Munich Midsummer

There were some great things about the four days we spent in Munich, and some not-so-great things.

Not-So-Great

• We rented an AirBnB apartment which was advertized as 'entire apartment' and classified in that category. When we arrived, a friend of the host showed us around: here is a bedroom, here is another bedroom, here is the kitchen and bathroom, and here is the room where Jose, an Argentine tenant, is currently staying. Apparently, the host thought that just because we had one less measly occupied room that it still counted as an 'entire' apartment. What is the problem with random stranger living in the apartment without locking bedroom doors anyway? Everything was booked, otherwise we would have gotten a hotel.
• The weather was terrible. Every day, in our end of August trip, we bundled up with hats, coats, scarves. It was colder than winter in Phoenix. And it rained every day except the first, when it only sprinkled a bit, and the second, when it poured like the environment decided to relocate the Baltic by way of Bavaria.
• Munich was packed. Everywhere we went almost was packed. All the time. I thought that things would calm down on the weekdays but it was just as packed as the weekends.

Great

• Every morning we started our day having breakfast at the living room table together and planned out our day. Saori and I would make egg toast or slice fruit, and mom and Larry would head out to forage for local bakeries.
• The local bakeries had this big thick croissant with a light pretzel coating outside and covered with sesame seeds. It was like a cross between a pretzel and a croissant with the best parts of both.
• Butterbretzels! Every meal.
• We took a walking tour of the old city with a strange group. The guide was an economic writer, and the only other people on the tour were an American military couple based in northern Italy. The wife was a teacher on the base, apparently, and the husband described himself as a "jazz composer bum" and he looked it. It was a strange group, but the tour was small enough that we were able to walk around inside Hofbrau Haus.
• We saw a nice variety of museums- first the medieval and folklore collection at the Bavarian National Museum, where we also stopped for coffee and cake and watched it pour rain outside, and then we went directly to the Pinakotek der Moderne, a modern art museum with very distinctive modern architecture and a fantastic collection of contemporary and early modern words. Saori was completely in love with the rooms with Max Ernst.
• The shopping was great. It is a stark reminder of what a village Stuttgart is when we go to really nice shopping districts and are able to shop at nice boutiques and magazine shops. We hit Muji of course, and wandered through Manufaktum, which is a store specializing in everything high quality, and of older design/German modern industrial design. It was like walking through a curated vintage Sears catalog, with everything from fresh baked bread, bicycles, gardening supplies, stationary and pens, clothing, etc. etc. It was the kind of place where they sold a model of bicycle from the 1940s, with a leather saddle, and matching leather saddlebags separate. Everything was leather, glass, brass, stainless steel, iron, wool, linen, and bakelite.
• From the more handcrafted side, Saori bought a beautiful carved wooden spoon, and mom bought some christmas ornaments from the Viktualien market, the big market square near the downtown. They had fresh fruit, meats, bakeries, and knickknacks.
• On the train ride over, I was browsing the Lonely Planet guide and said out loud, "You know, they have a Lederhosen emporium here..." and everyone about fell out of their seats laughing. We did end up going there, although I didn't try any on. It's still too early to buy Lederhosen, and its so expensive. Maybe for next year's Wassen (Oktoberfest).
• We had some great dinners out at brewhouses in town. Some of them were more touristy than others, but the food and beer were consistantly good. The second place we went was right below the apartment and ended up being a top pick in the guidebook- Frauenhof was small, with creaky wooden floors, stuffed boars on the wall, and delicious. The food was really good and the waitress added up our bill on a paper pad at the table (cash only). The last place we went on Tuesday before we left came with a parade of sausages (Great) and a snarky/smarmy waiter for the Americans (not so great).
• We played game night every night, munching on leftover pastries from the morning, and drinking tea until we all got tired.
• The apartment, notwithstanding the extra roommate, was great overall. Spacious, comfortable, we could cook there, and located only about fifteen minutes walk from the central market. It was a taste of living like a Municher.
• We spent one cool (but not raining!) morning at the Englischer Garten for birdwatching. Mom and Larry got a few "life-listers" and we wandered around with hot mugs of coffee to warm us up. We saw hissing geese, and while eating our sandwiches on a park bench, mom was startled by an aggressive squirrel panhandling.
• We went to the Olympic park where I finally got to the see the great Frei Otto and Gunter Behnisch designed giant glass and steel tensile canopies over the site. A really amazing place and probably a nicest stadium I've ever seen. Saori and I paid the 3 euro entry fee and walked through the stadium itself, with a long and looping walk around the perimeter which soars up and back down again.
• Lastly, we had a coffee and cake at a "funky" cafe which featured a big sewing store and used furniture for sale. The cake which I originally took for chocolate, was actually a red wine cake which tasted like gingerbread and was a pleasant surprise.


At the end, we had to go back to work, so we said our sad goodbyes in the apartment and took the metro to the train station to catch our ICE for the two hours back to Stuttgart.