Sep 11, 2013

Travelling Cat...

As an awful lot of you will know, I’m just back from two weeks in Europe. Europe fascinates me and the trip was amazing. We had five days in London, five days in Munich and then back to London for four days. When we passed the security checks and were asked, “Are you here for business or pleasure?” the DH always answered, “I’m here for business and she’s here for pleasure” with the obligatory eye roll. Mind you it always raised a laugh and we were let through without further ado and that’s the main point.

Anyway, I’m very good at *doing* pleasure. ;-)

Unfortunately, if I tried to share all of my trip with you we’d be here until the middle of next week, so I thought I’d just share just a little bit of it—Munich, a place I’d never visited before.

Day One: The DH had to go to a conference so I sallied forth on my own with my tiny smattering of German, a map (what on earth? I can’t read maps) and the camera. And this is what I found – beautiful buildings. I mean, really beautiful buildings. We don’t have this kind of thing in Australia and it always takes my breath away.

This is the Residenz, which is the former royal palace of the Bavarian monarchs. It's HUGE with multiple buildings and over ten courtyards. And have I mentioned beautiful?






And then I walked around the corner and saw this…



and this...


...at which point I said out loud, “You have to be joking me?”

And then I walked for a long time. It rained on and off so I ducked into a café and ordered a coffee…in German! And then I set off again. I was looking for the English Gardens—one of the world’s largest urban parks. Of course, as I can’t read maps, I was walking several streets parallel to it. Because I can’t read maps the fact I managed to wend my way to the park is in fact a miracle. And I’m very grateful to that miracle. Look see:




Have you ever seen a more beautiful, beckoning path in the world?

Okay, at this point I’d been walking for three hours. I needed to find the public amenities. These gardens are big but Yay! Public Amenities found. Oh dear, they’re not sign posted with Frau or Mann but something I don’t recognise at all. Where are the pictures of the little man and the little woman?! # Umm, 50/50 chance of getting this right, right? Guess which one I picked? I slunk off with a very red face and no doubt with stupid tourist written all over me. Oops.

Walked off the shame remarkably quickly to stumble onto (not into) the River Isar. Oh dear lord, how much beauty does one city need?



Let me just mention that the bridges are amazing—they always have the most amazing vistas/monuments/buildings. I’m hoping not too much detail has been lost in shrinking the photos down.




Because I can’t read a map—and therefore got lost—I was 40 mins late meeting the DH who was wondering if he should send out a search party for me. After over 5 hours of walking, though, I needed a rest. And so did he. So we rested before heading out for dinner…to a beer hall!



If one is what they eat then if I lived in Munich I would evolve into something halfway between a pig (pig knuckle and potato dumpling, roast pig with bread dumpling, pulled pork or bratwurst, anyone?) and a brewery. You don’t need to know how much beer I drank. I will tell you, though, that the Germans do a very nice brew. :-)

Oh dear, this blog has gone for much longer than it should. I haven’t shown you the monuments Day Four revealed—Schloss Nymphemburg (OMG!) and Allianz Arena (stadium of the mighty FC Bayern Munich). I haven’t shared the Gothic splendour of the New Town Hall or it’s amazing glockenspiel or the medieval town gate that was outside our hotel window. Oh, and there was my afternoon at the Alps! Hmm…should I perhaps blog about these things next month? What do you think?

Have you been anywhere new recently?

20 comments:

  1. Michelle

    Love those photos wow must have been an awesome trip I have never been out of the country on a plane I have been on a couple of cruises and seen some lovely sights maybe one day I will get to Europe fingers crossed and yes I would love to see more pictures and read more about your trip. I have to say I would never been able to go walking like that on my own LIL because like you I am not very good with maps either and I know I would probably never made my way back you will have somehing to talk about for a long time and I am sure there would have been some ideas for a book

    Have Fun
    Helen

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    1. Helen, glad I'm not the only one who doesn't have an affinity for maps! The DH knowing my poor map reading skills gave me a business card of our hotel so that if I did get lost I could grab a taxi, show them the address on the card and, hence, eventually get home. Towards the end there, I was wondering if I wouldn't need to use it. :-)

      I've never been on a cruise--I always worry about seasickness. It sounds as if you had fun, though! Might have to put it on the bucket list.

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  2. Michelle, thanks so much for sharing your Munich photos. I vote for more in the weeks to come please. I love the pleasure of living other people's trips from the comfort of my home.

    Loved the pic of you in the beer hall. Aren't the ones in Munich amazing? Sounds like a wonderful day. For some reason leaving the day to serendipity as much as possible when you're on your own in a new place, always seems to produce great results! I be your day was more fun that dh's conference.

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    1. Annie, my day was definitely more fun than the DH's conference...even if I did do *many* more kilometres than I intended to. I told myself one sees so much more on foot. ;-) Mind you, the beer hall did cheer him up. And as you can see from the photo, I have a bit of a happy glow happening there. :-)

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  3. Hm, that was meant to read 'I bet your day' not 'I be'. Too early for me.

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  4. Michelle ~ I haven't been anywhere new recently but I have been to Munich. My husband attended a convention there in January back in the 1980's. The best thing we did was visit the Alte Pinakothek at 11 o'clock one night. My brother is an artist so we knew what we wanted to see ahead of time but nothing could have prepared us for the sheer size of some of the paintings. Favorite one ~ the self portrait of Alfred Durer. After spending 2 hours there, it closed at 1 o'clock in the morning, we walked till we found the train to take us back to our hotel.

    I could not believe the size of the beer steins and how anyone could manage to carry one never mind the ten we saw waitresses carrying. They had really strong arms and hands as I could barely lift my mug to drink.

    My husband asked for a glass of milk one lunch time and the waiter said silly boy milk is for babies so he ended up with a beer.

    We had a lovely time and I'm glad you did also. I hope you got to hear the glockenspiel.

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    1. Oh, Kaelee, I'd return to Munich in a heartbeat. I didn't make it to any of the art galleries, which makes me sad as I would've loved to. You evening at the Alte Pinakothek sounds absolutely amazing! Therefore, it's obvious that I must return to Munich at some date in the future. ;-)

      Dear lord, the size of the beer steins blew me away! When we went to the Hofbrauhaus the DH asked me if I wanted a litre of beer. What!?# He'd have had to carry me home. We went for the half litre instead. And, yes, those barmaids must have some strength in their arms. I bet they know how to handle themselves. ;-)

      P.S. Yes, got to hear the glockenspiel...and have one very good picture of it that I will probably share next month. ;-)

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  5. More photos, more photos! :)

    I love the look of those old buildings - and now I've added Munich to the bucket list.

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    1. LOL, Rach! Okay, more photos next month. :-)

      If you do get to visit Munich the beautiful buildings will hold you spellbound. Oh, and there were lots of dogs there too -- another factor in its favour. ;-)

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  6. Stunning, amazing buildings. My grandies' nanny was from Germany and I loved the bits she showed us of her country. Please post more!

    Have never been anywhere near there but on Sunday I fly to Samoa which will do fabulous things for my desperate need for R&R - and just because! Especially as I'm recovering from an injury and my doctor has recommended much relaxation on the beach with a book as 'essential' to my recuperation.(Ahem!) I like the way he prescribes! :-)

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    1. Oh, Clare, I have enough pictures to post until Christmas (and I may just do that!) ;-). If you love beautiful buildings then just wait till next month for Schloss Nymphenburg. Happy sigh.

      Oh, Samoa will be fabulous fun! I hope you get the most divine weather (btw, I like the way your doctor thinks!).

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  7. Hmm, I do seem to remember a deadly night in a Munich beer hall in my youth!! I vote for more holiday snaps and more exciting holiday adventures in your next post...please!

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    1. LOL, Jen. The fact that you can still remember it is probably a good sign. I'm kinda glad I didn't discover beer halls in my youth -- the pictures in my head aren't pretty. ;-)

      Okay, shall regale you all with more of my adventures and pictures next month...and maybe even the month after, LOL.

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    1. Susan, it was a whole host of fun going through them to decide which ones to post. :-)

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  9. Michelle, your pictures are lovely- I've only ever been to Munich airport and then swiftly off to Austria, so I missed it all, but would love to visit. It looks beautiful. My husband, however, has been to the beer festival and tells good tales of those very large glasses and the amber liquid therein!

    Please post more photos!

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  10. Louisa, I don't doubt for a moment that Austria was splendid and wonderful too, but I do think your DH should take you to a Munich beer hall so you can sample the delights yourself. ;-)

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  11. Fabulous pics, Michelle! What architecture!

    I did laugh at your map adventures! Five hours late! Gosh, your poor dh must have been beside himself!

    And your public toilet adventure! You must have been beside yourself! I can just imagine your embarrassment!

    Putting Munich on my bucket list! Thanks for the armchair trip!

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    1. Well, Sharon, the architecture did make up for me getting so lost.

      The toilet adventure, however, still makes me cringe. I wanted to run away, but I needed to go so bad I had to shamefacedly walk around the building to the other door. Ack! Still, not a soul there knew me...there is comfort in that. ;-)

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