Munich

On Saturday we took the train into Munich. Actually, we took a bus to a train to a subway into the city center. I must confess I love public transportation. Early in the trip my dad offered to let me drive the rental car if I felt like it. I didn't feel like it. True, a car means having a lot of flexibility and freedom but it also means having to know where you are going, dealing with other drivers, traffic, gas... in a country where you can get to all but the most remote places by public transit, buy me a train ticket and I'm happy.

My first sight when heading out of the train station was the rotating, dancing figures on the Glockenspiel of the "new" Rathaus (city hall). As I have mentioned before, Germans like clocks, and this one is as fancy as they come. Twice a day it puts on a show, complete with bell music, entertaining the crowds below. Take a look:

New Rathaus Glockenspiel, Munich

Despite the cold, Munich was bustling and in the market square people were buying Easter branches and cold fish sandwiches. Some even sat outside to drink beer. I can imagine spending an entire summer afternoon in the market square - watching people, shopping, sampling beers.

Cheese stand at Viktualienmarkt, Munich

Pussy willows and other branches for sale for Easter

Viktualienmarkt, Munich

On a unusually cold day in early spring, though, we made it to three churches and a museum. The churches in Munich, and all of Bavaria that I have seen, have onion-shaped domes. They are also Catholic churches, which you don't see much in the North.

Frauenkirche Munich

My dad's favorite site of the day was the men' s room in a restaurant where we had lunch. I (obviously) didn't get to see it, but apparently there is a heart-shaped hole in the wall where you can look into the eyes of the urinal user opposite you, and a painting of a bull who stares directly at you in the act. He couldn't describe it without laughing. In a week or two, this may be my dad's favorite memory about our day in Munich.

Munich is pretty. It is not gritty and intriguing like Berlin or clustered around the harbor like Hamburg. Even though a lot of the buildings have been restored since WWII, they don't appear to have sprouted in the '60s either. Munich is a good-looking place to be. On a clear day, you can even see the Alps in the distance. I can't say I got to know Munich in one day, but I got a good look at some of it. Maybe that's the lesson we need to learn from the bull - have a good long look.