A week in Munich was a reminder that Bavaria’s capital had once been our proposed retirement location: until we decided that Vienna was a better choice (for reasons I won’t go into but which one day I must succinctly write up if only to remind myself and be able to answer all those surprised questions we always get). Although there were moments when we remembered why it had been our first choice at one point, and occasional thoughts that maybe we had made a mistake in not going there, in the end we decided that for now it’s nice to visit, but Vienna will be our home....assuming we can find a permanent place to live of course!
Munich in December : there is only one show in town – Christmas and the Christkindl markets. When we entered Marienplatz we thought that it made Vienna’s market look rather tame in comparison and that was the impression we left with. It does seem bigger and brighter, almost overwhelming in fact. It got to the point where it was impossible to take any more dazzling displays of things Christmassy and more. And while it has lots of things which are different and is bigger – maybe? – than Vienna’s, after wandering through the market in the Rathausplatz yesterday (Sunday) afternoon I almost changed my mind: Vienna’s Christkindlmarkt has nothing to fear in being compared with Munich’s. One of the differences is that in Munich – surprisingly – there seem to be many more tourists (in the city in general – or maybe they are just more concentrated?) whereas in Vienna one feels that while there are definitely many tourists, a majority of market visitors – at the weekend anyway - seem to be locals. I could be totally wrong and it would be interesting to get some official data...
Another big difference is that Munich’s markets and Germany’s in general have much more traditional Christmas stuff – the tradition of cribs and carved religious figures is so much stronger in Germany than in Austria, whereas Austria’s markets are more influenced by secular and commercials factors. There’s a lot more on sale in Vienna with only a tenuous connection to Christmas. I wonder if anyone has done a serious comparison?? I did, however, make a startling discovery at the Rathausplatz yesterday: Vienna’s gluhwein mugs are much bigger that Munich’s! Prices are about the same so you get a lot more for your money in Vienna!
Be that as it may, we enjoyed Munich despite the crush and it was great to catch up with old friends Paula & Manfred and Moni and Hans. Weather was poor except for one wonderful late-morning and early afternoon period when the sun shone and the wind blew as we walked from the centre of town to the English Garden and on through its big open meadows, the bare trees lit up in places by the sun and forming a bright grey-purply contrast to the blue and white of the sky and the murky green of the winter meadows. In reality, the place is nothing like a typical English garden! And as for the pagoda...minimally decked in lights..maybe it looks better at night, but during the day it looked a bit incongruous ...but then I suppose it does all the time anyway!
Apart from wandering repeatedly through the markets and nearby stores (Kaufhof was a zoo as was the huge bookshop a few doors down) we managed to squeeze in a bit of education and culture, with visits to the Deutsches Museum (www.deutsches-museum.de) and the Residenz. The latter (www.residenz-muenchen.de) was a reminder both of the destruction that Munich suffered in WWII, having been almost totally rebuilt, and the power and wealth of the former Kingdom of Bavaria. As with the markets, it got too much and after a couple of hours of looking at the riches accumulated (or at least what was left of them), the fruits of the exploitation of the peasants and craftsmen of Bavaria and places beyond, I headed back to the mayhem of Marienplatz. A mug of warm, spicy gluhwein was just the thing on a cold, dank afternoon.
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