In August of 2000, for my 27th birthday, I took a trip to Munich alone. Since we had the Bavarian Ticket, which could be purchased for less than 20 Deutsche Marks (about $11) from Monday to Friday (on the weekends, we just had to pay about $5 more to have the weekend ticket where we could travel with certain trains through all of Germany on Saturdays and Sundays) I began to make this a tradition to go to Munich more often.

On my first trip, I just enjoyed walking from the train station to the central square (Marienplatz). In that area, there are a lot of historical buildings to see. There is the Old Town Hall and the much bigger New Town Hall. If you come to visit at 11 am and 12 pm (local time), you can watch the Rathaus-Glockenspiel. From March to October, it can also be witnessed at 5 pm. The clock reenacts the scenes of Munich’s history twice daily. The first scene tells the story of the marriage of Duke Wilhelm V to Renata of Lorraine in 1568. And the second scene is the Cooper’s Dance (Schäfflertanz).

Frauenkirche (Munich’s Cathedral can be reached from Kaufinger Strasse to get to Frauenplatz, which sits northwest of the central square. At Frauenplatz is also a fountain with stairs where you can rest your feet in the hot Summer. You just have to share your space with the locals, the rock pigeons. And yes, it can get warm in Germany.

The German Hunting & Fishing Museum was very interesting as well. I was allowed to capture a photo of the taxidermied Eurasian Lynx. It was prohibited to capture photos in the museum. I believe they have changed the house rules since the use of smartphones. The museum is located in the former Augustiner Church on Neuhauser Strasse.

That day, I just strolled around and had some good ice cream before I took the subway to the Nymphenburg Palace, the birthplace of King Ludwig II.

… to be continued …