Note: If you've been following my Munich trip, you may want to go back to my post dated 7/22/12 and watch the video of the Glockenspiel that I've just added. It's not the best visual quality but you'll hear the delightful music clearly.
While Maike and her daughter tended to other things, I spent the day with Morad and their son. I simply love hanging out with Morad. Not only is he super cool, interesting, kind, and a great chef, but he's a walking encyclopedia. I've always admired this about him and on this day, it was especially nice as I had my own walking tour guide of Munich!
Strolling from Old Town along Residenzstraβe towards Ludwigstraβe, we approach Odeonsplatz (a square with a major U-Bahn, subway, station on the northern side of Old Town).
Residenz Museum
This is the former royal palace of the Bavarian monarchs. Today, we stroll past it. But I'll visit and share with you a little later.
 |
| Notice the faux monarchs gazing out the windows. |
 |
| No, that's not me. Just a random stranger. |
 |
| We pass the side of Residenz Museum. |
 |
| Odeonsplatz |
Odeonsplatz is full of things to do. The Feldherrenhalle, St. Kajetan, Hofgarten, cafes, shopping. One of my favorite stores is the Nymphenburg porcelain shop. My father is an antique dealer. Growing up, the family business was in antiques -- antique shops, appraisal service, and auction service. My brothers and I all began working in this business at a very early age in our childhood, and we loved it! It was very exciting to us and taught us a great deal about antiques, dealing with customers, and business. We worked extremely hard and our father paid us well. So I was quite familiar with the design and markings of both the Nymphenburg and Meissen porcelain brands and recognized them while touring a palace. That put me on a mission to find an affordable piece of Meissen porcelain (no luck on affordability) or Nymphenburg porcelain. I had shopping karma on the latter! I purchased three necklace charms ... a porcelain heart for my mother, and both a porcelain and a silver wing for me.
Feldherrenhalle
The side arch of the Feldherrenhalle (Field Marshals' Hall). Notice the architecture of the building on the left.
Viscardigasse is a small road that runs behind the Feldherrnhalle and was nicknamed
Drückebergergasse
(Dodger's Alley) during the Third Reich. Hitler added a guarded memorial along Residenzstrasse to commemorate the 16 Nazis
who died during the Beer Hall Putsch (see below), and required all who passed by must give the
Hitler salute. The only way to 'dodge' having to give the salute was by sneaking down Viscardigasse instead. An act of civic defiance which may have gone unnoticed to Hitler, but was most definitely noticed and empowering to the citizens of Munich.
 |
| Kids riding a statute on the Feldherrenhalle. |
 |
| Feldherrenhalle. |
The Feldherrnhalle is a very interesting monument. It was a honorary symbol of the Bavarian Army, and it features statutes of famous military leaders.
On the morning of November 3, 1923, a confrontation took place here between the Bavarian polic
e and an illegally organized march by Adolf Hitler's followers. The police order the march to stop but when it did not, they opened fire. Four policemen and many marchers were
killed and wounded. Hitler was arrested and sentenced to a prison term. Referred to as Beer Hall Putsch, this was one effort by the Nazis to take over the Bavarian State.
Then, on April 25, 1995, Reinhold Elstner, a veteran of World War II veteran committed an act of self-immolation here in protest of "the ongoing official
slander and demonization of the German people and German soldiers".
Moving on to something a bit more pleasant, here's a view of Theatinerkirche St. Kajetan through an arch of the Feldherrnhalle:
Theatinerkirche St. Kajetan (Theatine Church of St. Cajetan)
This is probably my favorite church of all time! I love the elegance of the all white interior. St. Kajetan was built in the late 1600's by Ferdinand Maria to his wife Henriette Adelaide of Savoy as a thank you for the birth of their much awaited heir of the Bavarian crown: Prince Max Emanuel. It is one of two burial places for the family Wittelsbach who ruled Bavaria from 1180-1918. In 1945 it was much destroyed by bombing from the war but restored to its splendor as you can see below.
Hofgarten
Hofgarten (Court Garden) is a lovely and peaceful garden just across the stra
βe from St. Kajetan and behind the Residenz.
 |
| Garden entrance is through the arch. |
(Note all of the taxis. They're all BMW and Mercedes, of course. I love that they're all a soft shade of yellow...very pretty & orderly. Although, it does make me chuckle a bit because it is so uniform and orderly!)
 |
| Guys playing Bocce in the Garden -- their steins of beer are in the shade of a tree. |
Sorry...I thought I had taken more photos of this incredibly lovely garden, but I guess not. Google Images should have something for you to view.
We were getting a bit hungry and the garden cafe only offered beer and sweets, so we decided to continue walking to the Englischer Garten (English Garden) where there is a Biergarten.
Continuing our walk up Ludwigstraβe
I was taken with the beauty and cleanliness of the streets and the architecture. All beautiful shades of yellow. A far cry from the streets of New York City. While I enjoyed the beauty, it was a bit too perfect for my taste...a bit of texture would be more interesting.
Englischer Garten
Created in 1789, this is one of the world's largest urban public parks ... larger than Central Park in NYC but smaller than Richmond Park in London. The name refers to the style of gardening; the term refers to the informal style of landscape gardening popular in the UK from the mid 18th century to the early 19th century.
But,
what-e-ver!
I was really hungry at this point. Where's that Biergarten??
Biergarten in the Englischer Garten
I loved this biergarten! The design and music playing reminded me of ... I apologize in advance for this ... Coney Island Amusement Park in Cincinnati. Don't laugh. It's a very Bavarian amusement park!
Actually, this was my first official visit to a Biergarten. I tend to be more of a wine drinker than beer. But I will say, I absolutely loved the Biergarten! The brat, sauerkraut, yellow mustard, pretzel, and beer ... yummy!! I'm actually craving Oktoberfest now.
After this long day, we opted to take the U-Bahn home.
Still to come:
- Residenz Palace
- Herrenchiemsee Palace
