The Sights of Munich

Examining the architecture of buildings isn't really my thing, but it's hard not to notice something like the new town hall (Neues Rathaus) in Munich. It's so crazy elaborate and ornate, in the middle of a town square.


It was partially bombed during WWII, so part of the building is old stone and part is brick where they restored it. At noon, the middle hole in the tower opens up and chimes go off with little moving parts, kind of like a cuckoo clock. It's called the Rathaus-Glockenspiel.

I really liked this "dragon bird" hanging off the side corner of it:


The original city of Munich was surrounded by walls, and some of the gates are still there. This Felderrnhalle (Field Marshal's Hall) with the lions at the Odeonsplatz gate, is probably the most famous:


One of the reasons this is so famous is that it was the site of a pro-Hitler protest in 1923.

We walked around to most of the gates, this one below in the south west is Sendlinger Tor.


We also went to Isartor on the south east side, but I didn't take a picture.

Of course we also hit the outdoor markets, the picture below is of a maypole in Viktualianmarkt. This is a big market, they sell food and all kinds of trinkets, jellies, fruit, etc. They also have a giant beer garden that is great for people watching.


We also found another small market. In this market, they sold lots of franks, fried food, weird looking fish, but no water. On hot day I say...Booooo.


And finally, we explored the beer gardens. The size of the beers is a bit intimidating. Here, Lindy is up for the challenge.


As we walked back to the Marienplatz square we ran into a BP Oil Spill protest. I couldn't understand a word of it, since it was all in German, but there was a man walking around with a big scary balloon that was pretty cool.



If you click on this picture, you can see the brick replacements in the right side of the building.