Ein Wochenende im Bayern

If you couldn't tell from the title, I spent this past weekend in Germany--Bavaria to be exact. My friend Debbie, a fellow wedgie currently serving overseas, and I decided to meet up in Germany for the weekend since we haven't seen each other in a year.

I flew into Munich on Friday after catching a flight from Aberdeen at the ungodly hour of 6:15 am. Yuck! After getting settled at the hotel, we set out for the Marienplatz, the main square in Munich, to see the glockenspiel on the Neues Rathaus (new town hall). Every day at 5:00 pm the chimes play and the glockenspiel comes to life - the dancers twirl, the knights fight, and the other figures come into view as the round turntable momentarily spins them into the daylight. Apparently the two levels are celebrating two different events in the history of Munich. Don't know so much about the history, but it wasn't necessary to enjoy the show. Unfortunately the entire main tower of the Rathaus was in scaffolding, with the exception of the glockenspiel, so we didn't get quite the full effect, but it was cool anyway.

For dinner Friday night we became the typical tourists and headed over to the Hofbräuhaus, a famous beer hall in the center of Munich. The atmosphere was so fun - we sat at long tressle-style tables, watched as the waitresses carried out the HUGE beer steins, listened to the oompah band playing, and enjoying delicious pork Wiener schnitzel and apple strudel. YUM! (By the way, a disclaimer before you see the last pictures in this set - that was a Coke I was finishing off, not a beer!)
On Saturday we took a bus tour into southern Bavaria to see a couple of incredible castles. I'll make that day a separate post because it was so cool!

On Sunday I headed out early to explore some of the sights, especially the churches, while Debbie slept in. I had a blast wandering the streets of Munich, going into the old Catholic churches and hearing the mass in German while gazing in awe at the ornate interiors of the buildings. Of course, since services were going on in three of the churches, I couldn't explore much inside, much less take photos, but it was cool to see them nonetheless. And even from the back, they were so elaborately decorated. I also spent some time in the Hofgarten across from probably my favorite of the churches, the Theaterinkirche. The weather was absolutely gorgeous - brilliant blue sky, warm (sometimes hot) sun, nice breeze - and with the bright greenery and flowers in the park, I got some great photos (if I do say so myself). After meeting Debbie for lunch, we headed to the Olympic area of Munich and went up in the Olympiaturn, this incredibly tall tower where we had amazing views of the city. Thankfully there was an elevator at the tower - it took us up nearly 300 meters in no time flat! In contrast, later that afternoon we climbed the 306 steps to the top of Alter Peter, the tower of St. Peterskirche in the center of Munich. The views from the top were just as incredible as on the Olympiaturn, but we sure worked hard for this one! We also went inside St. Peterskirche and enjoyed the elaborate interior.Finally, to cap the day off, we took a walk along the Isar River, and then I went back down to the Marienplatz that evening for some more photography. Then I hit the sack to get some sleep before another ungodly flight - this time leaving Munich at 6:45. I am not a fan of early morning travel! But overall it was a lot of fun. It was my first time back to Germany since we moved when I was four, so I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all of the bright colors everywhere (a major contrast with Aberdeen's incessant grey), getting to go to the Alps, hearing everyone speaking German and trying to understand as much as possible, filling up on Wienar schnitzel, and exploring. It was also great fun to see Debbie again and to catch up with her on life - so much has happened in the last year for both of us, and I've missed my friend since she went overseas last year.