On this trip we maximed our enjoyment by partying at Oktoberfest the first day we were there and then relaxing with a stroll around Munich to site-see. This was one of my favorite city tours I've done since we've been in Europe and I have Frommers.com to thank for it. So without further ado lets begin.
The tour begins as we arrive at the Marienplatz in the center of Munich:
Upon leaving the station and turning around to face the plaza, this is the first thing you see. This is a golden statue of the Virgin Mary. The pavement around it was first laid in the 1300s. On the north end of the plaza is:
The Neues Rathaus, or new city hall, was built between 1867-1908 as a symbol of Germany's power. In the middle of the tower you can see the Glockenspiel in green. Throughout the day old anamatronics perform a show for everyone in the plaza. We, however, were never around for these shows, bummer. Next we traveled to:
Frauenkirche. This cathedral is massive, and I would not want to have been one of the bricklayers for this place. There are two towers that extend to the heavens however one of them was being restored as can be seen by the scaffolding on the right edge of the picture. It actually if very difficult to visit a city in Europe and not run into something that is being restored. We ran into the same thing in Brugge where one of the most ornate churches in all of Belgium was being restored so it became one of the biggest tents in Belgium. Anyway, this church is huge, you can grasp how big it is by this photo I took while standing at the bottom of one of the towers:
One of my favorite pictures. I would take a front picture of the entire church but it wouldn't all fit in the frame. Despite its majestic size, the inside of the church is actually quite plain and boring.
Peterskirche is the oldest church in Munich. It was built in 1180 and is so old that for awhile it was the only church in Munich. It has since had a bit more competition.
The Viktualienmarkt was closed since it was a Sunday, even though it was going to be our lunch. So we strolled to:
I'll be back for you, later
Max-Joseph-Platz. From here you can enter the south end of the Residenz, which was the old palace of the rulers of Bavaria. Inside you will find one of the best museums in Munich and one sweeeeeet treasury.
This is a gilded St. George Slaying the Dragon statue. It's much smaller than I originally envisioned but none the less extremely elaborate.
Crown jewels
Medals of Honor, not ladies jewelry, so no you can't have one for Christmas.
The Westside of the Residenz. The Residenz is definitely a great site and given more time and money we would have explored the whole thing because it looked pretty awesome. There are little lion statues lined along the side of the building and you can rub their noses and it must be a sign of good luck. I know this because some lady walked by and rubbed the statues but she wasn't the only one because there was some obvious wear on the noses of all the lions. Next to the Residenz is:
The Felherrnhalle, built by King Ludwig I as a tribute to the Bavarian army. The Bronze statues are honoring Bavarian generals Tilly (1559-1632) and Wrede (1767-1838). Next to this is:
The Theatinerkirche is actually the crypt of many of the Wittelsbachs who were the ruling family of Bavaria.
These pictures are of the area to the North of the Residenz known as the Hofgarten. It's a beautiful area that was luckily opened to the public in 1780.
After wandering through Maximilliansplatz, which is a park located inbetween two of the most prestigious shopping streets in Munich, we came across this fountain. It is the Wittelsbach Fountain and one of the most famous in the city. From the fountain we traveled a little further south to the train station on our way to:
Schloss Nymphenburg, the summer palace for the Wittelsbachs. A massive complex which according to Alyssa was about the size of Versailles.
The gardens of the palace are 180 hectacres. This picture barely grasps how far these gardens go. By looking at a map its amazing how much land these people had to cover.
We then hopped a train and headed towards the Olympic grounds:
These are the Olympic grounds in Munich. You can see the Gymnasium and Natatorium (the tent things) and the communications tower. We came to realize something at the Olympic grounds. When you take a walking tour around a city, you tend to do a lot of walking, which in turn wears you out. So with our dogs barkin and us hungry we went on our way back to the Hofbrauhaus.
So I know you may be thinking, "you just went to Oktoberfest" but the Hofbrauhaus was a great dining experience. As one of the oldest beer gardens in town they had an execellent atmosphere, meal and service. If you need a place to dine for dinner I would recommend here. They had all the things you'd be looking for at Oktoberfest: beer steins, beer maidens, giant pretzels, oompa bands, but none of the hassle. We had one of the fastest waiters I've ever seen and his English was excellent as well. It was a great way to wind down our trip to Munich.
After a wonderful dinner it was back to the campsite for us as we prepared to leave back to Rotterdam. That concludes our Oktoberfest trip. What a great trip it was.
Prost!
No comments:
Post a Comment