My Very First Trip to Munich, Second Visit to Germany
In the summer of 1998, I went to Munich, Germany and joined Marc a few days before his consulting job assignment wrapped up. We planned on me joining him by the time his work was on its tail end so that we could make a vacation trip out of it. He also wanted to drive around Europe at that time just like during his very first trips to this part of the world while he worked for Siemens in New Jersey.
From Germany we planned on traveling by car to Switzerland, Italy, and then Austria.
To this day, after having traveled to 70 countries the world over with Marc, I can honestly say this was my least favorite among our trips. I didn't enjoy the car ride even though I was a passenger all through out and never drove.
The autobahn may be a world phenomenon given that Germans there are allowed to drive the fastest they possibly can, I found it rather unsettling and scary, not to mention dangerous. The drive to and around Northern Italy was not much better either. Add the time we got lost along Corso Buenos Aires looking for our hotel, I vowed there and then to just take the bus or train, and even fly within the continent so as not to experience the what I experienced on this trip.
I did have a pleasant and unforgettable stay in all the places we visited.
The Hofbrauhaus
The National Theater and the Max Joseph Platz named after the king whose monument is located in the center of the square
The Palace of Justice
The façade of St. Michael's Church
In front of the Frauenkirche or the Church of Our Lady
The New Town Hall in the background
The Residenz or Royal Residence and Palace Museum
In front of Feldherrnhalle or the General's Hall in front of St. Kajetan or St. Katherine's Church
The middle statues at Felderrnhalle or the General's Hall. The two major monuments to be found here are those of Belgian born Count Johann Tilly, a hero in the Thirty Years War and Prince Karl Philipp von Wrede
A statue of King Ludwig II of Bavaria in front of the Siemens Headquarters on Ludwigstrasse
The Glockenspiel, a classic piece of 19th century Gothic elaborately decorated with statues of kings, princes, dukes, saints and allegorical characters from Munich folklore
The Rathaus's Glockenspiel and the Mariensaule or the column of the Virgin Mary erected in 1632 by Maximilian in gratitude for the town's deliverance from the Swedes during the Thirty Years War
A view of the Frauenkirche or the Church of Our Lady from the tower of St. Peter's Church
The Maypole in the Beer Garden called Viktualienmarkt or the city's central food market
The Viktualienmarkt or simply the city's central food market
A view of the English Garden
By the Glptothek Museum
The 950 foot Olympic Tower on a gray and rainy afternoon at Olympia Park
The stadium, site of the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich
In front of the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza along Leopoldstrasse, the hotel where Marc and I stayed during our stay in Munich