Altstadt

The next day I meet Franz for breakfast. He has work today, but time for brot und kaffee before he goes. When I arrive he has a radio for me to take, bread laid out, and three kinds of jam all from his tiny-garden. In Munich, and Germany, there are allotment-gardens: tiny sheds with a garden attached, like a community garden but with more for each participant than a raised bed. The sheds usually have water, or water nearby, electricity and enough room for a couch or equipment (whichever you might need). Franz has a bee-hive, a pear tree, strawberries, and enough time to turn them all into jams for sharing in the winter.

We chat a bit more. The weather has us both with low energy. It’s my first day in Munich and I plan to explore good weather or not. Franz has set out bretzels, sunflower seed bread, and wheat bread. The jam goes well with the breads, the Kaffee, and the advice Franz has for exploring downtown. “You have lots of time, Munich is small. Don’t worry about seeing it all in one day”. I do worry, but with his advice to go through Schawbing to downtown, where I am to find New Town Hall and Marienplatz, I head out on a bicycle in the rain.

As I ride downtown I get lost, refuse to ask directions and wind up passing by Schwabing only to double back and check it out – and it’s worth it. There’s a diversity in restaurants – Asian, Mexican, burritos, bratwurst, and everything inbetween is here. The place bustles with activity even though it’s not even 11am yet. I drive my bike downtown until I run into streets shut to cars, and then ride my bike a bit farther before I lock it up under a shelter in a rather large plaza. After a solid look around I realize that New Town Hall is in front of me, and all the people are watching the glockenspiel at New Town Hall play its 11 o’clock tune to the entire square.

Despite an adventurous spirit and a willingness to learn about a different way of life, I really didn’t learn a bunch about Germany before coming here. I have run into enough people that I have an idea of the culture – everyone I’ve met from Germany is fantastic – yet I know that it’s not a particularly open and inviting culture. Like Nova Scotia everyone is friendly yet difficult to get to know. My lack of knowledge about this place and how to came to be needs resolving, so I load up an audio tour of downtown Munich and hit play, hoping to learn the lay of the land and a bit more about the history of this place.

The tour takes me on a whirlwind through the city. I know I can hit pause and take my time yet I don’t know what I’m putting off or taking in, and I know I’ll have more days to come, so I rush through it all like I’m doing a drive-by shooting where I can come back later to investigate exactly what just happened. I crash through St. Peter’s Church and avoid walking the tower as it’s still too cloudy for me. I run through Viktoriaplatz where fresh stalls sell farm-fresh produce at high prices next to outdoor cafes and beer gardens still bustling with people despite bad weather on a weekend in January.

I wander through an iron and glass building with a grocer and restaurants that’s an absolutely stunning piece of architecture before stumbling into Munich’s museum, and the Jewish history museum and synagog. The Munich Museum shop tells me enough that I need to go back and learn more about the Bavarian history of fancy outfits and Pumukles that make Munich so unique. I find children’s books I might actually be able to read with my kinder-deutsch.

Next up is the Asmoth Church – a church only a few meters wide that looks like it’s made of marble yet actually it’s mostly beautiful facades. Almost every building I pass by is a replica of what it was before WWII, and even the originals are inspired by Italian Architecture as Munich was the Catholic Church’s northernmost stronghold: the frontline of the Roman Catholic Church in the middle of Europe. I don’t know what original Bavarian Architecture is because it’s so entwined with Italy’s architecture – much like the regions.

I head away from churches for now and wander down a pedestrian street, around a corner or two and past the hunting and game museum with a boar and a troat on guard outside. I keep walking to St. Michael’s church were Mad King Ludwig II is entombed and I have to take a look. Afterward I stumble toward the Frauen Kirk – a cathedral dedicated to Mary that is iconic for the height of the spires and their unique round shape. Next door is a posh mall, the funf “somethingerother” which is a most beautiful covered arcade / mall / shopping centre with 50 ft ceilings and ivy dangling down from the top. It’s a gorgeous dedication to capitalism. I can’t help but purchase a blank notebook from Muji – ostensibly to help with notes as I learn a new language.

Eventually I find a most-posh grocery store with a fancy café that has a lineup a mile wide. Half the people in the store are tourists, yet the other half are regulars in fur coats and fancy suits looking at prices on produce that match their outfits. The Bavarian Hofbrauhaus is world famous for being a wonderful and bustling brewhouse yet in the early Saturday afternoon it’s dead. Everything I’ve read online tells me the brewhouse is expensive and touristy and everyone should instead go to Augustiner, and that’s where everyone is. I grab a seat with strangers, order a beer, and rest for a bit.

My tour ends back at Marienplatz after a roundabout look at more architecture and tales of old Bavaria. After a few errands Downtown dark sets in – I leave knowing I still need to find groceries and tomorrow’s breakfast before I can sit down and make dinner.

Dinner is a simple pasta, made with love and accompanied by a beer. It’s Saturday night and I know there’s a lot going on yet all that’s on my mind is if there’s convenient wifi in a café nearby as the wohnung I’m in doesn’t have it set up. Pretty soon I’ll need to have a meeting or two with Nova Scotia which will be hard to do without wifi. An after dinner walk reveals several spots for wifi – none I expect. Olympia Hall and TUM university have eduraom, free wifi for those who remember their university email – yet neither offer great seating. It’s enough that the internet tells me where the libraries are. Libraries are great in a pinch.

By then it’s time for home. Google Fit says I’ve overkilled my goal today. My body feels it and when I finally get to bed I sleep hard with only a little jet-lag related wakeup in the middle of the night.Read more