Munich in May

After a week and a half in New York, where, despite the accents, I could understand most of what was being said around me and to me, Henry and I began the second leg of our European journey. Munich already has a leg up on Zurich, because we're here in the Spring and Summer rather than the Winter. Other than a little Spring rain, the weather in Munich has been glorious--mostly blue sky, little wind, relatively little humidity, and temperatures in the 70-75 degree range. Perhaps people tend to close up (figuratively) in the cold of the Winter, but, Winter aside, Muncheners tend to be more open and friendlier than Zurichers. (Actually, just as the "u" in Zurich has an umlaut, so does the "u" in Munchen (Munich in German, duh).) Zurichers avoid eye contact with strangers passing on the street. Although Muncheners are not as open and friendly as Americans in that context, they are definitely way up the scale from Zurichers. As in Zurich, our apartment is in a university area of the city. However, in Munich, we are in the midst of a lively, commercial area. Two or three stories of apartment units sit above the many cafes, restaurants, and stores. As we look out the windows of our apartment, we see a bakery/cafe, an Italian restaurant, a Japanese sushi restaurant, and an art gallery across the street. Munich is big into ice cream/gelato--so far, I have seen four ice cream shops within two blocks of our apartment. It's a perfect afternoon snack!

Our apartment is smaller than in Zurich--we have one bedroom and one bath. Nevertheless, it is roomy enough, though our dueling laptops take up most of the table space and it's too noisy when both of us are on Skype at the same time (no, not with each other). In our Munich apartment, we get double the number of English channels on our TV--CNN and BBC News. We also get an assortment of other language channels, including Al Jazeera in Arabic. Although the cost of goods, especially food, is a lot higher in Zurich than Munich, the "super" (only in a relative sense) markets near our apartment in Zurich are bigger and offer far more variety than the "super" markets near our Munich apartment. This may well be a function of the respective neighborhoods; in fact, the "super" market in the suburban area (Martinsried) where Henry is working is 4-5 times larger than the ones near our apartment. We haven't been in that market yet, but our problem is solved--Henry can shop on his way home from work!

We are set with our various transportation passes, but Munich does not offer an "all the museums in Germany you can possibly visit as many times as you want in one year" pass, as was offered in Switzerland. Nevertheless, I began my German museum trek last Friday. (Thursday, our first full day in Munich, was dedicated to getting my bearings, visiting the large, mostly outdoor, Viktualienmarkt (yes, I am partial to farmer's markets), and collecting literature at "the i," the tourist information center. My visit to the Munich Residence, which includes the Residence Museum, the Treasury collection. and the Cuvillies Theatre, took most of the day. The Residence was the home of the Wittelsbach dynasty (various Maximillians and Ludwigs and others) in Bavaria for four hundred years, until 1918. Nearly a hundred of the rooms are open to the public, showing off Renaissance, Rococo, and neoclassical design, furniture, and artwork. The Treasury houses the dynasty's treasures--crowns, insignia, swords, jewelry, and the like, made of crystal, gold, precious stones, and ivory. Spread through ten rooms, the items are displayed to maximize the "wow" effect. I was duly impressed. Of course, there were other types of treasures spread through the Residence Museum, not the least of which was a huge, banquet-size set of silver place settings; not just the forks, knives, and spoons, but the plates, bowls, and many serving platters as well. The Cuvillies Theatre is just that, a theater, but what is most impressive about it is the fact that, although the building was destroyed during World War II, the entire Rococo interior had previously been removed and safely stored away. After the war, the interior was reinstalled in another restored building, and the theater once again operates as a theater. It is also amazing how much of the Residence was destroyed during the war, but has since been restored.

Our first German weekend outing took us to Passau, a lovely city near the Austrian border, about two and a half hours northeast of Munich. It is known for its location at the confluence of three rivers--the Danube, the Inn, and the Ilz. Only the Danube continues, gaining speed and flowing all the way to the Black Sea. Those of you who think only of Pittsburgh when you hear about the confluence of three rivers can now add another city to your list! I finally got my "cruise" on the Danube--a 45-minute boat ride showing off the three rivers. We also enjoyed lunch at a secluded garden restaurant (Heilig-Geist-Stift-Schenke) and a leisurely walk along the foot/bicycle path that borders the small peninsula between the Danube and Inn rivers. It's a wonder how much more enjoyable a stroll can be when the sun is out and it's warm enough that only a single layer of clothes are required. In the afternoon, while Henry sat outside the town hall and serendipitously watched the before and after of a small wedding, I visited the city's glass museum, a fine collection of Bohemian glasswork from the 17th to the 20th centuries. We both equally enjoyed ourselves!