Our Monday in Munich was going to be our "walking day", as the Missus had a broad outline worked out. We headed out from our apartment and a few blocks away got to the Missus's starting point, a large square officially known as Karlsplatz, but which most folks in Munich call "Stachus".
Right past the square as you head toward the city center, you pass through Karlstor. While the city walls of Munich were torn down near the end of the 18th Century; three of the gates remain.
This gate is one of the entrances to Munich's "Pedestrian Zone". It is obviously one of the main shopping streets as well.
We were surprised at all the "little surprises" we found on our way to our breakfast stop. It was fun and there was a lot to catch our attention and I'm sure we missed quite a bit as well.
I thought the fountain to the right was quite interesting. It's named Brunnenburbel – "Fountain Boy". It was quite interesting; apparently the fountain depicts a Satyr spitting water on a boy. The story goes that the boy was trying to stop the Styr from peeing, so the Satyr grabbed the boy and started spitting on him. I mentioned this to someone and was told; "it is very German….you see, in Belgium, they celebrate a boy peeing (Mannekin Pis)…here, even the little boys know it's wrong, and try to stop it, even at a cost". I dunno know about that, but it's very quaint, no?
During our walk down Neuhauser Strasse we saw a few things that reminded us of places we had been to before.
The first was at this place.
This is the German Hunting and Fishing Museum. And no it wasn't the giant Wels catfish outside; but rather this fellow, do you recognize him from a previous post?
Yes, it's a copy of Il Porcellino…..you recall that in Florence, I managed to "feed Mr Piggy"…..so, according to legend, I'm supposed to return to Florence one day!
And just a bit further down we came across this fellow!
Shades of Salzburg. We had just come from Salzburg, where you couldn't help but run into Stephan Balkenhol's "Sphaera". And here, leading to a shopping lane named Kaufingertor Passage was this sculpture. I had a bit of a time trying to find out the name of this one. After a bit of work; I found that the name of this piece was simply “Man with outstretched arms and white shirt”. Go figure.
And of course all roads….or make that pedestrian streets leads to Marienplatz.
Even on a Monday at right before 9 am, the place was fairly busy.
On our way back, later in the day, we'd actually get a chance to see the Glockespiel on the New Town Hall go off. It's quite entertaining.
It might be obvious to you; but Marienplaz literally means "Mary's Square". The column that stands near the middle of the square is named Mariensäule "Mary's Column", a Marian column that dates back to 1638 and was created to celebrate Bavaria's victory over Swedish Troops during the Thirty Years War. At the top of the column a golden statue of the Virgin Mary stands on a gold crescent moon, befitting her title of "Queen of Heaven".
In case you were wondering what happened to the Old Town Hall; well, it's right there at the end of the square.
In retrospect, the Missus and I were quite surprised at all the church's in Munich, we ended up visiting quite a few. Our last stop before "breakfast" was St Peter's Church.
St Peter's Church is said to be the oldest Catholic Church in Munich. It is also noted that as far back as the 8th Century monks lived around a little church on this hill. This church dates back to the 12th Century.
I found of this interesting and I really enjoyed the ceiling Frescoes.
But there was one main reason I wanted to visit. In one of the side Altars of the church you'll find a coffin of glass. The skeleton in that coffin is covered with a bejeweled body stocking….gold and jewels abound. The skeleton's eyes are glass.
This is the skeleton of Saint Munditia who is the Patron Saint of….wait for it…..Spinsters! Her remains have been interred in the church since 1675.
Well, after that visit…..it was time to grab a rather late breakfast.
We had enjoyed our short visit to the Viktualienmarkt on the day we arrived in Munich, so I really wanted to check the place out again and I also wanted the Missus to try some Weisswurst and it had to be eaten at the right time…..according to tradition Weisswurst should never be eaten after the bell chimes for noon. Traditionally, Weisswurst were made without preservatives fresh each morning, so they needed to be consumed before midday.
The Viktualienmarkt Beer Garden doesn't open until 10am, which is why we spent the morning wandering around a bit. After arriving we went and checked out some shops and produce stands.
Thing were fairly laid back and quite relaxed when we arrived.
And after exploring for a bit; we headed off to the Beer Garden.
And ordered the Missus Her Weisswurst. No beer for us; 10am is too early for "beer o'clock"….at least for us….even in Munich.
I instructed the Missus to peel off the casing before eating. I'd read that Weisswurst is white because no nitrites. which preserve color are used in making this pork, veal, and fatback, sausage. The Missus loved it! This was fairly mild in flavor, not salty, you could make out a bit of porkiness, some almost citrus tones….it was quite good. The Missus is now sold on Weisswurst…….She even prefers it without mustard. She also enjoyed the Sauekraut as well. This as enough for both the Missus and I for a pseudo brunch.
As we were leaving the Viktualienmarkt area I passed the little shop above. I saw the sign…..displayed to the right and something caught my eye. Leberkässemmel….for 2 Euroes! Leberkäse is a Bavarian and Austrian specialty that folks compare to bologna. This was a nice slice of meat product tucked into a roll (semmel), with mustard to cut the porkiness and salt. I really enjoyed this.
You know, the flavor is very familiar. As we were walking up the street, I told the Missus, "you know this really tastes like…." when a tall gentleman turned around and in a very kindly voice said, "sir…please no not say Spam….please……" Okay, then……..let's just say it was delicious, how's that? (pssst, it does kinda taste like you know what…….)
We were having a lot of fun in Munich and our day wasn't even half done!
Thanks for stopping by!
Sadly, I did get confirmation that they're last day will be on Sunday, August 16th. They had a sheet at the take-out table where you could list your name and email for updates.
