Munich on a Sunday

On Sunday we decided to go to Munich, just for the day. It took us about an hour and a half to get there, thanks to good traffic - a blessing in August!

We got there just in time to see the famous Glockenspiel performance. In the Neues Rathaus, on the Marienplatz, everyday at 11am the bell tower performs, complete with chiming bells, and rotating enameled copper figures. The figures dance and perform a jousting match. Very fun to see. The light wasn't great, and I didn't have my zoom lens, so the figures are a bit hard to see...



Luna, watching the performance...


And wearing the super cute, skinny jeans that Gramma just sent for her birthday!



This is the bell tower on Michealskirche, which is the largest Renaissance church north of the alps, and its barrel vaulted ceiling is second in size only to St. Peter's in Rome.


A view of the Altes Rathaus. It was reconstructed in the 15th century after being destroyed by fire...


This is the old, eastern gate to the old town, known as the Isartor (Isar Gate). It is the only tower left from the old city walls. It was huge, and we didn't want to walk across a big, busy intersection to get pictures of it in entirety, so I did my best...


Munich is the capitol of Bavaria, and was once the seat of power to the ruling Wittelsbach family. When one of the Bavarian royals said that he was going to his castle, it could have meant any number of places - but if he said he was going home, he meant to the Residence in Munich. The Residence is a huge, sprawling complex, which was impossible to capture in a photograph, because of its size and complexity (lots of hidden interior courtyards, etc.) but the gardens were gorgeous!



And finally before we left, we made a visit to the famous (infamous?) Hofbrau Haus, which is the world's most famous beer hall. It is state owned, and has a capacity of 4,500 beer drinkers. Theirs a brass band, and 3 floors for revelry. We just ate lunch in the beer garden...


And this is a shot from the very beautiful Odeonsplatz. There was a string group and flute playing some Mozart as we walked by...



On our way back, we hit some traffic, so our navigation system took us onto some B roads to get us around it. The area around Munich is famous for its fields of hops, with which they make the famous Bavarian beer. Since we were off the highway, I stopped to get some shots... Hops grow on a vine, so they put these huge wooden poles into the ground and then string wires for the hops to grow on - and there are just field after field of them!