Munich
Sunday 17th December
5.30 p.m.
We arrived in Munich after an uneventful flight.
This morning in Vienna we thoroughly enjoyed the Vienna Boys' Choir singing a Fux mass. We are looking at maps of Munich before deciding what area to explore for supper. And it's snowing!8.20 p.m.
We had a lovely meal at Gästatte Grunnenhof, a typically München eating house, where we had wurst and sauerkraut with weiswein.
18th December
8.30 a.m.
It snowed all night and everything is white this morning! We are going to Dachau today. The temperature has been getting steadily lower: in Vienna it was 5 to 10oC and in Munich so far it's been 2 to 3oC!
View from our room in Kraft Hotel, Munich, after it had snowed all night.
3.00 p.m.
We had a very cold trip to Dachau, with the temperature going down to -1oC. The snow was very pretty and made the concentration camp look stark. The exhibits were horrifying. Many of the photographs of Hitler had been disfigured, presumably before notices went up asking visitors not to deface the exhibits. It was a harrowing experience in so many ways and we had a long wait for the return bus in ice-cold wind.
Car park at Dachau.
Fence and watchtower at Dachau.
Poplar trees planted by prisoners at Dachau.
The barracks.
Memorial to those who died.
7.00 p.m.
We pent what was left of the afternoon walking to the Frauenkirche. It was bitterly cold, with icicles hanging from shop signs and underneath cars. Munich is like Vienna in that it also has a Christmas market in front of the Rathaus. We looked over the Fauenkirche which is mainly modern, having been badly bombed in 1944 and again in 1945. We came back frozen and were very glad of a cup of coffee. Thank goodness for our little immersion heater! Ray has very bravely gone out again to see what he can find out about going to somewhere like Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Unfortunately tours go only on Wednesdays and at weekends in the winter.
Sendlingertor in the city walls of Munich.
Frauenkirche towers.
Weinachts Markt, outside Munich Rathaus.
19th December
6.00 p.m.
Our outing to Garmisch-Partenkirchen was very pleasant, particularly the train trip with beautiful scenery and snow everywhere. We caught a glimpse of the Olympic ski slope in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and also the ice rink. We had tea at the very nice Dallmayr Café which was rather expensive, but we did have Garmisch Rock Cake (almonds, chocolate, marzipan etc.). When we got back I visited the Deutchse Museum and saw about one-tenth of it, principally the sections on astronomy, navigation, minerals, hydrological engineering and electricity. The exhibits were first class! The temperatures at Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Munich today were around -4oC, but, undeterred, Ann went hunting for the S.A.A. office to confirm our onward flights and also our hotel in Zurich.
Above and the next three photographs, Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Note the murals on some of the buildings.
We've just realised that you probably don't know that our hotel in Zurich has been pulled down! Our travel agent phoned us the day before we left and said she would try to get us alternative accommodation and would telex S.A.A. somewhere with the new address. There were no messages in Rome or Vienna, hence today's jaunt. I got the S.A.A. address from the phone book and off I went to Ottostrasse. Munich's strasse are the most ridiculous, with no order at all. Ottostrasse turned out to be circular, but only the inside of the circle was Ottostrasse, with the other side of the street being something else altogether. And after working all that out I found that S.A.A. have moved to Blumenstrasse which is miles from Ottostrasse. So off I went. The map says Blumenstrasse is gently semi-circular. The map is wrong. Blumenstrasse is practically circular, but it is at least Blumenstrasse on both sides of the street! It splits in two in places to allow for the odd church and has various roads off it also called Blumenstrasse; AND, when I had been over every inch of it, (a) I had not found S.A.A., and (b) my radar was on the blink and I couldn't find the right road home! However, I did get home eventually!
Wednesday 20th
a.m.
We had a very pleasant supper at the Gästatte Grunnenhof again and were in bed quite early. Ray has now gone off to get a photo of the Rathaus while I finish off the packing and then we'll go to the airport. We part company with the Daveys here as they go on to England while we spend four days in Zurich before going to England. It's snowing again this morning making everything look so pretty!
The Rathaus, Munich, with Frauenkirche in the background.