We started our day walking through Munich, with the Green Guide providing our route. Munich has a large pedestrian precinct, with lots of variety. Our walk took us past the primary church Fraunkirche and into Marienplatz, Munich's central square. With the large pedestrian area, we found the city comfortable and relaxed. It feels like a modern city, vibrant and contemporary.
Peterskirche has a tower with good views across the city. I climbed up while Susan went off shopping with Marlene, an exchange student we met in Australia. I had views as far as the Alps, and a different perspective of the streets.
Off Brienner Strasse I found my favourite Xmas market of our tour. This market had a strong medieval theme. The stalls had medieval decoration and each sold medieval related products or food. Even the stall holders were in costume.
I finished my walking tour by visiting Munich's Pinakothek Der Moderne, a new museum containing 20th century art, industrial design works, and architecture displays. I liked the diversity of the museum, and enjoyed seeing old model Apple computers on display. Given that I have owned many of these computers, it was a nostalgia 'trip' for me.
This gallery's collection of 20th century art is not diverse, but German artists are well represented. The collection reinforced my opinion that most gallery art from the mid 1960s to the mid 1990s is self-indulgent pomposity. Examples such as '10 Steel Row', which comprised 5 steel plates on the gallery floor, show that this so called 'art' was actually the worthless result of a closed relationship between artist and gallery curator. The rest of the world were effectively irrelevant to this dialogue.
We finished our day in the hospitality of Marlen and her parents. They took us to dinner at a restaurant near our hotel. We enjoyed good food and some more insights into German life, and of course her parents both spoke excellent English. Our lack of a 2nd language is a bit embarrassing.
Comments