impressions of munich

I have enjoyed a wonderful weekend in the beautiful city of Munich, which was not at all as I expected and was an absolutely lovely city to visit... gorgeous buildings, elegant squares, delicious food, trams, trains and an underground, museums, galleries, lots and lots of parks, trees and green spaces, refreshing beer, friendly people and terrific warm weather!

I went to meet my old friend Sarie who teaches there... we had a lovely mix of whizzing around seeing interesting places and experiencing the city, and lazing around in her lovely modern apartment near the Englische Garten, drinking wine and tea and catching up with each other's lives.

Mistletoe grew everywhere in the tall birch trees, giving a wintry feel.

All the shops were getting ready for Christmas and there was masses of greenery everywhere.

The Germans love flowers and sell them on every corner.

We bought fresh dates to eat on the tram, and clementines in a little cone of paper.

Munich is a devoutly Catholic city and there are many many madonnas and little saints statues embedded into the walls of buildings and apartments, or high up above the street.



On Sunday all the museums and galleries reduce their entry fee to one euro. We chose to visit the Pinakothek der Moderne, where we visited their exhibition on the history of design as well as getting to see some amazing modern masterpieces including works by the Blaue Reiter group.

Here we are having a well-earned rest on the space-age modern rocking chairs in the design exhibition.

I can't recommend Munich highly enough as a place to visit... next time I have been promised a trip to the mountains which are only an hour or so away. I was hugely impressed by the German way of life, their sense of design and style, civic pride and forward-thinking approach to the environment... and of course their delicious wurst and weissbier...