Since I have been here several times, I asked my family what their first impressions of Munich were and their response was, they thought it to be a very livable city. Clean and vibrant with a very cosmopolitan population.
For one, the Isar runs directly through it adding to its luxuriant greenspaces and parks. So it is a very green city.
The city itself, like many other European cities of this age, is comprised of an older inner (alt stadt) city, surrounded by the more contemporary version of itself. Our hotel, the Hilton München City on Rosenheimer Strasse, is situated in the perfect spot just outside the old city to enjoy the use of its mass transportation system (which is extensive by the way) and of course walking.
Walking over the Ludwigsbrücke from our hotel we meet the Isartor, the eastern gate to the old city. It no longer protects the old city from tourists and vagabonds, but once was a stalwart against unwanted invasions.
The Altstadt
The city core is comprised of numerous catholic churches, kneipes and bräuthauses, somehow proving the proverb that faith and beer are somehow strongly tied together. In fact everything in Munich is tied to beer.
The famous Glöckenspiel of the Munich Rathaus still works, but now its on a specific schedule. You must consult the working hours in the front of the Rathaus for specific play times.
Other points of interest include the famous Frauenkirche with its dual towers and cupolas. The church inside is nothing special, I myself preferred Saint Peter’s from what I could see. Taken for granted that we attended some of the Latin high mass on Easter morning at Saint Peter’s, which may have swayed my opinion a bit.
The cupolas of the Frauenkirche from a different perspective.
The Deutsches Museum
We ventured around on foot a bit to discover the two famous hofbräuhauses and the Odeonsplatz. We also took the time to visit a few museums, including the Deutsches Museum, which we highly recommend, especially if you have any kind of mining background. The mining display is extensive.
It is also very dark and there are numerous crags and unlit crevasses where anything creepy can hide.
The museum has many other exhibits including naval, airplane and electronics (our personal favorite).
They even have a System 7501 and System 360 from IBM, as well as a Cray and numerous early PC models.. Two tickets anyone..?
So that just about does it for this whirlwind blog entry about Munich.
Our Farewell to Munich
We leave you with a shot of the Marienplatz…
…and Frauenkirche in the evening.
Thank you for the tour! Beautiful pictures!