Today was our first real "sightseeing" day. And boy was it busy. We drove back into Munich and parked the car on the side of one of the streets, or strasse. We then took the U-bahn (metro/underground/metro train/ et al.) back to the Marienplatz. This time we took plenty of pictures, most of which are on this page. At 12.00 the glockenspiel in the Old Town Hall went off. It rings its bells, then figurines of heralds, saints, knights on horseback, and dancing men on two levels of the clock tower rotate past. The knights actually jousted and one was knocked backwards. The crowd loved it! The square was filled with tourists from every country and the oohs and aahs were fun.
From there we walked to one of the churches on the Marienplatz, St. Michaels. When we walked in, we walked straight into a service. Luckily the back third of the church was entryway, postcards and side chapels, and many people were coming in and looking around. We took a couple of pictures (sans flash), and looked around without disturbing the mass. The alter is pretty impressive; the best I've seen so far. The choir was singing as we entered and it filled the hall with beautiful music -- how fortunate. We had been told to try to hear a performance in one of the churches because of the great acoustics, and by serendipity we got to experience it on our first try.
After we looked around quietly, we left the church for an open air market for some lunch. All of us had some variety of wurst, the quintessential Bavarian food. Bratwurst, schweinwurst, etc. Just different kinds of sausage.
Then we rounded the corner and climbed the tower of St. Peter's church. I'm not sure if the church itself is still open for services, but the tower is now open for those who don't suffer from vertigo and can climb 12 stories of stairs. For all the exertion, the view is great. We got all of the aerial photos from the top of the tower.
After we climbed back down the 12 stories, we headed off to the Residenz, the castle that has been home to several kings, just off the Marienplatz. The self-guided tour took a good 2 or 3 hours, but we got to see the Treasury as well as the interior of the castle. The kings that lived in this place subscribed to the belief that if you've got it, flaunt it. Unfortunately, the Residenz was bombed during World War II, so parts of it were restorations. A total of 100 rooms are open to the public, including halls that double as bowling lanes or even drag racing arenas. One of the rooms contained the collection of relics. Relics being the remains (believed) of many Saints. The remains (usually pieces of bone) are kept in fancy containers and decorated with gold and pearls and silver and anything else they used. There were chips of bone, a piece of a sponge; according to Alix's grasp of Bible history, a piece of the sponge that was used to give Christ some wine while he was on the cross, a few skulls, and some whole hands. Mummified. Ewwwww.
After we finished in the Residenz, we took the U-bahn to the Oktoberfest site, and into a huge crowd. We made our way to one of the many beer tents that are erected by the various breweries in Munich for the special occasion. After we helped ourselves to some food, we made our way to some places that sold shirts and other merchandise, then we made our way back to the U-Bahn station. I don't think I've ever seen so many people so plastered/smashed/sloshed/drunk in my life, or ever will again. People were being carried out by their friends, or stumbling out of the fairgrounds by themselves. According to another American we ran into, only Indianapolis 500 is worse.
(Culture Notes: The Europeans are pretty lax in their separation of smoking/non-smoking. In restaraunts, train stations, and all other public places, a large percentage of the crowd smokes. According to Bill, the Germans and Europeans in general are just not as aware of the "problem" as us Americans. It takes some getting used to, but in the end isn't that big of a deal. Although I suppose if you were asthmatic, it could cause problems.
Also, on the roads you will be hard pressed to find a stop sign. Most signs are yields rather than stops. Driving over here is a serious matter. You won't find any European shaving in the car on his way to work. They assume that you are paying complete attention to the signs and are responsible enough to know what to do and when to do it. Of course, on the autobahn you can go as fast as you want and no one cares. But if you want to go slow you are expected to stay in the right lane.)
