An Arty Afternoon in Munich

Guten Tag!

Shall we have a sip of beer?  Mmmm.  It's called Urtyp. Yes.  I am back in Germany in my new apartment.

It was a smooth trip despite the rain in Salzburg.  I don't like moving these days, and I like moving in rain even less, but I have done it before, and I know I can cope.  I got my bags down the steep stairs, got my bus ticket, got my train ticket at the machine in the Hauptbahnhof, and there was a train pretty much right away--an express.  I got out at Munich about an hour and a half later, and it was not raining.  I was thinking how odd it was that I had not been asked for help, but at the bus stop a young woman needed to know how to get to the Volksgarten in Salzburg, and I knew!

The lack of rain was good because I was not going back to Citadines.  I couldn't get a reservation for my return.  I don't know why, but I did find an acceptable alternative.  I'm in a room with a kitchenette of sorts not too far from the Hauptbahnhof.  I had an idea where it was, but I did not want to have to manage my bags, my umbrella and the map. And for a wonder I did not get turned around.  I came right here.

My room was not ready, but I expected that, and I had a plan.  I left my bags with the nice young man at reception, and set off--in pursuit of art!

One great thing to do on a Sunday in Munich is go to art museums because the entrance is reduced to one measly Euro.  Munich is very walkable, and if you can't walk you don't even have to take a bus because there are trams and subways.  But I walked about ten minutes to the museums.  It was good walking weather, a bit humid but cool.

My first step was the Alte Pinakothek, a wonderful museum replete with Old Masters.  I shoved my stuff in a locker.  One slips a two Euro coin in a slot and then one can take the key.  The two Euros are returned when the key is.  Many museums do not permit bags, etc. in the galleries. Then I slapped down my Euro coin, put on the green bracelet, and set forth.

The museum is undergoing renovation, so not everything is on offer, but there was a lot of good stuff.  The collection of Rubens, for instance, is superlative and includes his marriage portrait with his first wife Isabella Brant, the Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus--now I can't approve of the subject, but the shiny, shiny hair and opalescent skin of the women are gorgeous.  There's also his Lion Hunt which features my favorite bitey lion in all Art History.  Pretty much everybody from Giotto on is represented.  Don't miss Durer's self portrait (looking like Whom?) or Albrecht Altdorfer's Battle of Issus. The museum is rather a project, but a very worthy one.  A nice young couple at my hotel had to wait for their room to be ready, so I sent them off there.

Then I crossed the grassy plaza to the Neue Pinakothek.  Same drill with the locker and the admission. It's a good museum, but one has to wade through a lot--a lot--of nineteenth century genre paintings most of which are undistinguished.  That did not stop my fellow visitors from taking pictures of works I considered dull.  They should have asked me.  But you can also find Cezanne and the Impressionists.  There's a Modern Art Museum, too, but by that time, I was arted out, tired, and hungry.  I made my way back to the Hauptbahnhof.  It's Sunday in Bavaria again, and things are closed tight--except for the Main Station where the lucky traveler can find an open grocery store and numerous food stands.  I got some beer, and for dinner, I decided to honor the German Heritage by having a Donner Kebab.

Are you being sarcastic, Pil?

Not at all. Many Turks came here as guest workers, and they brought their food, and the Germans liked it, but it's Pan-European now.  There's a grilled bun filled with giro meat, and shredded cabbage and lettuce, onion, tomato, doused with Tzatziki sauce.  I got mine with crushed red pepper, too.  It's good eating!   Goes well with beer.