A Day in Munich, Germany
Our first day in Germany was spent exploring Munich. I'd been here briefly in 2006 so I had an idea of where to go and what we should see. Munich was much more fun this time around since there was no set itinerary, time tables or anything like that. We got to see the city at our own pace and it worked out pretty well. We did so much in the first day that I've decided to split everything into a couple of posts, below is the first set of pictures from Munich.
Here is a Google Map of central Munich, since most of the following pictures were taken around Marienplatz, I've marked the map for reference.
The view from row 36 shortly before landing at the Munich airport.
We arrived in Munich around 10 a.m. but weren't able to check in to the hostel until 2 p.m. so we headed to the city center. Our first stop was the Frauenkirche.
Each of Munich's former Bishops have a plaque on the outer wall surrounding the altar. Here is Joseph Kardinal Ratzinger's plaque, he was the Bishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982. He earned a second plaque in 2005 when he became Pope Benedict XVI.
Mary with a sword.
A side chapel with a barrel above the door way. The barrel indicates that the chapel and it's stained glass window were built with donations from Munich's cooper's guild.
A short walk from the Cathedral is Marienplatz, this is where the Glockenspiel is. The picture above is of a cherub fighting one of the plagues of Munich on the Mariensäule in the middle of the plaza. The building in the background is the Neues Rathaus.
Munich's Neues Rathaus (New City Hall) was decorated with the flags of the city, state, country and European Union for May 1st (Labor Day / Tag der Arbeit). The green window about halfway up the main spire is the Glockenspiel. Everyday at 11 a.m., noon and 5 p.m. it goes through it's minute long routine depicting the marriage of Duke Wilhelm of Bavaria to Renata. The climax of the spiel is when two knights joust, the Bavarian knight wins every time.
The best view in the square isn't of the Glockenspiel, but rather the crowd that gathers to watch it. The entire plaza fills with people when it chimes.
Just a minute from Marienplatz is the Viktualienmarkt in central Munich. This is Munich's city market, there are butchers, produce stands and other vendors.
Sausages at Viktualienmarkt. In the center of Viktualienmarkt is Munich's public beer garden. There is a small building on the north end of the beer garden that serves traditional food and local beer. There are six breweries in Munich but only one brewery's beer is on tap here at once.
Today's beer was Hofbräu, probably best known for the ultra touristy Hofbräuhaus.
Although it was only about 10:30 a.m. Munich time, we decided to get a Wurstsalat (literally sausage salad - think more along the lines of bologna in sauerkraut juice with pickles and onions) and a couple beers. Hey, it was like 3:30 a.m. back home... I guess that doesn't really make it sound any better.
Sarah's first beer in Germany was a Hofbräu Münchner Weisse. It went excellently with the wurstsalat.
After breakfast we walked around the market. These lions are garden ornaments at the flower shop. The blue and white checkered pattern is part of the Bavarian state flag.
Begonien € 2,10
Here I am at the Pferdmetzgerei in Viktualienmarkt. Pferd means horse in German, as the sign would imply... Metzgerei is the German word for Butcher. The guy on my left wasn't too happy we were interrupting his breakfast bacon egg and horse meat McMuffin.
The Kaufhof department store was advertising Zwerg (gnome) prices. They had a bunch of promotional gnomes for sale.
Outside of the Kaufhof there were soccer fans making their way through town to watch a match between Borussia and Bayern München.
Here is a Google Map of central Munich, since most of the following pictures were taken around Marienplatz, I've marked the map for reference.
Javascript is required to view this map.
The view from row 36 shortly before landing at the Munich airport.
We arrived in Munich around 10 a.m. but weren't able to check in to the hostel until 2 p.m. so we headed to the city center. Our first stop was the Frauenkirche.
Each of Munich's former Bishops have a plaque on the outer wall surrounding the altar. Here is Joseph Kardinal Ratzinger's plaque, he was the Bishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982. He earned a second plaque in 2005 when he became Pope Benedict XVI.
Mary with a sword.
A side chapel with a barrel above the door way. The barrel indicates that the chapel and it's stained glass window were built with donations from Munich's cooper's guild.
A short walk from the Cathedral is Marienplatz, this is where the Glockenspiel is. The picture above is of a cherub fighting one of the plagues of Munich on the Mariensäule in the middle of the plaza. The building in the background is the Neues Rathaus.
Munich's Neues Rathaus (New City Hall) was decorated with the flags of the city, state, country and European Union for May 1st (Labor Day / Tag der Arbeit). The green window about halfway up the main spire is the Glockenspiel. Everyday at 11 a.m., noon and 5 p.m. it goes through it's minute long routine depicting the marriage of Duke Wilhelm of Bavaria to Renata. The climax of the spiel is when two knights joust, the Bavarian knight wins every time.
The best view in the square isn't of the Glockenspiel, but rather the crowd that gathers to watch it. The entire plaza fills with people when it chimes.
Just a minute from Marienplatz is the Viktualienmarkt in central Munich. This is Munich's city market, there are butchers, produce stands and other vendors.
Sausages at Viktualienmarkt. In the center of Viktualienmarkt is Munich's public beer garden. There is a small building on the north end of the beer garden that serves traditional food and local beer. There are six breweries in Munich but only one brewery's beer is on tap here at once.
Today's beer was Hofbräu, probably best known for the ultra touristy Hofbräuhaus.
Although it was only about 10:30 a.m. Munich time, we decided to get a Wurstsalat (literally sausage salad - think more along the lines of bologna in sauerkraut juice with pickles and onions) and a couple beers. Hey, it was like 3:30 a.m. back home... I guess that doesn't really make it sound any better.
Sarah's first beer in Germany was a Hofbräu Münchner Weisse. It went excellently with the wurstsalat.
After breakfast we walked around the market. These lions are garden ornaments at the flower shop. The blue and white checkered pattern is part of the Bavarian state flag.
Begonien € 2,10
Here I am at the Pferdmetzgerei in Viktualienmarkt. Pferd means horse in German, as the sign would imply... Metzgerei is the German word for Butcher. The guy on my left wasn't too happy we were interrupting his breakfast bacon egg and horse meat McMuffin.
The Kaufhof department store was advertising Zwerg (gnome) prices. They had a bunch of promotional gnomes for sale.
Outside of the Kaufhof there were soccer fans making their way through town to watch a match between Borussia and Bayern München.