Germany Part III: Munich Day 1 (part 3)

And the exciting conclusion to day 1 in Munich.

Food and drink!

Kate and I waited amongst the happy tourists and locals at the Marienplatz (The Munich City Hall plaza). This was our arranged meeting place. While looking for Jens and Marija, I took a picture of this statue located in the plaza.

Marija suggested Italian food and Kate used Fodor's advice to help us find an appropriate establishment. Kate read about an affordable and recommended eatery called "La Valle". As luck would have it our destination was located on Sparkassenstrasse, not too far from Marienplatz, our meeting place. Sadly, I can't remember what everyone ate in detail, but I believe it is fair to say that we all enjoyed our meal. I especially liked mine which was a linguini pasta tossed in a pepper accented, olive oil based sauce. There were some tomatoes and peppers tossed in with the pasta.

Following our meal we decided to find some place for after dinner drinks. We got on the U-bahn and Marija wanted to take us to a bier hall that supposedly has quite the impressive selection. It was a nice evening, and it was nice to get to a part of Munich that was less tourist oriented. It appeared to be an area largely inhabited by students. It was around 22:00 or so and at this point most of the city was very quiet. We would get to the occasional hot spot where there was some night life. We had difficulty finding the bar, and Marija was going by memory of a place she had not frequented often before. Ultimately we decided on a whim to go to a nearby Mexican pub.... yes, Mexican, in Germany. The restaurant, Don Luca's was actually a good find. It was a nice place to get a drink, down to earth and affordable. The food was OK, but not authentic Mexican... even by American standards. Don Luca's is filled with long communal wooden tables, giving it a warm rustic atmosphere. The volume of the restaurant/bar didn't interfere with conversation, and there were plenty of people to watch. We decided to get some nachos because we all had a second wind of appetite. Even Marija dug into the nachos with gusto, after earlier proclaiming that she did not like Mexican food. Everyone, (except me) had a nice fruit based drink... I of course had beer. Hey, when in... um, Munich. I had an excuse to get beer this time (I rarely get mixed drinks). After filling our bellies we decided to call it a night. Marija and Jens needed to back track on the U-bahn through the city center to get to their hotel, so we all boarded the train and Kate and I exited at the Marienplatz stop to head to the "Golden Leaf Parkhotel Im Lehel" , our hotel. Another exciting day of Bavarian castles, the Alps, and Munich awaited us.

Mini-golf last Saturday

Working for the Weekend...

“Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its shortness.”

-Jean de La Bruyere

Guilty as charged....

Well... no travel blog entry, it will have to wait. I meant to do a couple of errands tonight, and I accomplished none of them.

We had a great "Fiesta" today to celebrate front line approval of Millennium (A Takeda Oncology Company)'s Velcade drug. This meant an open bar, a Mexican buffet and a Mariachi band. It was a pretty good way to end out the day. In some way it made today feel more like Friday than Thursday.... too bad that wasn't the case.

High court strikes down gun ban Now we just need to work on all of those other civil liberties they are trying to erode. Good to see they prioritize the right for people to own guns in the city where technically you aren't allowed to use them, regardless of whether you are protecting yourself.

More Yak Butter Please.....

Kate and I went to a Tibetan restaurant in Davis Square on Tuesday night. The food was OK, I had "Coconut Curried Chicken" which sounds much more interesting than it was. Kate had some sort of spicy chicken that was cooked with pea pods and various other assorted vegetables. I had food envy over her choice, luckily we shared each other's selections. Portions were a bit light, and perhaps slightly higher than the norm for Asian cuisine. By skipping out on the soda/ drinks, and skipping to the tap, it still was a relatively inexpensive meal. The place was very busy, and it has a trendy, yet warm atmosphere. Surprisingly reviews were very mixed online. I thought the service was stretched a little thin but that was my only major complaint. I'd probably give it another shot. A coworker joked with me that I should ask for Yak butter when I return. I'll have to file that away.

Here is an interesting article about the people who opened up the restaurant a few years ago:

Tibetan family opens new restaurant, Martsa's on Elm, in Davis Sq.

Work has been busy, I seem to be back in the routine of arriving early and leaving late. On the plus side I've been getting to bed earlier this week, and I'm hoping to try and maintain this revolutionary lifestyle change. It really isn't easy for me.

Regarding the statue eating a baby in Munich, Jens emailed me with this wikipedia link. Apparently the God in question is Saturn..... those Romans sure were weird.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_Devouring_His_Son

@#$$!

Forgot my umbrella....

Germany Part III: Munich Day 1 (part 2)

Pictured here is the inside of the Theatinerkirche (St. Cajetan) in Munich. The interior of this church was perhaps the most beautiful (In my opinion) that we saw in Germany. Off of the Wikipedia link (above) I found a link that actually shows a panoramic view from the front of the church. Panoramic View Theatinerkirche.

Next we all returned to the car and planned on driving to Schloss Nymphenburg. (For a nice 180 degree image click on the Wikipedia link.) The expansive palace with the red roof seen below is the palace from within the grounds.

To give some perspective on the size, from where this shot was taken we were actually surrounded by wings of the palace where servant and guest quarters were located. In the center is a series of large reflecting pools and fountains that are connected by canals. The main pool had a couple of swans lazily paddling around as we arrived.



We had initially parked pretty far away from the entrance, and walked by many spots on the way in. Largely because a down pour appeared imminent, Marija went back to the car to move it closer and we waited before going inside the main building for a tour.

There were a ton of screaming, hyper active children on a field trip here. They appeared to be primarily from France and Italy.

We went into the gift shop where I purchased a nice coffee table book on Munich that Jens thought would be a nice souvenir/guide. While Marija was finding a new parking spot we purchased our tickets, and hoped to put some distance between ourselves and the obnoxious children. Unfortunately our latter goal was not achieved. The tour was a fairly short one. Compared to Schloss Charlottenburg this building was much larger, but I thought the inside of Charlottenburg was much more intricate and beautiful. Behind the palace the expansive grounds continue. The weird statue of the man eating a baby was one of the unusual things to see here. Apparently it is some sort of Roman or Greek mythology. At the time we had located some explanation, however I'm having difficulty locating one on the Internet.

After seeing the palace Jens and Marija dropped Kate and I off at our hotel which is located near the English garden, one of Europe's largest urban parks. We were to meet later that evening at Marienplatz and then get something to eat.

After checking into our room Kate and I walked around Munich a little more because we had some time to spare. We snapped a few photos along the way.

Heiliggeistkirche (Holy Spirit Church) is the building with the gold leafed doors. I was a little disappointed not to get to see the interior of this one as it is supposed to be quite elaborate. To see a fresco on the ceiling, click on the link.

The photo of Kate and I was taken by another American tourist for us, and we returned the favor. This is taken at Karlsplatz which is considered the gateway to the central city.

Wittelsbacher Brunnen is a very elaborate fountain in Munich. I had some difficulty capturing this photo due to the traffic, and as you can see, it is blurry.

While I don't have any photos that I'm aware of... I think I'll continue the evening and conclusion to this day of Munich in another post. Honestly I need to do a little research on names ;) in other words... ask Kate!

Doomed!!

This guy is the only hope for the traditional American government?! Capitalism will be dead here in a few years. Nationalization is upon us... sadly, for people who believe in personal freedom and the free market society, our only hope may be that the descent into hard-left socialism is fast and painful rather than gradual with mixed results. McCain doesn't have a prayer. Hopefully things will either be much worse under Obama, and there will be a political turn over in 4 years, or he simply will not accomplish much of what he preaches (ala Bill Clinton) and we'll pull through.






If everyone is as frustrated as I am... I really encourage you to vote for a third party come November.

A big let down....

Celtics come short and fail to beat the Lakers with a 40 point spread. (39 is unacceptable)

I don't know about you, but when they let that clock run out, it was as though a fire in my heart was extinguished.

For shame...

For shame...

Germany Part III: Autobahn/ Munich Day 1 (part 1)

Wednesday morning we got up a little earlier than previously in an attempt to get on the Autobahn to Munich and arrive at a reasonable time. We grabbed some breakfast on the go at a bakery in Nürnberg. I had some sort of berry danish with sugar drizzled all over it and a coffee. It was enormous and I couldn't eat too much of it, but nibbled at it occasionally all the way to Munich.

If you don't like traveling at accelerated speeds the Autobahn could be a harrowing experience. Kate said afterward that she made a point not to look how fast Jens was going. I'm not sure how fast exactly we went, but I know it was probably faster than I've ever gone for any extended period of time in a car. Jens had borrowed his parent's Audi wagon for the trip to Munich because it has much more pick up than Marija's VW Polo, and is more comfortable.

While the Autobahn may have a lot of aggressive drivers, the road is actually typically only 4 lanes (two in each direction). Trucks must stay in the right lane, and generally German drivers seem very disciplined about staying in the right lane unless they are passing. The traffic between cities was fairly light and was more like what you would see in Maine north of Portland, than nearly constant congestion of I95, 93, amongst many others.

The journey went by fairly quickly and we were in Munich in no time. I enjoyed the green leaves and grass which were in full bloom. When we had first left for Germany from New England, around Boston the trees and grass were probably only at 75%, and so it was though we had been accelerated a couple of weeks into the summer season.

Munich is quite a beautiful city and it's city center appears very affluent and caters to wealthy tourists. Many high end shops are intermingled with historic sites, tourist shops, beer gardens, and restaurants. There are a lot of familiar shops that are seen here in the states in areas such as 5th avenue in NYC, or Newbury St. in Boston.

In the first two photos above you can see a bank on the left, and a very colorful building called Hauptpost, which means the main post office. The building sports a courtyard and contained several restaurants.

To the left you can see a city street with a beer garden set up below a Bavarian banner.

The statue is located in Max-Joseph-Platz and depicts the first king of Bavaria, King Max I. Joseph.

The next picture is of Munich City Hall at the Marienplatz. This building is perhaps one of the more elaborate buildings in Munich. Like the Frauenkirche in Nürnberg, it has a mechanical "animated" clock inside it, and people gather at noon to watch the magical display. The Marienplatz is basically the heart of Munich. There is a massive bricked over pedestrian square that contains several fountains and statues. Typically there are several musicians, or makeshift shows being performed here and it seems busy well into the evening.

Adjacent to this picture is a view down the Theatinerstrasse towards Theatinerkirche, which I thought was probably one of the most beautiful churches that we saw in all of Germany. I'll include some more pictures of the interior of the church in a later post.

In the picture of Jens and Marija walking ahead, you can see the Frauenkirche of Munich (Dom zu unserer lieben Frau: Cathedral of Our Blessed Lady). This is actually where Pope Benedict XVI (Ratzinger) was consecrated as bishop of Bavaria in his long path towards becoming the pope. There are more pictures of the interior of this church below.

One of our first activities in Munich was to climb the tower of Peterskirche (St. Peter's) which is the oldest church in the inner city of Munich (1368- part of current building constructed). This site has some great info on the history: St. Peter’s Past. Above to the left is a view of the roof tops of Munich, to the right Jens and Kate look out at the view. Below to the left is a better view of the Munich Frauenkirche, following this are pictures of the interior. The hike up was a long one, and the construction of the stairs I suspect is not all that different then what it was many years ago. There were actually metal cables which were driven through the stucco covered walls and spanned the interior of the steeple tower to stabilize it. Parts of the stairwell seemed like a tunnel through bricks. At several points during the climb you actually had to bend over to prevent from hitting your head. It was not an activity for the claustrophobic, which luckily none of us were. I'll continue on with the Munich sites in another post.

Germany Part II: Day 5 Nürnberg (part 3)

Above are an assortment of shots taken around Kaiserburg. The first photo is a portion of a building called the Rathaus. The building was large, and on the narrow streets it was difficult to get the whole building in the frame. Of the pictures I've been able to find on the web, all are taken at an angle from down the street. (See link) This building was the city meeting hall and apparently at one time was the largest secular building north of the Alps. I can believe it!

After a lot of walking around through the rolling cobblestone streets of central Nürnberg, Jens and Marija suggested that we eat at "das Bratwursthäusle" which is described as one of, if not the most famous restaurant in Nürnberg. This review is very informative: Bratwursthäusle IgoUgo. Kate and I split an order of Nürnberg sausage which taste very similar to our breakfast sausage. We had some sauerkraut and potato salad (we ordered potato salad, but I believe Jens & Marija let us try some of the kraut). The potato salad was very different, even different compared to what I've seen called "German Potato Salad" here in the United States. It resembled potatoes "Au Gratin" (at least in appearance) more than what we are used to, although I suspect there was some vinegar in it. Jens and Marija also ordered some White Asparagus, or Spargel. It is a seasonal delicacy in this part of Germany, to which it is native. The Bratwurshausle prepared it in a light pickled fashion, essentially it was soaked, probably for a short period of time in a mild vinegar. It was very tasty. A table full of American tourists next to us decided to follow suit and try it, although they didn't seem as impressed as we did (our plate was clean). Kate and I also had a bretzel. I unwittingly committed sacrilege by dipping mine in mustard (It's frowned upon in Germany much like putting ketchup on a hot dog is here). It is strange because I never put mustard on American pretzels, where it is common.... but then I decide to try it in a foreign country where no one eats them in this manner. Go figure. It wasn't bad.

When we had cleaned our plates, vegetables and on we continued on our way. The picture to the left is the
Heilig-Geist-Spital. Translation:
The Hospital of the Holy Spirit. It was built in 1332–39 by Konrad Gross, a wealthy patrician, for the care for the elderly and needy. (Sort of a precursor to Carnegie, Rockefeller, or the more contemporary Harold Alfond) It was the largest private endowment in the Holy Roman Empire up to 1500. Great place for a hospital by the way.... on top of a river... imagine the infection, mildew, mold, bacteria etc that ran through that place. If nothing else, it was a pretty place to potentially die.

We had some ice cream and walked around Nürnberg's town center some more, observing some Gingerbread shops (Nürnberg is famous for its gingerbread), part of the main shopping district, a modern art museum from the outside, and some additional portions of the old city wall and moat. This portion of the moat had bicycle paths inside it.

We headed back to Jens and Marija's apartment before heading to our final Nürnberg sight to visit, the Nazi rally grounds.

The rally grounds effected me in a manner I didn't expect. As we stood on the ruins of a still visibly impressive complex it was surreal. The very podium from which Hitler addressed the masses, still remains, although it is falling apart. It gave me goose bumps to be there, and really see first hand something that has always just lived on in picture books and passed on accounts for most Americans alive today. On a positive note it made me feel good to see how prosperous Germany is today. It sends a powerful message to learn from the past, but also that even the darkest of times can turn around, and one should always remain hopeful that things can change for the best.

Neither Kate or myself took pictures of the rally grounds. While impressive, it just wasn't something I wanted in my collection of photos. The following Wikipedia link has some information regarding the rally grounds, some photos, and an animated gif of a giant swastika being demolished by the allied troops. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_party_rally_grounds

Many interesting old photos and drawings of the grounds: http://www.thirdreichruins.com/nuernberg2.htm

Jens supplied a lot of history for us while we were there. During the American occupation, the allies turned the rally grounds into a base for operations. A large road was used as a landing strip for planes, and troops used a portion of the rally grounds called Zeppelin field as a place to play American football.

Hitler viewed Nürnberg as a prized city and wanted the center of the Nazi operations to be seated there. A large "Congress" building was built, but was never completed. It looks like, and was based on the Colosseum in Rome. Jens mentioned the the German government had wanted to destroy the building but the costs for doing so are so astronomical, that it made more sense to let it just deteriorate over time. There is a museum that offers some sort of tour at the building, but we decided against seeing it.

The grounds around all of these ruins have been transformed into a nice park. There were many people out biking and exercising near by. One of my favorite sights that Jens pointed out was on the way out of the grounds, Jens pointed out a building constructed by the Nazis that now has a Burger King in it. I like to think if Hitler's soul is still floating around down here that perhaps it tortured by the sight of Turkish immigrant children playing on some plastic hamburger inside what used to be part of his prized complex.

That night Jens and Marija prepared us my favorite meal in Germany. Some barbecue chicken & pork, a great salad, tomato slices with fresh mozzarella, basil, and balsamic vinegar, some nice rolls, and of course Bier! I took a picture of the bottle I had with the meal. For desert we had some ice cream, and Jens picked up these pastries called "Super Dickmanns". I was very amused by the name of course. They are Marija's weakness, and I believe she had more than one, plus one for breakfast the next morning. They are pretty much giant marshmallows covered in chocolate with a wafer cookie on the bottom. I must admit, they were pretty good.

Germany Part II: Day 5 Nürnberg (part 2)

This first picture is of Frauenkirche, or "Our Lady's Church". If you notice just beneath the clock on the church, you may see what appears to be some figurines. For a closer look, please click on the link above. These figures are mechanical. When the clock strikes noon there is a show. Jens made a point of directing us to the square in front of the church so we could watch the spectacle. A small crowd had gathered. The mechanism, which resembles a very elaborate cuckoo clock has a king sitting in a throne who is announced by trumpeters. After the trumpets are sounded a parade of figurines circles by the King on his throne, and they are supposed to be bowing in reverence. It was a pretty neat thing to see. Especially impressive when you compare it to clock towers in the U.S. which are nearly all broken.

Jens explained that the spire in the photo below was




























originally intended to sit atop Frauenkirche. It is called Schöner Brunnen (Beautiful Fountain). It is located in the Hauptmarkt immediately in front of the Frauenkirche. It was constructed in the late 1300s. The base has an elaborate cast iron fence around it. There is a ring that tourists (me) turn three times and they are supposed to be granted a wish. An older American gentleman and his wife were in line in front of me to perform the ceremonial ring turn. They enjoyed Jens discussing the history behind the fountain. I suspect the man was a WWII veteran on vacation. Hopefully when I'm in my 80s I'll still be out going on nice vacations.

I've also put up a dopey shot of me making my wish... eyes closed I think? Jens and Marija sent me this photo along with the last one that appears on the page. Something nice to remember me by. ;)

The photo below shows an attractive set of buildings near St. Sebaldus Church. (Interior shots in previous blog entry)

The next photo down looks up the hill from the city center towards the Imperial Castle (The Kaiserburg). We were headed to walk around the castle grounds next. The pictures of the street really don't do it justice. It was very steep, which added to the medieval charm of the city.
The castle was a really nice piece of history to see. Construction of the castle was begun by Henry III (1017-56) and around it Nürnberg formed over many years. Kaiserburg, Jens explained was a favorite amongst Emperors, however in more contemporary times the facilities did not meet Royalty's need for luxury, as they favored newer palaces elsewhere.

Like much of Nürnberg the castle went through various stages of neglect and rebirth. The most recent damages of course being incurred in WWII. Several pieces of the castle were apparently left intact while much was destroyed.

The picture to the left was taken atop the citadel of the castle.

The next photo looks out over the city of Nürnberg. The large church closest in view is St. Lorenz, and the one further in the distance is St. Sebaldus. The next photo is a shot of (left to right) Marija, Jens, and Kate peering out over the castle wall. The stone building below is within the castle grounds and is actually the cover to the castle well. Notice the red and white shutters. Red & White are the traditional colors of Nürnberg. Today Nürnberg is considered part of Bavaria which is represented with a blue & white flag. Despite this Nürnberg still considers its roots and heritage separate from Bavaria, and Bavarian colors are not flown. (Nürnberg apparently became part of a land deal that occurred behind closed doors upon the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire).

The tower shown below is a chapel tower within Kaiserburg. It is said to date to 1200 but has gone through various modifications over the years including the addition of the top portion made of brick. Even this however is said to date back to at least 1566 when a famous illustration displayed it as such.

I took the next photo, not because it is picturesque, but because it is the castle moat. While there aren't any cool swamp creatures down there, they were setting up a beer festival. A few hundred years ago people may have died trying to enter the fortress via the moat, now they just go down there to get drunk.

The crest pictured is the coat of arms of the city of Nürnberg. It is sort of a combination of two symbols, the colors red & white which may have been painted on the right side at one time, and half of what is usually an "Imperial double eagle".


Not really pictured here (They are seen at the end of the street on the hill in picture five- the large building with a rust colored roof and multiple dormers) are the Imperial city buildings (stables) which are part of the castle. Jens told us that there is actually a youth hostel inside the castle that people can stay at. I would definitely consider roughing it if the hostel was in something outlandish like a castle!

The last photo is Kate and I on top of the castle with the city scape behind us.

Jens gave me a nice souvenir from the Kaiserburg which is a photo-book detailing the history behind the castle. I used it to supplement information to this post. Hopefully I didn't mangle any of the details!

Check in for the Nürnberg conclusion tomorrow!