Munich

We finally arrived in Munich, where Donna was born, and had the most AWFUL and most WONDERFUL time! The Airbnb that we took (after being cancelled by another one) was just THE WORST! Inaccurate description, old polyester (!) sheets with holes in them, not very clean. THE PITS! So we left after one night and know that we will never see that $$$ again! But we found a very clean, very quiet, very nicely appointed (cotton sheets) hotel downtown by the train station and were WAY happier.

While we were in Gothenburg, picking up our car, we met another couple picking up their car, Klaus & Petra Schweinberg, from Munich.  Petra invited us to call when we were in Munich, so we did. Wednesday afternoon they picked us up (in their new Volvo) and took us out to Nymphenburg Castle for a tour. They invited LuLu and took her while Sam and I toured the Castle. Schloß Nymphenberg was built as a summer residence to honor the birth of the long-awaited heir to the throne, Max Emanuel, who was born in 1662. After the addition of the wings, annexes were constructed as residences for court officials and the royal household. It has been remodeled, expanded, redecorated and adorned with some of the most fabulous art of the period. There is not really one empty wall or ceiling! Oy! So much gilt! Sunglasses, to combat the glare would not be out of line!

When we came out of the palace, their  daughter’s boyfriend, Stuart,  joined us for coffee and cake on the grounds. He is an American working over here as a film maker for Bavarian Broadcasting. He’s from Austin and AMAZINGLY he knows who Benjamin is! He met Ben briefly at South by Southwest a few years ago and listens to his podcasts!  Imagine, if you can, the shock after telling him that our son was a filmmaker also, but now does podcasts as well, and he said “Is your son Ben Harrison?” Donna about fell over! Theirs was a random meeting and didn’t last long and Ben doesn’t remember him, but Jimminy! What a coincidence! He is a delightful young man!

After our brief tour of the castle, and coffee and cake in the garden café, Klaus & Petra suggested that we visit a German biergarten. This was AMAZING! And something that Donna had never done in over 8 years of living in Germany! Klaus & Petra’s daughter Julia, a lovely and self-possessed young woman, joined us there. 

So, just imagine a huge outdoor area filled with hundreds of picnic tables and probably 800+ folks! There is a cabinet FILLED with glass beer steins of different sizes and you pick a stein and get in line to get it filled with the beer of your choice. There are wine and non-alcoholic beverages also – thank goodness! And there is FOOD! Spit roasted chicken, fish on a skewer, spare ribs, potatoes, pretzels, salads. We had a drink and shared a HUGE pretzel with obatzda a Bavarian cheese dip – very tasty! Then we got a couple of chickens and a schweinhaxe (pork shank) with the MOST delicious crispy skin – and some salad and potatoes of course. It was Sehr Gemülicheit for sure! So much fun! Petra speaks about the same level of English as Donna’s German, so they end up speaking a mixture of German and English together! Klaus is a banker who works in Switzerland a couple of days a week, so his English is quite good. And Julia, their daughter also speaks excellent English. She is an editor at Bavarian Broadcasting which is how she met Stuart. In an interaction between Julia and Stuart, we learned that she backs up her competence in the editing room with backbone. We just feel so fortunate to have met Klaus & Petra. The biergarten was an experience that we probably would not have had without them! They are a delightful and interesting couple and we hope to see them again. And, of course, the have great taste in automobile makers!

1. The stein trolley coming by! 2. Donna and Stuart. 3. Julia, Petra & Klaus. 4. Sam & LuLu get in on the action, barely. So Much Fun!

The following day we decided to take the Hop on – Hop Off tour of the city. And LuLu was allowed to come with us! What must be said at the outset here is that if you do not hop off the bus, your pictures will be TERRIBLE! And that what happened to us. We did hop off at Marien Platz, the site of the Rathaus, which is amazing! The square itself is full of tourist attractions – souvenir shops, ice cream stands, pretzel sellers etc. But the main attraction is this eye-popping, jaw-dropping building!

The Neues Rathaus was built from 1867 to 1908 out of a need for more civic offices. Its elaborate neo-Gothic façade rises over a grand arcade at street level.There are statues galore on the upper storeys – paupers, gargoyles and dragons hustle for attention with kings, dukes, and princes.  Turrets line the gables and a grand clock tower, adorned with a world famous glockenspiel, soars above it all. The glockenspiel chimes every day at 11am and 12pm (and at 5pm from March to October).  The Carillon re-enacts scenes from Munich’s history as more than 40 bells chime away. There are two levels to it – the top one shows the 1568 wedding of Duke Wilhelm V and Renata von Lorraine. It features a French jouster fighting a Bavarian one. On the bottom level the “Schäfflertanz” is played out, that’s a jig traditionally performed by Munich’s red-coated coopers (barrel makers). The tower is nearly 280 feet tall with a small statue of the symbol of Munich on top – the Münchner Kindl – a small child dressed in a monk’s robe.

The bus tour itself was just lovely and hit all the high spots in Munich. But, as you might have surmised by now, we are a little weary of sightseeing and eager get to St. Rémy and settle down for a bit. We have one more stop before we get there – Bern, Switzerland. So that will be our next very small adventure!

Sending our love to you all,

Sam, Donna & LuLu

August 30, 2019