Munich

Monday and Tuesday, July 22 and 23, 2013 

We left Reutte Monday morning and set out towards Munich via the “Romantic Road,” a scenic route that connects Füssen with Würzburg, passing through idyllic little Bavarian towns full of half-timbered cottages, window boxes positively bursting with cascades of geraniums and petunias in all shades of red in pink, sheds stacked high with firewood.  We rolled through emerald green meadows splattered with wildflowers, and the occasional group of lazy cattle, grazing happily.  We decided that we would stop to visit Wieskirche, a notable church in the middle of nowhere with an interesting story.  

Wieskirche

The miraculous statue

The church was built to house a statue of a scourged Jesus Christ, bound in chains, which originally was housed in a tiny little chapel.  The statue reportedly wept in 1738.  The story spread, and pilgrims came from all around to venerate and pray to the famous statue.  Consequently, many of them were miraculously healed of their ailments; those who couldn’t conceive were finally blessed with babies.  The need grew for a larger building, and so in 1745 one of the more notable architects was commissioned to build the lovely rococo, oval shaped building that stands today.  

The church's lovely rococo interior

The statue is still there, at the center of the ornate altar, and the sides of the church feature little mini galleries of letters, pictures, handkerchiefs, rosary beads and other sentimental objects given to the church as a token of thanks to the statue for the answered prayers. 

After visiting the church, we continued on our way to Munich where we found our le Meridien hotel a welcome upgrade to our spartan little room that we had in Reutte.  So welcome in fact, that once we arrived, which was early afternoon, I didn’t want to leave our room!  After nearly 20 days straight of constantly being on the go and non-stop sightseeing, I just wanted to chill in our hotel room for a couple of hours and take a break!  We knew we had the entire next day to explore Munich, so we frittered away the next few hours until it was time to head to dinner.

We had read in Rick that one of the not-to-miss highlights of Munich is a visit to a beer garden, and he recommended a very traditional one just a few blocks down from our hotel.  We set off on foot, not quite knowing what to expect, as Rick claimed this place had 5,000 seats under a sprawling park block, under the chestnut trees--we should have no problem finding a seat, right?  Well, we arrived and were quite surprised to realize that it seemed almost every single one of the 5,000 seats were taken!   It took us a few minutes to decipher the scene of organized chaos before us.  Some seats had table service, but the larger section was self-service.  Tables were long and rectangular and everyone just squeezed in wherever they could find an open spot, and that is precisely what we did, right next to the side of the stage where a festively lederhosen-clad oompah band was playing.  Perfect!  

Next we had to figure out the food and drink situation.  I sent Gavin to figure it out, given he’s the German speaker, while Ewan and I held down the fort.  He returned with sausages for all, kraut for him and me, and french fries for Ewan.  No drinks, as he couldn’t carry it all by himself.  It was my turn to go on a mission to supply us with beverages.  I made my way to the cafeteria style counter, in awe by the efficiency in which this place was feeding the masses.  The menu choices were simple (sausage, chicken, or ribs with the standard side dishes: potato salad, sauerkraut, or french fries), and the workers behind the glass cases and counters just heaped spoonfuls of the most popular items and people just walked up and grabbed plates of what they wanted.  

It was the same with the beer.  There was a dude standing there with a garden sized hose attached to a keg which was literally gushing beer to fill the dozens of liter-sized steins on the counter.  The choices were beer, beer, or more beer.  There were no half liter glasses here.  I grabbed two liters and a mug of apple juice for Ewan and headed back to the table where we enjoyed our meal, along with the live entertainment and good food.  

There's no such thing as a small beer here!

The beer garden even had a good sized playground, so after dinner we headed over there to let Ewan spin off some extra energy before we walked back to our hotel for the night.

The next morning we headed into the town center to see the sights.  One of the most famous sights is the Glockenspiel in the New Town Hall in Marienplatz, which is the center square in town.  The Glockenspiel is a bell tower that has little characters inside below the clock that “perform” at certain hours of the day.  There is a wedding procession, followed by a jousting tournament, set to the music of the clangy chimes of the tower’s bells, until finally a cock crows to signify the end of the show.  We arrived in time for the noon show, and craned our necks upward to watch the colorful tradition, along with the crowd of other tourists that had also congregated in the square to watch.  

The Glockenspiel characters

The rest of the day we continued just to traipse around town, popping into churches, shops, a couple of markets, and then finally out to the English Gardens where we witnessed, of all things--surfers!  There is a section of the stream (river?) that flows through the huge park where the water gushes out below a bridge to provide the perfect waves for thrill seekers.  

Surf's up, Munich!

Dozens of surfers were lined up along the banks, waiting their turn, as there was only room for one at a time, but they were on it.  Once someone wiped out, the next person up jumped in and rode the wave, wiped out, and the cycle continued.  We stood and watched, mesmerized for quite some time, until it was time to press on, as we were in search of a playground that Gavin was sure we would find.  Sure enough, it was not far from the surfers’ bridge and so we let Ewan play happily for a while before walking back to our hotel for a brief rest for me (and a swim for the boys).  

We had enjoyed the beer garden so much the night before, that we decided to repeat it, since we were old pros by now!  Unfortunately there was no music, but the atmosphere was just as lively as we once again guzzled our beer, chowed down and watched Ewan make a few lady friends on the playground carousel.  A fitting way to end our last evening in Munich.