Munich: a photo essay on how we spent Saturday
Our friend Cindy, who moved to Dresden three years ago, came in to visit us this weekend. She's been through the whole "moving to Germany" wringer, so she was able to shed some light on a number of topics. The biggest one was that we went to multiple grocery stores so she could show us the ropes. Robert covered this topic extensively in his most recent post.
One of the coolest things about the G I A N T grocery store we found (by giant, I mean that it's possibly larger than an HEB Plus, only on two floors). They have a cheese aisle, which is awesome, but they also have a cheese case (a Kรคse case, for you punsters). This is one section of probably 8-10 total sections. Antonelli's is undoubtedly more carefully curated than this, but the sheer quantity is really impressive here.
After the grocery store jaunt, we decided to go into Munich. It's about a 10-minute walk to the train station in Haar, the small-town suburb where we're staying. I snapped a couple of shots along the way. First is the Rathaus or city hall, which is really beautiful for a government building, I thought. Note all the flowers: window boxes are a national pastime here. Second is the entrance to a parking garage, notable because of the vines growing down into the entrance. It seems there's a greenhouse on top of it. So pretty for a garage!
We had told Cindy that we'd found a promising Mexican restaurant in Munich. We'd found it on our earlier trip into town, and we walked in and noted the aroma was correct. Huzzah! So we went in and got quesadillas (me), burrito (Robert) and tacos (Cindy). Their menu is limited, so that's almost everything they offer. It wasn't spicy, but it tasted pretty authentic -- even the mole sauce. Nice! They'd been watching the World Cup match in which Mexico beat South Korea, and there was a loud celebration going on. And yes, we're a little bundled -- the high yesterday was something like 63F.
We went to get gelato, and a church down the street caught my eye, so we went farther down the street to get a better look. This was clearly the Arabic-speaking part of town: lots of hookah bars, Mediterranean / Turkish food, and even a gambling room. The church was pretty, and we'll probably make a longer trip to see it at some point, but we were all worn out and ready to get back to the apartment at this point.
The World Cup game for Germany was on at this point, so the streets and train station were almost deserted. I'd imagine this shot of the train station isn't possible almost any other time.
Leaving the main station, there's a looooong escalator that also made for an interesting shot.
Once outside, we found a hot pink limousine (the second we'd seen that day) by a picturesque fountain. That's a fun photographic dichotomy!
Can't say there's much of a narrative thread there, but that's our Saturday in pictures.
Sunday in Germany is definitely family time. Most retail outlets (shops, restaurants, etc.) are closed for the day, and most people spend the day at home, or at a park with their kids if weather permits. In many ways it's great to have a sort of forced Sabbath so that you have a day to unwind, but you'd be mighty unhappy if you forgot to get food for Sunday earlier in the week! It is possible to find places that are open, but they're few and far between. So now I'll enjoy the rest of my Sunday!
One of the coolest things about the G I A N T grocery store we found (by giant, I mean that it's possibly larger than an HEB Plus, only on two floors). They have a cheese aisle, which is awesome, but they also have a cheese case (a Kรคse case, for you punsters). This is one section of probably 8-10 total sections. Antonelli's is undoubtedly more carefully curated than this, but the sheer quantity is really impressive here.
After the grocery store jaunt, we decided to go into Munich. It's about a 10-minute walk to the train station in Haar, the small-town suburb where we're staying. I snapped a couple of shots along the way. First is the Rathaus or city hall, which is really beautiful for a government building, I thought. Note all the flowers: window boxes are a national pastime here. Second is the entrance to a parking garage, notable because of the vines growing down into the entrance. It seems there's a greenhouse on top of it. So pretty for a garage!
We had told Cindy that we'd found a promising Mexican restaurant in Munich. We'd found it on our earlier trip into town, and we walked in and noted the aroma was correct. Huzzah! So we went in and got quesadillas (me), burrito (Robert) and tacos (Cindy). Their menu is limited, so that's almost everything they offer. It wasn't spicy, but it tasted pretty authentic -- even the mole sauce. Nice! They'd been watching the World Cup match in which Mexico beat South Korea, and there was a loud celebration going on. And yes, we're a little bundled -- the high yesterday was something like 63F.
We went to get gelato, and a church down the street caught my eye, so we went farther down the street to get a better look. This was clearly the Arabic-speaking part of town: lots of hookah bars, Mediterranean / Turkish food, and even a gambling room. The church was pretty, and we'll probably make a longer trip to see it at some point, but we were all worn out and ready to get back to the apartment at this point.
The World Cup game for Germany was on at this point, so the streets and train station were almost deserted. I'd imagine this shot of the train station isn't possible almost any other time.
Leaving the main station, there's a looooong escalator that also made for an interesting shot.
Once outside, we found a hot pink limousine (the second we'd seen that day) by a picturesque fountain. That's a fun photographic dichotomy!
Can't say there's much of a narrative thread there, but that's our Saturday in pictures.
Sunday in Germany is definitely family time. Most retail outlets (shops, restaurants, etc.) are closed for the day, and most people spend the day at home, or at a park with their kids if weather permits. In many ways it's great to have a sort of forced Sabbath so that you have a day to unwind, but you'd be mighty unhappy if you forgot to get food for Sunday earlier in the week! It is possible to find places that are open, but they're few and far between. So now I'll enjoy the rest of my Sunday!
This is my favorite post so far. I love all the pictures! I also love all the cheeses. (And they love me, too!) ;)
ReplyDeleteWhy, thank you! Robert writes most posts, but I wrote this one.
DeleteAnd yes, ALL THE CHEESE!