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Published: January 5th 2008
Say Cheese!
Romas, Alex, and Miriam (and Inmate)We celebrated New Years Eve 2007 in Munich this year - home to the famous Oktoberfest during September and October. We went with Miriam (our neighbor) and her boyfriend, Alex.
We left early in the morning on New Years Eve in order to get in some shopping and sightseeing before the big night. The first thing we saw when walking from the train station was the ice rink. It looked almost like we were walking into Rockefeller Center. There were little bears on skis to help you keep your balance if you're not a good skater. It was really neat! Plus, the buildings behind the rink were selling glüwein and bratworsts. People were skating, drinking, eating, or just watching the fun. It was really neat.
We saw the Glockenspiele (clock tower with moving, wooden people) just after we walked through the arches of the original wall of the city. It's part of the Rathaus (Town Hall) which is a large, neo-Gothic building. Although we thought the cukoo part of the clock moved on the hour, we were wrong. We weren't the only ones though! The square in front of the Glockenspiele was full of people,
Ice Skating
Just like Rockefeller Center in NYC! (Minus the glüwein!) cameras poised, ready for the clock to strike on the hour. We were all disappointed however when the clock's minute hand passed by the twelve and headed for the one. Oh well. Maybe they're conserving energy like how they turn off traffic lights every night!
We walked around and ended up at the Feldherrnhalle (Field Marshals' Hall). The square we were standing in, Odeonsplatz, is where Hitler was arrested and jailed in 1923 during the Beer Hall Revolt. We entered the square and saw San Francisco Coffee Co., a coffee house chain we saw in Munich. It is quite the opposite of Starbucks, with loud music and lots of tables, but great Caffe Mochas! We spent about a half hour warming up, talking, and drinking our coffees. We were inside only about 10 minutes when we looked out the window and saw a white-out! It was snowing so hard people were running for cover! Had we been only a few minutes slower, we too would have been caught by surprise!
After our coffees, we went outside and Inmate was able to see snow for the very first time! He was energized from his nap in the coffee shop
So cute!
I've never seen this before! What a cool idea! and probably trying to stay warm in the cold air, but whatever the reason, he was running around the square! He even got loose from our grip and darted through the snow to the opposite side! Good thing Santa had brought him a Soft Shell jacket from REI for Christmas! Otherwise, he would have been wet and cold!!!
Next we saw the famous Hofbräuhaus. It's a tremendous beer hall where people sit at long tables with benches and drink beer by the liter. Not bad, huh? Unfortunately we didn't have time to sit and have a beer, but it looked like a really fun place!! Next time... 😊
We wandered around the city until about 5 when we decided to head home, warm up, and have something to eat. We knew that restaurants were going to be packed that night in the city so we figured we'd head back to the hotel to eat at a restaurant nearby. We found that all of the restaurants within walking distance of our hotel were already booked solid for dinner but we managed to talk the owner of a Greek restaurant into letting us order take-out instead. It worked out better
City Wall
This huge wall was originally part of the wall that ran around the city for protection. Now it's just an entryway into a pedestrian zone. because we were able to order, go back to the hotel for a couple hours and nap, and then eat our food leisurely in the lobby. Sure we got some funny looks for our unorthodox New Years dinner, but hey, we had fun!! A few beers, some gyros, and Germlish! (Actually, it was over dinner that Alex and Miriam taught us how to tell time in German!) After dinner we headed out to Olympiapark to see some fireworks!!
Alex and Miriam described a huge fireworks show in the Olympic Park - a show that lasted for an hour! We were very excited but then they also told us to be careful of fireworks on the sidewalk. They explained that people light them and then throw them out, away from themselves so they don't get hurt. Unfortunately, they throw lit fireworks without regard for where and without watching to make sure no one is coming. We were a little concerned, but figured that Germans wouldn't be too reckless. Heck, they have rules and a system for doing everything - including bagging groceries! How bad could it be?
We took the commuter train into Munich from our hotel and then transferred
Glockenspiele
Bell tower (pronounced glock-en-shpeel) to a subway for the ride into Olympiapark. As we waited on the subway platform, more and more people filered downstairs to wait with us. It didn't seem like a problem until the train arrive...and was absolutely PACKED already!!! We panicked because we had the dog!! He was going to get trampled!! Romas quickly scooped him up in his arms and we pushed our way into the subway car. Poor Inmate! His ears were down and he was just resting his chin on my chest. Luckily we only had to go 3 stops because he looked so pathetic!! When the doors opened at our stop, we had to literally run up the stairs and out of the subway. There were hundreds, if not thousands of people exiting the cars and running up to the Olympic Park as well! It was already 11:45pm and everyone was in a rush to get up and watch the fireworks! We made it up and out without a problem and headed into the park.
As we walked and talked we learned that this was actually not a professional fireworks show. We were surprised that German cities would not organize their own fireworks displays. Apparantly,
fireworks are only legal in German for 4 hours: 10pm on New Years Eve until 2am on New Years Day. And we were about to find out that Germans take full advantage of this opportunity!
There were already fireworks going off all around us as we made our way to a spot Miriam and Alex had already been to the year before. Inmate was nervous and walking very close to Andrea with his tail down. As it got closer to midnight, the fireworks increased until finally, at midnight, the sky was absolutely lit up with explosions. They were all around us, all different colors, and
very loud! Inmate's night had just gotten worse! As we watched the fireworks, he sat shivering and panting on Andrea's feet. We felt so bad for him!! We really regretted bringing him, but had thought that there would be more space between us and the fireworks. Neither one of us has ever seen anything like this. It was probably the best fireworks display we have ever seen, yet absolutely, without a doubt, the most dangerous! The video we posted showing the fireworks was taken after midnight. The intensity of the fireworks in
Feldherrnhalle (Field Marshals' Hall)
In the Odeonsplatz - site of Beer Hall Putsch (Revolt) by the Nazis in 1923, which landed Hitler in jail. that video continued for about 20 minutes. It was incredible! We headed home tired, cold, and with an absolutely traumatized dog!!
The next day we slept in, had a buffet breakfast in our hotel (where we had really great honey!) and headed out for a 1/2 day of sightseeing around Munich. We started our day with Schloss Nymphenburg where the royal family's summer home stands. The gardens are tremendous and reminiscent of Versailles. We wandered through the gardens and around the property for a while. It was really nice and we can only imagine how great it looks in the spring and summer when the flowers are blooming and the grass is green. It must be beautiful!
Last stop on our Munich tour was Theresienwiese, home to the annual Oktoberfest. It is literally a huge open space with grass and small paved roads running throughout. Right now there is a circus on the grounds, but as you can see from the pictures and video, the circus doesn't even take up a quarter of the space available. The place is enormous and one can only imagine how it looks with beer tents and millions of people milling around. We
And it snowed!
In the short time we were in a cafe having coffee, it snowed. Hard. also saw the Bavaria Statue. In the summer months, you can climb up to the statue's head! It was closed on New Years Day (as was just about everything in Germany!) You can see the spent fireworks littering the grounds. Everywhere we looked there was garbage from the festivities the night before. On any other day Germany is the cleanest and best kept country we've ever seen. New Years however, is a different story. It is an absolute mess and will stay this way until tomorrow (Jan2) when everyone goes back to work.
We had an amazing time in Munich and would like to return on a regular weekend when we can do more sightseeing and see more historical places. Inmate loved it too, especially the part where he could hang out in restaurants and coffee shops! (but next year he'll pass on the fireworks!) Who knows, maybe next year we'll get to see Oktoberfest!
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