Munich

It was quite a change arriving in a big city, especially one where the Hauptbahnhof is one gigantic construction site and the cyclists outnumber and outpace the cars. Woe betide the pedestrian who strays into the bike lane!

Of course, Munich is famous for Oktoberfest, an annual excuse for people to drink 7.4 million litres of beer. It being July, we were a tad early, but we were interested to find a connection between this annual piss-up and the Bavarian Kings we had seen so much of.

Apparently, the original Oktoberfest was held to celebrate the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig to Princess Therese in 1810. The area where it takes place - Theresienwiese (Therese’s Meadow) - is named for her.

We got into the real swing of it with a visit to the Munich Residence. A long visit, that is - there are 130 rooms to look at. Too many to document, but the grotto of sea shells and the 66-metres long Antiquarium, with frescoes and busts galore were among the highlights.

After a look at Marienplatz, with the Neues Rathaus (1874 and neo-Gothic in style, so not really very new), we went to a couple of churches.

Frauenkirche is the Roman Catholic Cathedral, consecrated in 1494, enormous yet with quite an austere, if towering, interior.

Contrast this with the Asamkirche, built privately by the Asam brothers in 1746. Of modest dimensions outside, the interior is an absolute feast for the senses, a stunning mass of Baroque features topped by a ceiling painted by Cosmas Asam.

We also visited the Nymphenburg Palace, summer home to the Bavarian kings.

This was a bit more hyped-up, with timed entry and such, and lots of tour groups. However, we didn’t enjoy it as much; it was crowded and rooms weren’t as interesting.

What we did enjoy, though, were the gardens and the four small palaces (outhouses??) scattered amongst them.

The Magdalenenklause (1729) was built to look like a ruin (which it does), and contains an eccentric shell grotto/chapel.

The Pagodenburg (1719) had Chinese influences everywhere, the Badenburg (1721) was a bathing pavilion and the Amalienburg (1739) a rococo-styled hunting lodge with flourishes and swirls everywhere.

We enjoyed our location and the excellent Munich trams; if only they would finish the railway station it would have been perfect.

Anyway, our next stop is Nuremberg, which we are looking forward to very much.Read more