MUNICH
Since we had such success driving thru Belgium, we decided to drive to Munich and Vienna. Munich had about 7 painting for us to search for, plus it was the opening of all the Christmas Markets, and Munich is supposed to be the bomb when it comes to Christmas Markets. Even thoough I am not a shopper, I figured this could be fun.
We arrived early in the evening. We immediately hopped on the Ubahn (the underground) and arrived at our destination pretty quickly. Our hotel was located at the end of one of the U lines. We purposely stayed a bit out of the center because we wanted parking and that is impossible in the city center. Right away was saw a small market in a court yard. Sausages, candy, hot wine, bakery to eat and lots of Christmas accessories in the stalls.
The hot wine and hot rum drinks is a big deal. Each stall sells a nice ceramic cup, decorated with a market scene and dated. I wanted one of these, but didn't necessarily want the drink. I did try the orange run punch and it was pretty good. You could walk around and fill the cup with different drinks from different stalls for a reduced price.If you turn in the cup at the end of the night you get a refund. I wanted to keep the cup as a souvenir.
We moved on to the larger market and it was a bit overwhelming. The crowds were large since it was the first night. The weather was pretty chilly, but that didn't deter the crowd.
I was hungry of course and we were determined to eat at a bier garden. They are huge and you just roam around and find a seat. We settled on a table with 8 older Italians who took pity on us and allowed us to join their party. This was the Hacker-Pschorr Haus. We had pork of course and dumplings.
Nov 30-Dec 08, 2012
Saturday was very busy. We were 100% for our paintings. 7 for 7. We were finished by mid afternoon and decided to head out to the BMW Welt and Museum and Olympic Park. They are right next to each other. The BMW place is unbelievable. It is huge and the building is very unusual. Ray took pictures of course, so I won't try to describe it. Looks a little like the Pritzker Pavillion in Chicago. It is a big showroom for BMWs, Mini Coopers and Rolls Royces, plus a big gift shop, cafe. It has engines and all kinds of things that car lovers would enjoy.
The Olympic Park was the site of the Munich Massacre where 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were killed as well as a West German police officer and 5 rebels. There is a very stark memorial at the site. The entire park is characterized by sweeping canopies of acrylic glass stabilized by metal ropes. The Germans love their architecture. They were having the Santa Run at the park during the time we were there. Seems unusual having a run late in the afternoon in the winter, but who knows. We headed back into the city center to attend mass. St. Peter's Church. Dinner time!! Another Bier Garden to hunt down. It was The Munchen Hofbrauhaus tonight. Again, we had to wander around to find a seat. It was a very busy weekend in Munich, so all the eateries were packed. Bayern Munchen was playing Dortmund in Football, the Christmas Markets opened and there was a Deep Purple Concert..whoever they are. We finally found 2 seats. We were between 3 middle aged fellas from Hungary who attended the Deep Purple Concert the night before, and 6 Asian guys eating pork knuckle and taking pictures with their fancy cameras. I think we split a sausage plate. Got a hat in the gift shop. Did some more walking around. The shopping in Munich is top drawer...all the biggies. D and G, Louis V, Prada, Verace, Gucci. You name it, it is there and all within a one block area. Home for the night. Ray will blog about Dachau.
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