Although I have long since landed in the land of my birth, what may only have been about 3 weeks ago, still feels fresh in my mind. I think there are a variety of reasons for this – other than the hope of clinging to my memory like a leech clings to an unsuspecting animal filled with juicy blood!

The fact that I have witnessed something so surreal within the month of travel this year, and being something I’ve always wanted to do it seems impossible to forget such things. I aim to drink less in the future to avoid the loss of memories that keep me happy – anyhow, onto the blog.

Day 7 – Strasbourg, France

(21/10/2011)

Two things in Europe leave me utterly envious of other Europeans – and it isn’t their seemingly superior genes, fine food or fashion sense.  First, it is the fact that you can be an hour away from another country which is within your reach to explore, without having to fly for almost a day with the consequence of  the dreaded debilitating Jet lag that follows. The second and I am not sure which one I hate more, is the ability to land in a town like Strasbourg, and know you can spend a month there yourself and still not see everything.  Throughout my trip, I would be experiencing the second feeling more and more as I matured in the travelsphere [sic].  However, that being said, we return to Day 7, and I am a kid in a candy store drooling on the glass window before me. [[[note: I think I've said those two things before in other posts...but I can't help but reiterate these points]]]

As I have already mentioned. You are already in a museum without being in a museum. Strasbourg is definitely one of those cities. The name Strasbourg roughly translates as “Town at the crossing of roads” and thus it may have been accidentally or intentional that this is the home of the European Council. On the border of Germany and France,  along the river Ill across from German town Kehl – apparently this is meant to be one of the most polluted cities in France simply by its location alone which lends itself to poor natural ventilation. I could not imagine the depressing nature of this city when the iron fist of heavy industries which have now since disappeared.

With the negative undertone set above, when we first arrived on Strasbourg and without the prior knowledge of above – M and I thought we had stepped into a wonderland. Our host K, didn’t seem to  bother with the modern aspects of the city and we were soon whisked to the old town where low and behold sat yet another giant medieval cathedral, which is easily the most impressive we had seen so far, blowing Munich out of the water. This was the finest example of anything we had come across that dared to call itself Gothic Architecture.

Not only is it superior to other cathedrals, The Strasbourg Cathedral once held the title of being the tallest building in the world between 1647 – 1874 – passed by another German cathedral – St Nikolai in Hamburg (with only the spire remaining – thank you very much WWI and II!). At 142 Metrres, this structure remains to be the 6th tallest church in the world. To think such a beautiful thing had been completed in the mid 1400′s.  The “widespreading tree of God” (Goethe) is of no marvel in terms of today’s heights of course, but considering back in the day you could see this thing for miles right through to Germany’s Black Forest it was easy to see why you’d fear belive in God after all that.

I take simple pleasures knowing that both Goethe and Victor Hugo have seen the very same thing with their eyes.

Gothic architecture is always very comical. With gargoyles and decapitations and people underneath other people…you really can’t do anything else but laugh and think of those people who would actually be carving in this artwork into the foundation. They may have been mad men; friends of mine reincarnated today I’m guessing.

Walking into the Church is of course – huge. There are a couple of main attractions inside of the church, with the most unique being the famous Astronomical Clock.  Straight from the official site:

Principal work of the Renaissance, this mechanical astronomical clock is an invention put together by various artists, mathematicians and technicians. Swiss watchmakers, sculptors, painters and creators of automatons all worked together to build this amazing automate. The present mechanism dates from 1842 and is especially attractive for the work of its automatons, which, every day at 12.30 pm, all start their show.

The first Strasbourg astronomical clock, L’horloge de Trois Rois, was being built from 1352 till 1354, but it stopped working in the beginning of 16th century.

According to a legend, the local authorities of Strasbourg ordered that the constructor of the Astronomic Clock should be blinded so that he could not try to build something like it ever again. This first clock was equipped with various mechanical details that were very rare in that time, such as calendar and astrolabe, as well as very interesting miniature statues. The main statue of the clock was representing Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus in her arms. In front of her, every hour, the three Kings would step out of their chambers and the music announces the time (this automate is now being shown in the Strasbourg museum of Decorative Arts).

At this moment, astronomical clock offers you a view of different stages of life, which are personified by a child, a teenager, an adult and an old man, who pass before Death. Above this are the apostles who walk before Christ. Their passage is punctuated by the beatings of wings and the song of a large rooster. In front of the clock is the marvellous Pillar of Angels, which, in a very original manner, represents the Last Judgment.

Trust me – it’s as impressive as it sounds and we didn’t even see it move! They did touch on the Pillar of Angels (more info here)  which shows levels leading up to the heavens and from prior knowledge the hierarchy of Angels that follow as you ascend. I think I stared at that longer than I stared at the fancy clock. Knowing that this is popular to tourists, I looked down to see a coin box before me asking for 1 or 2 euro. I originally thought it was clever that they put donation boxes right in front of the main attractions within the church, however I found out later this serves another purpose. The church itself is particularly dark so taking pictures without flash on an ordinary point and shoot can become quite blurry. Inserting the prescribed amount in the coin slot turns on a light to the main aspect of the pulpit and the baptismal pot so you can see it’s beauty in a different light.  I was angry at first but then resided to the well established knowledge of the church’s greed. Sure people have mass there every Sunday, but God’s house seemingly costed M and I more than a Euro almost every single time. You find holier church’s in Australia.

With the church being the main attraction, the only thing left to see is to walk within the medieval town, taking it in, seeing what the locals do and fall in love with a french cafe worker saying what would you like and thank you. M laughed at me as I blushed like an idiot. The name of the place was called Babyfoot. Thank goodness the host K and her friend P did not notice. Too busy talking among themselves…There was no real local beer but I had a beer anyway. I do not think I can go back to Australian beer without first violently shuddering at the taste until I get drunk. German beer is truly the nectar of the Gods!

Tweet

Day 6 – Trains, Achern, Wine and Flame Cakes.

(20/10/2011)

 It was time for M and I to venture out of South East Bavaria and land in South West Baden-Württemberg, up in the Northern regions of the Black Forest: A little place called Achern. Like many places in Germany, Baden-Wurttemberg also went through it’s personality disorder since the first century AD. From the Romans, then the Holy Roman Empire (496 AD) then a part owned by France and America after World War II both being Württenmberg-Hohenzollern and Württemberg-Baden respectively. It was not until after a referendum for a merger passed and two states married on April 25, 1952.

Leaving Bavaria, M, K and I took full advantage of the train network. Our host K helped us with the tickets, where to go and how to get there. The train connections throughout Germany are, for lack of a better description – awesome! After traveling through some of the major cities, it is clear to understand how it all works. Throughout major cities you have a central station known as a Hauptbahnhof. These central stations are major interchange points between areas, regions and sometimes even countries. For a Melbournian, a Hauptbahnhof can resemble Southern Cross Station (AKA Spencer Street Station). Some are so big that they can seem like Airports – like Berlin Hauptbahnhof. There are two layers to the network, both which you can see at any station. The first is a complex network of lines and bahns. These bahns can be for example, the S-bahn or U-bahn. Usually the S-bahn will circulate through major town areas and pass through the major stop points, while the U-bahns would cover the rest. There are many different types of train’s with different designs, but all have a purpose, like the bullet shaped ICE train or the double decker trains – more on that in a later blog down the track…

Achern, apparently, is a small town. Apparently, small for Germany is 25,000 plus people. We were greeted by K’s mother, who drove us to there home, where we were then greeted by a giant friendly dog with paws as big as a human hand and a soul like a leaf floating on water. I could not have come across a more friendly creature. Either way, as soon as K fed it M’s left over Schnitzel (which was bigger than her face), it is easy to remember why dogs are dogs and not human – I was jealous. I wish I could eat a schnitzel that big in one bite and ask for more!

K had reminded me that German’s are not known for their hospitality but M and I got the complete opposite of that statement at K’s parent’s house. Their house is surrounded by wildlife (we saw a squirrel), trees and warmth. Immediately, I have always felt calm being around nature, but I am sure to not be alone in that statement. Once settled, K was excited to go for her routine mini hike around the hills near her house. Passing through, the kid like dog knew what we were up to. With her big eyes blinking at us, we knew we would not be allowed to leave without her.

Walking through the neighbourhood before hitting the hill, it was about now I truly felt estranged. Did I step into some time portal or post card picture? The house’s looked as though I had step into a kid’s two dimensional image. Perfect triangular rooftop with perfect square outside and cross wooden square windows, with door placed perfectly in the middle on the bottom. It was odd but quaint and every house had it’s own personality but they all looked at each other knowingly – they knew they were Achern houses. I would have personally liked to have gone inside to see if these over-sized cottage/barn house’s looked different from the inside, but that would be trespassing. I would like to say it matched K’s parents house, but they were different. Their land was a lot bigger than the normal house’s we passed and seemed as though it was a couple of houses combined to make one awesome place to live. The other queer fact about Germany – it doesn’t matter where you are, you are always within metres to the next Cigarette vending machine. Some of them are standing in isolated sections that it’s a wonder to anyone how these stay magically filled up waiting for the next walking customer to cough up the Euros and their lungs.

Hitting the hill we began the steady climb up the hill of known path’s before us. K let the dog off the leach to run rampant ahead, aside or behind us, seeing her nose sniff in overtime and eating random untouched grass by human hands. The sight was pleasing to the eyes. For city or suburban dwellers M and I were introduced to colours and shades of Green, which in a sense gave us a homely feeling, with a few exceptional colours we have not seen before. The air was clean and no longer smelt of Bavarian brewery or cooked Marronis. The view just kept on getting better and better and K mentioned something that sparked our interest – Vineyards!

With a couple of “Are we there yet?” Questions and a few groans and sighs and doggy sniffs and tail wagging we finally made it to a vineyard – or 50. The view was ahead of us, all the houses in place in squares out before us as if I had just set up my SIMS village. Everything is conveniently in the right place. The hill was steep, looking like a 45 or sometimes even 50 degree angle. The oddity here isn’t the beautiful picturesque view over the setting sun just visible through patches of blue creating the serene like view. What completes the surreal serenity is where the vines are organised and standing before us, row after row, block after block: on the side of the hill! M and I could only imagine how difficult it would be to pick those grapes. Honestly, the man or woman who would go picking grapes would have giant 20 kg dumbbells for calves and thighs with a gymnast’s balance! Awesome, refreshing and like looking out over any city, you feel as though you had taken over the world for a split second; until you are met with the reality of your mortality thinking about the steep decent.

A few thousand pictures later, a patient host and 3,000 chewed blades of grass later we found ourselves back down. It was time for dinner. K had been wanting to take us to a tiny little restaurant within Achern’s central district, or Kernstadt.

After dropping the dog home we did just that. One of the best things for me in Europe is a simple concept but utterly addictive. The fact that you can find Art in any direction you look, in any town you are in is absolutely amazing. There are of course your central locations with museums but the amount of free art that exists in front of buildings, on the roads, on a ceiling attached to an apartment complex and even in little cities that aren’t even major districts like Achern. If it isn’t the cute preserved chapel of St Nicholas still in use today or the creature on the building cutting a rope on three humans falling down which make up the fountain in the centre of the town, it will simply be the sign on the entry of a hotel or restaurant and finally the fine presentation of food and beer. This is the light side of pride without corruption which bring out pure finesse and eloquence.

Walking into this restaurant we were advised by our host that this is where you can get some good Flammkuchen. Given that our host is vegetarian, we guessed it would be vegetarian. M and I were wrong – it can be either. Flammkucken, literarly means ‘flame cake’. The french call it Tarte flambée which means ‘pie baked in flame’. Given that description, it is not actually baked in a flame, but we did eat a dessert Flammkucken that was dosed in Rum and then set alight on our table! Cooked through a wood fire oven, it almost resembles a type of gourmet pizza; dough as the base, cheese called Fromage frais which is a dairy product that is supposed to be fat free, except when people like to make it more flavoursome with cream. To top it off, onions and lardon is added.

For variety, the different types of Flammkucken exist where for example lardon is replaced with mushrooms, or as aforementioned made with additional toppings to make a dessert. I did ask for the origin of Flammkucken and my host told me this is debated amongst Flammkucken lovers as to whether it is German or French. Doing a little digging online, there seems to be a general consensus that it is actually Alemannic speaking farmers. Given that we were close to border regions of where these farmers come from and that the Fromage frais home is that of Alsatian peoples, we were eating the real stuff. Flammkucken seemed to have come about in the 60s when some random pizza craze came in.

This Flammkucken melted in my mouth and I was not disappointed at all. This was complimented with Neuer Wein, translated simply as New Wine. In Munich we went to a potato house restaurant and tried the white variety and this time, the red. The Red tasted like lolly water; potent stuff if you’re not careful but leaves a pleasant refreshing feeling…Refreshing and easy to drink is a dangerous combination for any alcohol. Neuer Wein is wine that is at the beginning stages of fermentation.

With drinking the other type of wine and the other type of pizza, it was the first time on my journey that I felt as though I was somewhere else completely, and I liked it – a lot. We eventually stumbled out the door and walked our way home to then pass out for our next adventure for tomorrow to cross border into France to visit Strasbourg – home of the Alsatians! 

Tweet

Day 5 – Mozart’s Muse – Salzburg, Austria
(19/10/2011)

There is nothing I can really say to capture the beauty of the fourth largest city in Austria. It is such a foreign concept to any Australian where you can take a train trip for an hour and end up in another country. I instantly feel cheated. This was like going from the Melbourne CBD to Ballarat!

Arriving in Austria, you are instantly like everyone else on the train station – lost. It was a bright and sunny day there and the first thing M and I needed wasn’t food for once. We needed information; a map! The first information area we went to had a map leading to the tourist information place. Why they couldn’t help us either though was a surprise.

The second thing I feel cheated about? Most Europeans we have come across can speak English. This makes me feel dumb that I don’t know how to speak like our local Aboriginals. However, that Orwellian story of stolen generations and deleting of history through the convicts is another story for another day. One of the things I’m going to strive to do is learn my second tongue more accurately – Arabic; because I believe I will be visiting the Middle East eventually before my candle is snuffed out!

It never takes long for you to realise anywhere in Europe I think, that you have walked where ancient royalty, bloody battles, great fires and other natural disasters have been, including plagues, epidemics, orders of explusions and of course both world wars. All this shaping the land into what we see today…On top of the chaos the beauty of Art is all around you.

Upon reaching the tourist information box, we are given a map and a route leading to the Fortress. The walk only takes 20 minutes by foot, although as tourists go she asked if we were taking transport.

Walking up the main street leads you to everything you want to see. First stop was the Mirabell Palace, Park and Gardens, next to Mozart’s University. We caught a couple of orientation week parties throughout Salzburg with music greeting us upon entering and kids running around or lying in the park.

The style of the park, like everything in Salzburg is Baroque. This is completely different to the Neo-Gothic/Renaissance/Roman feel of Munich. Salzburg is a real life fairytale. It is easy to be inspired here. Mozart himself captured its beauty through his music. I immediately envied all those students studying here and even living here! Unicorns, Angels, carefully shaped gardens in spirals and curls and fountains with laughing horses – why wouldn’t this be a destination of shooting for The Sound Of Music? The irony of the Sound of Music although advertised isn’t widely known to Europeans…Maybe a good thing?

Inside the Mirabell Gardens was a little museum that had Rembrandt’s sketching’s with other artists who were caught up with the Baroque period. M and I walked past a sleeping man on a bench snoring his head off to get there. If we had more time, we would have liked to visit the Salzburg Museum!

Eventually, making our way over the bridge we reached what is known as the ‘old town’. Naturally preserved you are greeted with the Salzburg Museum, Cathedral and of course dominating above everything just below the alps - Hohensalzburg Castle.

By this time, we did get hungry. Avoiding the over priced restaurants and cafe’s facing the old town’s splendid sights, we moved into an alley way and found a nice Restaurant serving a tourist favourite: Salzburger Nockerl! This thing is HUGE. Thankfully we stayed away and watched a couple of Italian tourists get diabetes instead.

We made our way up the fortress with a train that uses a line that was used to bring materials up to the top to help build the place. It is now some kind of tourist rail link to save you from walking up the hill. From the top you can see a beautiful view…I can only imagine how great it would look with everything snow capped. The rooms are filled with useful information both in English and in native tongue. A timeline, swords, guns, cannons and even string puppets!

We walked down, to be greeted by tourists using segways to roll themselves up the walk path….Please only do this if you want to look like an idiot. We passed the world’s largest Amber store, and once down – entered the Cathedral. This by far is the best cathedral M and I have visited so far. 33 metres wide, 66 metres tall….need I really say more? Given the Baroque style, it wasn’t too over the top like the previous Cathedral’s in Germany. Simple in design but equally as impressive.

Even if you don’t visit or enter anything in Salzburg – you can walk around be enchanted, spellbound and fall flat on your arse by some of the sculptures, fountains and the sheer size of things.

I have a feeling this post did not do this place justice! Mozart had such a fortunate muse to guide him.

GO GO GO!!!

Tweet

Disclaimer – you’ve probably read this already in another post. So will spare you the words and myself the copy and paste.

Day 4 – Andechs Abbey: Monks, Beet & Carl Orff
(18/10/2011)

It is actually the 24th October here and I have found myself in Hamburg in a nice hotel. A lot has happened. To speed up this process I am going to cheat a little. I will be talking about the places I’ve been, but I will also be placing a lot more links if you want to know the full historical details etc…So lets rewind back to the 18th…

After a few drinks here and there and some crazy birthday cocktail with a sparkle candle thing we decided to sleep in. When we woke up, our host D decided to go to a monastery in upper Bavaria called Andechs Abbey, home of a few catolic monks who when not praying to God and continually thinking about death – are working hard in their brewery making fine beer!

Once again, like most sites in Germany are full of history which can be found here. Arriving at the monastery was kind of cool, walking up a steep hill you are greeted with a carving of a priest sitting on a log drinking beer, then a sign about a famous composer by the name of Carol Orff who is buried here. This man was magical. Creating musical education method for children and composing a very well known piece from which the sample can be heard here. I would find it very difficult to understand if you have not heard that sample in at least one dramatic movie over the years….For percussionists, he was particularly interesting in the way he allowed for children to understand music as a sort of self discovery rather than your typical head down, bum up, be a sheep method.

Something odd covered the church that day. Ladybugs. They were everywhere. I have not seen them anywhere else but at Andechs…odd, but it worked. The church’s front does not look beaten down, a hundred years old or gothic. In fact, it appealed to the modern age, and matched the region with it’s cottage type houses.

This, however, could be due to the fact it was heavily damaged in the Thirty Years War and a following lightning strike took out what was originally standing there. That being said this building in front of me was born in 1675.

Like most churches, once inside, you are greeted with the suffering virgin mother with sword impaled through the chest and dying young man sacrificing himself for everyone…This place did not have the same affect as the other churches in main towns etc. Perhaps because of it’s size, or maybe because of its modern look…I could not put my finger on it. The surroundings were pleasant; looking past the outdoor crucifix and beyond the hill where Abbey church rests is a nice look over a beautiful green field followed with quaint little houses and finally a horizon of the Alps. From what we could see, it was capped with snow through the fog. There may in fact still be a possibility to visit this lovely place before the end!

After  reading that Andechs monks have been brewing beer for over 900 years old, it was time to see what the fuss was all about. Enter the massive beer garden – tourists are everywhere. At this point, I found it very easy to understand why you would brew beer here. The view is breathtaking from every angle, so much so that after a look around you instantly think to yourself, “I could really go a nice drink right now.”

Litre glasses, 7 choices, open kitchen…It was clear my hosts, M and I didn’t want to be anywhere else – even the drunk old German Grannies that joined us on the bus were jolly and fun….

More information here at Destination-Munich.

Note: I must mention something that I just remembered. I was travelling around with an Ozzy Osbourne t-shirt that has him in a Jesus Christ Pose on the shirt. I went in to buy a rosary for my Dad….big mistake. I was told that the one I wanted I was not allowed to have and I should choose from the range the store owner told me to look at. Not sure if it was the t-shirt or not, but finding out about the t-shirt later (i.e. thinking nothing of it) it may be wise not to wear something like that if you intend to visit!!

 Tweet

Disclaimer:
This writing will be raw, unedited and possibly somewhat fragmented. I am not responsible for any brain freeze or head explosion from bad grammar and spelling. I believe it is good to leave things as they are sometimes, kind of like a hand written journal entry. No spell check, no worries…

Day 3 – The Monarchs Greet Me a Happy Birthday
(17/10/2011)

Today is my birthday and like most birthdays, after a while they just become one of those doom and gloom moments where the thought of what-have-I-done-with-myself flashes before you. Today is also the first time in my life I have celebrated my  birthday outside of Australia and without my parents being there to greet me in person. Sounds like nothing but a few words however the thought and feeling was definitely different to me.

The weather was ordinary, but enough to get M and I going off on another adventure. It was also the first day back for one of our hosts to go to Uni. We were to meet him later and organise a German Sim Card from Vodafone, who as it turns out, although shit in Australia is actually one of the best carriers in Germany. More on that in future blogs…

To cut short another perfect breakfast, I’ll make it easier for you and skip to where we ended up – The Munich Residenz. To say this place is just big is definitely an understatement. To say it holds a lot of history is another. This is the palace of Bavarian Monarchs. This is the largest city palace in Germany.

Sadly, some rooms we visited where not the original rooms that greeted the monarchs long dead and buried. World War II took a giant chunk out of it, but the rebuilding of these rooms is equally impressive, apart from some where they do not remember what was actually there. M and I said to ourselves after a little walk about’s, after lunch it would be a good idea to go to a museum – what better one than the Residenz Museum! I would like to point out here the importance of a good pair of shoes if you ever visit Europe. If you don’t have one? Buy them in Germany. Why? Because after walking through the Treasury Museum and the Residenz itself – even before the future hikes to come – it was apparent that my feet were hurting. Converse Chucks – what a stupid idea to make a shoe without any support! What a stupid man for bringing them!

Sadly, we missed out on seeing the Cuvilles-theatre, a concert venue that is as beautiful as the Residenz itself and the very thing that made us want to see inside the Residenz itself, erected in 1753 after a fire in St Georges hall erupted burning down the old theatre. If you are a fanatic about history, this is  the place for you. You can spend the whole day here. Put it this way; we got a ticket that covers the Treasury Museum, The Residenz Museum and the Cuvilles-threatre. The treasury’s audio, if you were to look at every individual item and listen lasts for an entire duration of 5 hours. 5 hours!! It pains me to say, we did not get a chance to do this, but the audio’s are cool – and free!

The first part of the palace was erected in 1385; a castle called The Neveste was born. From then on continual constructions were built around the castle until it became the palace it is today.  By the end of visiting over 130 or so rooms, M and I made it down the stairs to find a security guard laughing at us. He smiled at me waiting for M. When she got down he let out a little chuckle and turned to me and said, “She’s a strong one isn’t she?” Sarcasm is universal. M looked as though she had battled a hungry lion and just made it out alive.

A complete detailed time line of the Bavarian wonder can be found here:
http://www.residenz-muenchen.de/englisch/museum/index.htm

 My Bavarian Birthday continued with Beer, Wine and Italian Pizza. Really, there’s nothing more I could have wanted better….

Tweet

Disclaimer:
This writing will be raw, unedited and possibly somewhat fragmented. I am not responsible for any brain freeze or head explosion from bad grammar and spelling. I believe it is good to leave things as they are sometimes, kind of like a hand written journal entry. No spell check, no worries…

Day 2 – The Devil is Trapped
(16/10/2011)

My travel with M continues as we find ourselves with very tired hosts. Letting them sleep in, M and I decide to go for walkabouts in our current residence – Rosenheimer Platz. It’s so quaint here. Everything is silent. One of the repercussions of a country that probably takes religion a little bit more seriously; Sunday would definitely be a day of rest. Random cafe’s are situated along different streets here, there and everywhere; you just need to look. Somehow owning one doesn’t seem to be considered as work? We found one in particular with some very interesting looking people who had some very interesting looking gazes…

Walking into the cafe, we realised we didn’t know how to speak to German. Instantly of course they knew at least a little bit of English, and luckily the nice man behind the counter helped us out. Anyone that knows me knows I dont do coffee. I tried, for the first time – a Capaccino…Lumps of sugar later, it ware bareable. Why not hot chocolate? Because it was much easier to say Capaccino instead of figuring out the word Hot and Chocolate – LAZY. I have never walked around in a country where I have faced a barrier before; except maybe some notable suburbs in Melbourne that makes you sweat because you forgot to bring your passport…

We sat inside away from the curious eyes of the young men that sat like gangsters talking about life….Or their hangovers…Inside everything seemed perfect, including a man to the left of me who’s eyes looked like they were made of glass. He was speaking out loud…On his own. I assume he was reading the paper and laughing at the rubbish they posted in there. Seems like the media is bullshit everywhere, I thought trying to comfort myself. A man walked in with a women and conversed with the crazy man who all of a sudden seemed on queue. His fingers were stained from the rolling tabacco he’s been smoking for centuries. A man and a women behind M’s right shoulder looked as if they were having an affair. Such open affection I would only expect from new born lovers. She turned around and glanced over at me and looked about 20 years older than the man she was eagerly devouring in.

Walking around for a little longer we decided to take the S-bahn yet again to Marienplatz. I realisd quickly, although it looks like a circle in most places we visited – Platz in German is “Square”. Every main location in Munich seems to be a Platz. Marienplatz has been Munich’s foundation and cornerstone of the city since 1158. From markets, public josting to public executions. This was the place to be and by the looks of things – still is.

St Mary’s Column

In 1638, Maximilian I, asked politely, to construct St. Mary’s Column to symbolise how this area was shielded from the Swedish occupation during the Thirty Years War. This colum is basically used as an easy central meeting point. Of course, it is beautiful. You can find many of these columns throughout Europe, each with their own design, to show their continual dedication and faith to religion.The markets that used to take place were called “Schrannenmarkt”, primarily fish and corn. As this square got more and more busy, the market moved to another location in 1853 (Viktualienmarkt) and thus “Marienplatz” name was born. Because Europeans cant let go of the past, there is also a Fish Fountain (Fischbrunnen).

Stepping forward in time, I look up only in wonder and are constantly reminded about how stupidly small I am. Of course, what you cant miss is the architecture’s wet dream while standing in the square and talked about previously Neue Rathaus (New City Hall). There is an animated attraction between the hours of 11am or 12pm and 5pm between Match and October, called the Glockenspeil. This is a clock that comes to life which tell of some folklore history. There are 47 different bells that get played! I have yet to see this magical display. The irony of this building to me is how amazingly well crafted this neo-gothic structure is and was only ever really built because they needed more offices. Kind of crazy if you ask me.

Skankt Peter AKA Old Peter; 91 metres of awesome!

To get a better view, we found a chruch called Sankt Peter, where you can climb the narrow stairs for a ocuple of euro and get a real golden view of the square and the rest of munich. We did just that. After shaky legs and questioning your mortality a couple of times, the view is definitely worth it, but writing about it here will only fail to do justice (360 degree view here). However, those who play games, I am continually reminded of towns similar to those in Assassin’s Creed, except I did not jump down from the highest point only to land in a pile of hay, even if it isnt the highest point. Old Peter is said to be the central point of Munich by bavarians. If you are claustrophobic – forget about it.

Our next destination was easily spotted easily by two giant Jerusalem style domes – Frauenkirche.

Frauenkirche (Cathedral of Our Dear Lady, or Dom zu unserer lieben Frau)

It would be incredibly stupid to think that you would visit Europe without stepping foot into a church, atheist or not – just for the architecture itself! I could go on forever and describe every bit of detail I find interesting, but I realise I would not be enjoying my trip, as I would be stuck here behind the screen, instead of out there!

Everything is mindblowing, and this church is no exception. The entry way, like most church’s is fit for a giant! Although these Church’s are tourist attractions, they are still places of worship. Religion in Europe seems to be culture. This is not a personal choice in the somewhat secular society I live in. I do not mean you are forcefed bullsiht (debatable), but you are definitely born into something that has been woven in culture and tradition. It would be hard to breakaway and declare yourself as atheist after seeing all this on a daily basis growing up.

Upon entering, you instantly see a crucifix suspended in mid-air, christ in pain above the alter. On your right dispels any qualms about religion being religion with an unfortunately overpriced shop of sorts…Donation?

Immeditately, anyone who steps foot inside this church has been where the devil’s been! The story goes that in 1468 JörgVon Halsbach needed funds. Who else to turn to but the devil!  Funny how nothing’s changed. The devil’s condition to Jörg was given that the church contains no windows. This of course, did not happen, what would be a church without giant stain glass windows? With more financial issues, eventually the towers attached itself and the church was consecreted in 1494, without the famous domes the church is known for.  The devil entered and realised he couldn’t go past the entrance where with the columns at the entrance convieniantly hides the windows from sight. This is where the story differs.

One legend says the devil was laughing at the fact that this church had no windows and while laughing liked to stomp his foot around so much he left a nice footprint, now known as Teufelsschritt. The other, he realised he was tricked but couldnt enter the church so he has a tantrum and the same thing happened. In addition to the Teufelsschritt, he also summoned a wind demon which can be felt around the church as it runs around eternally over and over again. The world’s toughest fallen angel – tricked.

The towers were added in 1525. The dome resembles that of Byzantine architecture, and modelled itself after the dome of the rock in Jerusalem. Like most things in Munich, heavy damage during the war meant that a lot had to be reconstructed, which was only completed by 1994.

You are greeted with the beauty of artists Ignaz Günther, sculpter and woodcarver of the 1700′s, Hans Krumpper, another sculpter, architect and smart ass from the 1600′s, with his notable piece and tomb of Emporer Louis IV exists near the entrance on your right. In addition you have Jan Polack, 1500′s, capturing the art of beauty and suffering in catholic works throughout and finally Erasmus Grasser, 1500s, yet another sculpter.

BMW Welt and Olympia Park

M and I met up with our sleepy hosts and we took the tram to Olympia Park where the 1972 Olympics were held. This place is massive, and just as impressive as buildings 3 times its age. This was just a perfect chill out spot where dogs roam free, articfal cars float in the middle of a river and cyclists get a chance to run you over at any chance they get.

I have found a panoramic view of our walk around in the park – here.

To summarise some facts:

* Everything is artifical
* The hillsides are made out the debris from the war, as is, the hills only came into existence through continual bombing.
* By the river there is a Munich Olympian Walk of Stars that exist – a lot of gigs get played there and fill up quite easily. From KISS to David Gilmour, if you find yourself too cheap for tickets, a lot of people take advantage of the hillside and still get a good view of everything.

Pub, Schnitzel and Koenigsplatz

After a while of all this walking around, and one of our local hosts getting bored of taking the scenic route decided to leave. D, M and I found ourselves at some local pub that resided in a kind of student quarter.

After drinking local Monk beer, we moved on to the next part of the journey for giant Schnitzel that was bigger than my head. It is a constant challenge to finish any meal here but did so anyway…We rolled back past Koenigsplatz, then home. I am hoping if I get more time toward the end of the trip I can tap into Koenigsplatz and Victory Gate in more detail…

Truth is, I am trying to wrap this day up rather quickly…I could go into very intricate detail of everything I did, but what is interesting for Australians, is not very interesting for a Bavarian….to them, walking past these great cherished buildings although special, is just another day in their lives…

If I have more time, I will come back to this….but I doubt it…

NOTE:

* The dome on Frauenkirche are the highest point by law any building in Munich can be built to.
* Sometimes the “platz” at the end of names is either together with the word or separate…I can never guess which one, so apologies for the above if it is wrong.

 Tweet

Disclaimer:
This writing will be raw, unedited and possibly somewhat fragmented. I am not responsible for any brain freeze or head explosion from bad grammar and spelling. I believe it is good to leave things as they are sometimes, kind of like a hand written journal entry. No spell check, no worries…

Time in Munich [Enter]
15th October 2011

As most of you know, this my first time out of the Island. As most of you would also know, I get culture shock just by going to another state, let alone going all the way to Germany on a flight where I thought I found the true definition of purgatory…or Hell!

Let me tell you, waiting rooms have nothing on a sleeping economy-cattle-class mid-flight, where two hours sleep feels like eternity. I knew this was going to be a long trip, but the feeling of taking that trip – ridiculous.  Should have taken that advice about the Valium and Gin and just knocked myself right out, like the Belgium passenger beside me who before doing just that,  proceeded to tell me everything he knew about travel. As sarcastic as that sounded, I listened with great esteem; he knew something I did not after all…

I never really thought I would ever get here, but I’m not going to bore you with those thoughts.

When I landed in Singapore 15 minutes later, I was surprised. When I landed in Munich, I was surprised. When I got my new Passport stamped and was asked what the purpose of my travel was, I was speechless. Despite all that: seeing an Edeka supermarket store and civilians with dogs at the airport waiting to greet others who landed, it still felt like a bit of a falsity in my life. Sometimes, you need to be careful of asking, “Am I really here?” Too many times, which loops around like a failed program and the experience of shock and awe removes any other feeling that may be experienced otherwise. Get over it son – you’re in Germany.

My friend D rocked up and my partner M and I were escorted out into the .8 degree Celsius atmosphere to catch the S-Bahn to end up on the outskirts of a place called Toytown – more formally known as Munich, Germany. Walking on cobblestone, looking at buildings who’ve seen more interesting things than most men and women will ever see are now looking at us. Well kept, clean and ridiculously well sectioned off, it felt like stepping into a Sims simulation.

We are currently staying with D and K, who live in a building that is well over 100 years old – complete with bomb shelter! It turns out most buildings by default are like this. The difference is that most buildings present their own charm. This one in particular required you to walk up a beautifully carved wooden squeaky staircase. Attached just before the entry way was a cigarette vending machine.

After annoying our hosts D and K for having to get up before double digits on a Saturday, we went to sleep. My mind had to refrain from the panic and excitement of losing anymore time than I already had travelling to get here. Sensibility overcame stupidity, and I joined them – sort of. Staring at the ceiling I tried to imagine who else lived here. Who else heard that chiming bells of a couple of churches chiming away every hour? Who else heard the echoes of the people that passed by below?

Walking around town with our hosts, it’s easy to see why they nickname Munich Toytown. The friendliness is felt through the air. There was no feeling of being rushed, shoved and irrational thought. Everything was orderly, everything had purpose. From the person sitting at their favourite cafe to the numerous choice of organic products….But, this is just looking at a leaf of a giant oak tree. M and I knew there was plenty more to see.

A little bit of sight seeing making our way to the Munich Centre, pride is apparent. The old King’s of Bavaria have left their mark, not to mention a more notable crazy – Hitler. It’s not hard to see that even with the Politics and bad decision making, they all gave in to their heart instead of their mind. Passion was the bases of their decision making. The beautiful statues that greet you at entrances and say bye to you on bridges or the guardians that reside above buildings, symbolising freedom, war and peace amongst other things…

On a side note, seeing Trams, that are more efficient in Germany are an insult to Melbourne Trams. It is a good example of ‘larger does not mean better’. However, I get it why Melbournians complain about their transport system. Where the hell did we go wrong?

Surrounded by a giant garden stood a giant art centre built under the command of Mr Hitler, Haus Der Kunst (House of Art). The outside is strong with big giant concrete pillars and step leading into the museum itself, which on a Saturday night, was open. The museums seem to have an ‘after dark’ session on Saturdays, for it was open until past midnight! The very art Hitler detested is now on display. We did not go in, but might be on the cards for later….

Bavarian’s Old Parliament building, or as Maximiliam II called it, “Maximilianeum” just east bank of Isar River, is just, massive.  It is sort of Gothic/renaissance style in design and instantly blows you away. I think it is still used today in Parliament and honestly – why the hell not! This is a good example of saying, “Pictures does not do this building justice.”

The next bridge over, going toward the Haus Der Kunst stood The Angel of Peace, part of Maximilian Park. After the unification of Germany and the downfall of Napoleon III, followed 25 years of peace. In memoriam this statue was erected…only to fall and be repaired (legs and wings) 1981 and 1983 respectively, giving the half bronze half concrete type look.

We eventually arrived at the Munich Center, and Munich came alive with an overwhelming sense of history that I can not even begin to imagine. It was too dark to know what the hell was going on at this point, and we were hungry. One thing that was great – busker’s have skill. A man playing Chlo could stop anyone on the street and make them cry.

New City hall (Neues Rathaus) blows thousands of tourists away while all the poor Germans just try to get on with their lives!

A few more things:

* German beer is bloody cheap. Ridiculously cheap! Like everything German, everything has history. According to wiki:
The beer riots in Bavaria happened between 1 May and 5 May 1844 began after King Ludwig I of Bavaria decreed a tax on beer. Crowds of urban workers beat up police while the Bavarian army showed reluctance to get involved. Civil order was restored only after the King decreed a ten percent reduction in the price of beer. Following the Revolutions of 1848, Ludwig I abdicated in favour of his son, Maximilian II.

Talk about fighting for your rights!

* There are virtually no Japanese model cars. I get dizzy trying to count how many Porche’s are on the road, amongst the overwhelming amount of BMWs.

* No helmets required – ride ride ride! Cycling is a way of life in Germany. I do not say this lightly. I am the dumb tourist constantly walking on the bike path! Bring! bring! *mutters of “dumb tourist” in German yelled out*

* There is a fucking Apple Store in Munich Centre…..Fucking Apple. Also, a Starbucks seem to pop up in really odd places.

Tweet