Picketts in Poland: Our Weekend in Munich...Day 3

On Saturday morning we ate our breakfast at the train station. It was near the starting point of our bus tour that would take us around the city of Munich.

We found tasty German breakfast treats...Mark had a spicy German sausage, and....

I enjoyed a Bavarian pretzel sandwich with a slice of turkey inside.

We also found a place that sold pastries and breads.

Mark commented..."I could eat breakfast, lunch and dinner here!"

We've all been in stores like Sam's and Costco when they give out food samples.

Well, as we were leaving the food court of the train station, a man was handing out bags of Activia yogurt. There were 10-12 two-packs of yogurt inside the bag.
I asked Mark, "What are we going to do with this?" He carried it for half the morning...returned it to our hotel...and even brought it home to Warsaw.

There was a printed paper inside the bag...all in German. It looked like they wanted us to fill out a survey. We won't be able to...but we will still be able to enjoy the Activia yogurt from Germany.

Our "Hop On-Hop Off" tour began at 10am across the street from the train station.

We traveled on the outskirts of the city first...then later saw the area close to the center of Munich.

I enjoyed the tour...except the tour guide spoke first in German and then in English with a thick German accent. It was challenging to understand...but overall we learned a lot and saw some beautiful places in Munich.

This is Nymphenburg Palace in the western part of the city, summer residence of the Bavarian royal family. Five generations of rulers were involved in building and expanding this palace.

We saw a number of partially frozen ponds...spring is slowly making a presence here in Europe. Also, the row of yellow 2-story homes above encircled the palace...there were at least a dozen of them. They were homes for the servants, gardeners, and guests.

Here is a frozen river that we passed, and that is just starting to thaw.

In 1972 the Summer Olympics were held in Munich. We passed the Olympic Park which is still actively used even though the Olympics were held 40 years ago.

The tower below may have been where the Olympic torch was lit. Today it is a TV broadcasting site, as well as a spinning restaurant...reminding us of the Space Needle in Seattle.

Below is the Olympic Village where the athletes stayed. The building on the left looks like the apartment building where Palestinian terrorists seized and murdered several Israeli athletes during the Games.

Directly across from the Olympic Park is the BMW plant, office and headquarters. BMW is the #1 employer in Munich.

We passed the Englischer Garten (English Garden) below....it is one of the largest parks in all of Europe...even bigger than Central Park in NYC.

This park is considered the "city's lungs"....walking into it is as if stepping into a forest! We would have loved to walk through it but the day was too wet and drizzly.

We saw beautiful buildings, statues and areas all around Munich.
Munich is similar to Warsaw in that nearly all of the city was destroyed during WWII. So most of the "old" buildings are only about 60 years old.

Above is the "Walking Man" statue.

Below is Siegestor Gate...a monument to peace

As we "hopped off" our tour bus to get something to eat, we noticed all of the bicycles parked in front of the train station. Bikes seem to be a popular mode of transportation here!

I'm eating standing up...very common in Europe are little tables where you eat, drink and visit standing up the entire time.

Here is Neues Rathaus (the New Town Hall) with the Glockenspiel...there are 32 life size characters in the center of the tower that come out two times per day. We hopped off our tour in order to see them come out.

It was a drizzly morning, but crowds of people still gathered and waited for the bells to chime at 12 noon, and to see the characters, dancing, jousting, and moving around...just like us.
We read that it is the largest of all clocks in Europe!

The glockenspiel is at the Marienplatz Metro stop...at the center of Munich's "old town" area.

Marienplatz means Mary's Square...it is a very lively square with a lot of people.

The gold statue on the column in front of the Glockenspiel was originally erected to celebrate the end of Swedish occupation during 30 years of war...erected originally in 1638, and then with a newer style in the late 1800s.

Below is St. Peter's Church tower...Munich's oldest church established in 1180. You can actually climb the 306 stairs to see the city view...something we've done in other cities, but we opted not to this time.

Below are a few more landmarks that we saw on the tour.

At the conclusion of the city tour we walked around the streets. Though cloudy and drizzly earlier, it was pleasant to be out and about...with a lot of other people also!

In all of the European cities we have visited, including Warsaw, there are people trying to earn money in creative ways. No different here in Munich. This gentleman is dressed like.... a fruit tree?

We dropped a euro or two into his bucket, and then I was able to pose with this "tree statue".

Mark was delighted to find a place selling popcorn...German popcorn was yummy...though it was a bit too sweet for Mark's liking.

Another entrepenuer on the streets of Munich...this "golden man" was like a statue, and then all of a sudden he began talking!

Here is Viktuallenmarkt...like a farmers' market with Bavarian specialties...foods, souvenirs, etc.

These are the two onion domed towers of Munich's most famous church... Frauenkirche....Dom zu Unserer Lieben Frau (Cathedral of Our Loving Lady).

These two towers are often referred to as the symbol of Munich.

There is an interesting law associated with the towers...no building in the centre of the city is allowed to be higher than 100m...so that the towers of the church remain the tallest structures in the area.

We had read that Munich is a city that loves music...more than football (soccer) and beer. Mark doubts this assertion but according to one source, "Munich is a music metropolis...more people attend musical events weekly than watch football"...impressive!

We found a piano concert being performed at an old church...we could not take pictures during the performance...but here was the church prior to the performance.