the artworks about german folklore & fairytales.
the bavarian national museum (i did not go inside).
i decided to get pho near my hostel. it was different with red onion & ginger, but i think it was the best pho i had during my trip.
i brought back from the train station a munich cheesecake, a mix between a carrot cake & cheesecake. i also used my "beer" voucher at the hostel for a coca-cola.