germany: lovely munich
munich: the economic center of germany, the capital, home to massive worldwide companies such as bmw, man and allianz. i was expecting an industrial smokestack filled city, or at the very least a downtown manhattan steel and glass skyscraper type of place. but munich is a lovely surprise: open parks, lovely old buildings, museums and art galleries. apparently no one works - its full of good looking young people driving nice cars sitting at outdoor cafes, or jogging but not actually breaking a sweat.
how they do it, i have no idea, but i like it. all capital cities should be like this. of course munich's history is not as rosy as it looks now. for example, the monument above was built in 1844 by king ludwig i. in 1933 when hitler came to power, he made it a memorial to nazis killed during a failed coup 10 years earlier and anyone passing here had to recognize the site with the nazi salute.
our team first hit munich at this point - the marienplatz. it was super exciting for us because we came up the subway stairs and the first thing we saw was our brothers with the carts. its such a wonderful feeling now to meet them all over the globe in public places.
the main shopping street that leads out of this plaza is called the maximilianstraße and looks more like a historical district - fine old buildings, beautiful squares, people playing live music, or entertaining with prodigious football juggling skills. with shops like this, even i can get on board with this 'shopping' thing.
munich is also the home of bmw, so a visit to 'bmwwelt' (isn't it interesting how when you say german words out loud you start to understand what they mean? yes, it means 'bmw world' and yes, both german and english have the same roots. during the 5th century, germanic tribes invaded england, and their language eventually became english!) also, bmw happens to be the makers of the finest overland bikes....
a highlight of munich is the wide open spaces afforded by the olympic stadium. it is immaculately gardened and a delight to wander about in.
we bumped into this church by accident after we got lost coming back from the olympic stadium. we decided to come out of the subway and just walk so we could get our bearings. it was designed by 2 italians and built from 1663 to 1690 (37 years!)
from the outside its easily recognizable from it's pastel yellow color. this dome is 71m high.
we had such a great time in munich. before we leave munich and move on to another country, we must pay a visit to one of the most eccentric of mad ludwig's creations: neuschwanstein castle.
how they do it, i have no idea, but i like it. all capital cities should be like this. of course munich's history is not as rosy as it looks now. for example, the monument above was built in 1844 by king ludwig i. in 1933 when hitler came to power, he made it a memorial to nazis killed during a failed coup 10 years earlier and anyone passing here had to recognize the site with the nazi salute.
our team first hit munich at this point - the marienplatz. it was super exciting for us because we came up the subway stairs and the first thing we saw was our brothers with the carts. its such a wonderful feeling now to meet them all over the globe in public places.
the main shopping street that leads out of this plaza is called the maximilianstraße and looks more like a historical district - fine old buildings, beautiful squares, people playing live music, or entertaining with prodigious football juggling skills. with shops like this, even i can get on board with this 'shopping' thing.
the german laws on drinking are pretty relaxed. the drinking age is 16 (!) and beer is the national drink. our young friend denise would happily put away half a litre of german lager. it ranks 3rd worldwide in beer consumed (behind austria and czech republic, both countries that we will subsequently visit in our purely scientific quest to rank their respective beer quality.) by law, german beer can only contain water, hops and barley (or wheat). this law has been in place since 1487 or thereabouts, and judging by the quality of their beer, is entirely sensible.
right on the main shopping street is this fine old building with the most excellent of names: the rathaus. actually, you may remember that the little town eggenfelden also had a rathaus. it is the city council building. no, germany is not governed by actual rodents. the word 'rathaus' actually is made up of 'rat' and 'haus' which mean 'council' and 'house' respectively. construction on the munich one started in 1887.
also off the maximilianstraße is this old church named the michaelskirche. it was built in 1597 and contains the remains of our dear friend, ludwig ii (yes, the mad king of the magnificent palaces.)
a highlight of munich is the wide open spaces afforded by the olympic stadium. it is immaculately gardened and a delight to wander about in.
we bumped into this church by accident after we got lost coming back from the olympic stadium. we decided to come out of the subway and just walk so we could get our bearings. it was designed by 2 italians and built from 1663 to 1690 (37 years!)
from the outside its easily recognizable from it's pastel yellow color. this dome is 71m high.
