Munich
-2 overnight
+9 during the day
+9 during the day
Sunday meant a visit to an
art gallery for the tantalising price of one euro. We chose the Neue Pinakothek
because it’s home to Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. It’s also home to rooms and rooms
of German realism and expressionism which variously featured trolls terrorising
virgins, masochistic autopsies of young women, the worst imaginable scenes from
the Old Testament, butchered Christs and the odd bleak and brooding landscape.
Good old Ludwig 1 had commissioned several life-sized paintings of himself and
together with other pompous-looking portraits of Bavarian aristocracy they did
at least lighten the mood!
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| View of Arles, 1889 |
In a room toward the end
of the collection on a side wall without ceremony hangs Sunflowers. For a few
precious minutes we had the painting entirely to ourselves and were both quiet in
front of it. It’s a surprisingly large painting and was hung with two others
painted by Van Gogh in the last two years of his life. Their beautiful colours,
vibrancy and life-affirming spirit were a tonic after the earlier gruesome
galleries.
We watched the three
paintings’ magic effect on sulky (and presumably by now traumatised children)
who stood mesmerised by the colours, and their parents who were excitedly
telling them about the artist. If only the rest of the collection could have
been so joyous!
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| Sunflowers, 1888 |
The afternoon brought the first
hint of ‘Fruhling’ and clearing skies invited the steep climb up to the top of
St Peter’s tower. The views across the
city were spectacular and showed off the grand and regal avenues and squares.
The domes of the many churches and the ornate weathervanes and gilded figures
topping the turrets of the civic buildings shone in the weak sunshine.
The newspapers declared
‘Endlich! Endlich! Endlich!’ for the cold spell on Wednesday and it looked like
they may be right!
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| 306 steep steps to a perfect view |
Another Sunday must-do was
a turn around the Englischer Garten, the largest park in a city in Europe.
Initially bustling with joggers, skaters and promenading couples and families
it rapidly turned cold so it was no surprise to see that even the famed Chinese
Tower, the oldest beer garden in Munich, was empty of drinkers.
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| The Chinesischer Turm |
Monday morning found us in
the historic Café Trombosi admiring the antique décor and lavish breakfasts
being served as they have done to the Munich glitterati for more than 200
years. It also offers free Wi-fi which has been surprisingly rare to find so
far. Despite superfast broadband speeds accessing Wi-fi is nigh on impossible
without contracting to a supplier! Time at last to update the blog!
That night the Allianz
arena glowed blue for the second of its home teams 1860 Munich. They had played
and drawn their game that afternoon. Meanwhile four more vans had joined us and
our new neighbours, Aussies Peter and Deb, invited us to spend an evening in
their van swapping trip tales and putting the world to rights. We said fond
farewells long after the Arena had turned off its lights for the night!
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| Glowing blue for the local side 1860 Munich |
