Good trip down from Prague and easily found
our accommodation at Apartment
Karlsplatz, which was right in the
University area. Karlsplatz is where the
old city is and the majority of museums. The apartment was nice and spacious
and the owner Andreas was really helpful with what was around. Big Christmas
markets in Karlspaltz with an environmentally friendly one including the merry go
round made of recycled items. The part that impressed us - when you got you
Punsch or Gluwein you paid a deposit on the cup or plates which was refunded
when you returned the cup, so there was very little rubbish in the area. This
was the same at the other markets we visited.
The
city centre is opera/music mad with Mozart performances everywhere and people
spruiking tickets for the shows that night. A light bit of snow with the
Christmas lights made the place like a fairyland.
Saturday
was a public holiday so most shops were shut, however we managed to visit the Albertina Museum and Gallery, which had some
great works in place including the famous “Hare” by Durer. A number of Gustav Klimt’s and Monet’s works were on
display as well.
We then
walked down to the Succession building, which had the fresco by
Klimt which had been restored.
Visited
the Belvedere, which is an impressive estate in its own right and holds the
largest collection of Klimt’s works including “The Kiss” and “Judith”.
Visited
the Rathaus Christmas market where the locals go and was great with the trees
having lanterns in them and the Rathaus (Town Hall) all lit up.
On
Sunday we discovered that no shops are open as it is the day of rest even with the
lead up to Christmas so the city was quiet.
Managed to find the Academy of Fine Arts that was tucked inside an old
university building that held a few Ruben’s and other Flemish art from the
1700’s.
Found
a great cake shop Diglas that has only been in
business since 1728. Michael tried a
caked called Scheiterhaufen, which was a bubble and
squeak made of cakes left from the day before, backed with apple and then
topped with 4 inches of meringue that was then caramelized and served with
custard in enormous serves. Tim, see if Matt or Kale could make them, as it
would be a great winter dish.
The city
was cold about 2 to -4c, but the wind kicked up making it even worse. They are
tough here though, look at this jogger running along the Danube canal. Is he mad
or just fit?
Well
in true Brother Grimm fairytale style we heard the one about Krampus who comes in December and
beats children who have been naughty and also abducts the most disobedient and
drowns them. Kate and Rachael you may wish to use this story during this month.
A good trip down on the train to Munich,
with the added spectacle of a Canadian who was picked pocketed $10,000 while
trying to organize seating for his family because he did not reserve any seats
and had to move each time a reserved seat person got on. The Austrian guard told
him to report it in Munich. The German police boarded in Salzburg and said it
should have been reported in Austria. Felt sorry for him and could under his
frustration. Lonely Planet warns of this in every country except Austria.
Staying at the Atlas
City Hotel, which is situated 800m from the central station. The room is a
bit small compared to the apartment in Vienna. Munich is beautiful with a good
dumping of snow (ankle deep) and still going. The old city looks like a
Christmas card temp between 1 to – 16c.
Joined a walking tour that was led by a
Scotsman who used to work for the National Trust as an armorer on medieval
weapons and moved to Munich 5 years ago for his German girlfriend, now
wife. It was fun listening to the history
of the city which mostly revolved around wars and beer. It seems Munich is the
beer capital of the world and it is taken very seriously. All the taxis here are
Mercedes and a beige colour for some reason.
Got to see the special clock that has a
show at 11am and 12am that is hand operated and amusing as all the Carillion
bells are out of tune. It is rated the second worst clock attraction after the
Prague Astronomical clock. I liked both of them.
like the snow?
Visited the Hofbrauhaus for a beer,
pretzel and oompah band. The place is full of history as a Royal Brewery that
was open to the public to increase royal revenue and help the king and forced
the closure of some competitors. This is also the place of the Munich putsch, which
started the NAZI party with Adolf Hitler offering free drinks and then beating
a few communists up for good measure. If only they did not let him offer those
drinks. The place has a museum of sorts hidden up the back on the top floor
where we walked in on retired Germans having a beer and dancing. There is also
a stein locker for the regulars for their stein and the spot is willed to the
next person as there are no more spaces left.
Beautiful clear day so I got Michael to
make me a snow angel. What do you think?
Today we travelled to the Neue Pinokathek to see
Van Gough’s “Sunflowers” and then out to the 1972 Olympic site. We saw the
Olympic village where the Australian athletes stayed and, more soberingly,
where the Israeli team stayed and where they were executed. A plaque has been
erected detailing the names of those who lost their lives. The village is now a
housing estate. We then walked across to
the Olympic pool (still in use), which looks very small compared to Sydney and
then walked to the hall and track and field stadium that is still in use. This
area is all surrounded by a park and is 6 km from the city centre. There is
also an area where people were snowboarding on a hill and a snow maker churning
out snow.
Well another night out to see the oompah
band and a couple of sausages and beer and then onto Berlin in the morning.
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