The Bosch program has three seminars throughout the year. In September they focused on government, history and major German organizations spending time in Stuttgart, Berlin, Dresden and Prague. In January the focus was on German regionalism and current national issues. They started in Cologne, traveled down the Rhine to Frankfurt, headed to Munich for a touch of Bavaria and then flew north to Hamburg. They visited with various religious leaders, people from the major media groups, and key businesses in each region. Since I hadn't been to Munich yet I met up with the group there, taking advantage of their one free day and the chance to eat up on traditional Bavarian food.
We lucked on the weather. Claire's seminar leader had been warning the group for month about how dark and cold the January seminar usually is and we hit 50˚F days with clear skies and warm sun. We took our Saturday free day to head southwest from Munich to Füssen and then Neuschwanstein. I had decided this was one popular tourist location I wanted to give in and visit and Claire needed to redeem her high school German fair photo contest prize and actaully take her own photo of the castle. We chatted it up on the train with couple who was out hiking with their hiking group, all dressed in matching boots, coats and with the requisite hiking poles. They were a hoot to chat with and had spent 5 weeks traveling around British Columbia in a camper van so we had lots in common and Claire always wins big with her excellent German and the over 60 crowd.
Claire titled our day "Pimp my Castle" and I basked the glow of the snow covered peaks and
lovely mountain lakes. By coming in January we missed the hoards of tourists and the uncharacteristically warm weather allowed us to hike on the trails up above the castle. From below it doesn't look so amazing and I wasn't even convinced what we were seeing was the actual castle. You have to hike way up and around to get the storybook pictures. You can't take pictures inside the castle of the furniture or art and you have to go with a tour guide. But because of these restrictions they have left the rooms that were finished with the original furnishings and you
can actually go in the rooms as opposed to peeking in through a roped off doorway. However, you can pictures out the windows and so we captured a few of lovely views. Not every king goes for the extravagance Wagner suggests, hence the "Pimp my Castle" feeling. A real "throne" room, faucets fashioned in the shape of silver swans, a cave complete with stalagtites and stalagmites (on the fifth floor), a small atrium, and a private stage for Wagnerian operas.
We got back to Munich in time to join the Boschies in celebrating a birthday at the Hofbrauhaus, of the famous Bavarian style beer hall. We were a bit skeptical about heading to such a touristy establishment, but since it was "be a typical Bavarian tourist day" it all worked out. Especially since the place is so big and had so many people, both local and tourists, as long as you were willing to swig on your liter bierstein and eat bratwurst all was good. The next
morning we walked through the beautiful English Garden before Claire had to join up with group and like the other Germans enjoyed the gift of a warm January Sunday. While Claire's group debriefed about their fall work stages and then went to the Ratskellar to learn how to prepare a traditional Bavarian dinner, I continued to stroll through the streets and parks of Munich dawdling through the Schwabing district in and among the art galleries, cafes, university buildings, and eventually ending up at the art museums. The weather was so beautiful that I dragged my feet at actually going inside, but they have 1 Euro Sundays and I thought I could handle an hour of art and not feel guilty, especially to check out art from 14th to 18th centuries. In I went to the Alte Pinakotek and was pleasantly surprised. Most intriguing were all the scenes from these time periods giving insight into daily life in Northern Europe. I just stood before them trying to imagine myself and my life in medieval Europe.
Highlights from the rest of my time in Munich include the Deutsches Museum, which is this overwhelming collection of technology from Germany and around the world and a swim at the
Volksbad. The Deutsches Museum felt like walking through David Macaulay's "The Way Things Work" book. You could spend a week at this museum, they have life size representations of mining, oil drilling, paper making technology, airplanes, and on and on. I went from there to the calming Volksbad, a beautiful old bathing building. They have two pools each with their own room and set of bathing cabinets around the edge where you change. The larger pool is more for lap swimming and a few degrees colder. The smaller one, pictured here, has this great gargoyle you can stand under for a shower and tends to attract older slower swimmers. I hadn't brought my goggles so this time I stayed in the smaller pool and just enjoyed the amazing bathing architecture and conversation with another Bosch spouse who had joined my for the swim. It was nice to experience another major German city. Munich and Berlin are so different. Munich definitely had the schmance feel it is known for, you could see the money walking around, similar to strolling in Seville. What I miss in Berlin is a real feeling of a city center. It has different centers for shopping, culture, art, history but no real aldstadt, restored or original. I could see the appeal of Munich with lovely parks, central city, and the mountains nearby; however, I think you would need the income of BMW or Siemens to afford the lifestyle. Berlin has space for the wealthly and bohemian.
