Today was all about exploring the old town, the book we have divided it into North and South and as we are slightly in the North we decided to start in the south so we could end at the hotel. After a really nice breakfast we set off for the Town Square and the New Town Hall (Rathaus). There are a number of towers you can climb in the centre of Munich but we had decided to climb the one in the town hall which was actually a really good decision as it is actually a lift! This didn’t open until 10:00 so first we walked round the town hall which is a series of vaulted ceilings and staircases that either take you up one floor or two, it is a bit like the Harry Potter hallway only they don’t move. There are some wonderful stain glass windows in the building and it all looks out over a courtyard. By the time we had finished walking round the lift to the top was open so we headed up. You can walk around three sides at the top and get wonderful views out over the city and St Peters church which is the oldest church in Munich where there is a room dating from 1100. We spent quite a bit of time at the top then came down and went to St Peter’s church. There was actually a mass taking place when we went in, they seemed to have got a bit carried away with the incense as you could hardly see the alter when we went in! I really liked the church mostly because it was really plain with just a few stain glass windows and ornaments. We didn’t stay very long as we were not allowed to walk around because of the service so we decided to leave and head back to the main square to watch the Glockenspiel performance on the town hall. It was quite tuneful but a little disappointing as there are two parts that move but for the first five minutes it was just the sound of the glockenspiel with nothing moving. The whole performance lasted almost 15 minutes and although I am glad we saw it I am not sure we will make our way back to it!. From here we walked down to the Farmers market which is now abut 50% street food stalls and 50% market food stalls, the fruit and veg they had looked lovely but we didn’t buy any – maybe tomorrow. We walked from there through one of the shopping areas to Asamkirche and Adam Haus which was actually four houses that two brothers brought to turn into a large private church, but the council wouldn’t give permission unless it was a public church so it is still a church today although the houses seem to have been turned into flats or shops. This is a complete contrast to St Peters as it is very over the top with hardly a bit of wall that isn’t decorated or have a statue on it. I found it a bit overwhelming but they certainly put some effort into it. Out next stop was Senlinger Tor which is the South
Gate, it isn’t particularly impressive but it does mark the southern boundary of the city. From here we walked back to the Viktualenmarkt – Farmers market via Gartnerplatz which is a hexagon square that seems to act as a roundabout for the southern end of the city it was then time to try and find somewhere to have lunch. We ended up on the corner of the town square and had pizza again! This afternoon we set off to do the Northern Old town but before we did we went back into St Peters and this time we were able to walk round as the service had finished. We then went to Frauenkirche which is the cathedral and again you can climb the south tower but we didn’t bother. This is another quite plain church with impressive stain gassed windows. It also has the imprint of the devils footprint just inside the door complete with spurs – not sure why he had spurs or why he was trying to get into the church but they seem convinced that’s what it is! From here we walked round to the Residenz which was where the Wittelsbach rulers of Bavaria lived. We went into Cuvillies Theatre which although quite small is very ornate and is still used today then after a bit of effort we managed to find the entrance to the Residenz, when we arrived they recommended we came back another day to do the Residenz rooms as there are almost 100 of them and it was getting late but we did do the Treasury which has some really interesting pieces, we had an audio guide which gave you an overview of what was in each room but we decided against listening to information on each item as it said this would take about 5 hours! We will come back and do the main building another day. We stopped for an ice cream then our final stop was Hofbrauhas which is a Beer Hall that is home to Hofbrau. There has been a beer hall on this site for over 400 years and the ground floor can accommodate 1000 drinkers and is said to serve over 10,000 litres per day. We had a drink in the beer garden then decided to head back to the hotel for a relax before going out this evening for something to eat or possibly drink.
