Munich – Day 5

It has been snowing pretty steady now for the last few days and it is building up. The city is covered in white. I have not had any experience with this much snow and I have to say, it is a lot of fun. Of course I don’t have to deal with it in any practical sense, being as I am a tourist and will soon be returning to balmy Texas soon enough.

Today we decided to go to some art museums. We hit up the Munich Glyptothek as well as the Alte Pinakothek and the Pinakothek der Moderne.

Joey, do you like to watch gladiator movies?

The Glyptothek is a museum which was commissioned by the Bavarian King Ludwig I to house his collection of Greek and Roman sculptures. It makes for an interesting stroll. It’s not too big and it is well laid out.

From there we headed back in to the snow to walk to the Alte Pinakothek which is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses one of the most famous collections of Old Master paintings on the planet. Suffice to say, we saw some really amazing paintings. Notable artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Anthony van Dyck, Peter Paul Rubens and El Greco to name but a few. Check out the link above to read more about the gallery and the works that are housed there.

Cynthia @ The Alte Pinakothek

After taking in all that the Alte Pinakothek had to offer we made our way to Pinakothek der Moderne which is a modern art museum.

Pinakothek der Moderne

Now frankly, I don’t get modern art. Most of it is not very compelling. But it was interesting to walk around this space and see the exhibits.

Pinakothek der Moderne

I will confess, I was rather amused at one display which was part of a modern design exhibit that featured 80’s era computers.

Apple Lisa

And I was mildly excited to get to see a few original Andy Warhol paintings. I suppose mostly because it was a name I recognized.

By the time we had finished touring these galleries it was rather late in the afternoon. We found our way back to the area near our hotel and found some food.

I will say this, walking around in the cold takes it out of you. Between the freezing temperatures and the wearing of pounds and pounds of winter clothing combined with moving in an out of the cold it wears me out.

We rested up for a few hours then went back out to just walk in the snow amongst the booths in the Christmas markets. It is still very idyllic with the snow on the ground and the warm lights glowing from the booths.

Market In The Inner Square Of New Town Hall

Munich – Day 6

We are starting to wind down. Tomorrow is our last day here before we make the trek back to the U.S. and I think we are ready to be home.

The sun was out today. Bright, clear skies greeted us as we found our way to the transportation museum. We arrived around 9:00 and, as it turns out, they closed at noon so admission was free.

They had some interesting vehicles on display, All the way from bicycles to trains.

We took our fill of the museum and then found our way back to the hotel room and then went for some lunch. After lunch we went to the Isar River for the ritual releasing of the Zippy feather

The sun was shining so nice, but was on the way down so we took the opportunity to shoot some pics down by the river.

River Isar

After this we went back to the hotel room and kicked off our shoes and relaxed for a few hours. After that we went back out and had dinner and a beer at the Hofbräuhaus

Cynthia is not a beer drinker, but decided that she would try one since we were there.

To her credit, she managed to drink half of it and even said it tasted good.

After dinner we went back to the hotel to get some more rest. The temperature outside right now is 17° F so we’re content to hole up here and save our strength for tomorrow.

Hofbräuhaus München

Munich – Day 7 (Final Day)

It’s our last day in Munich. We head home in the morning. As much fun as this has been, I am ready to come home and so is Cynthia. Munich and Salzburg have both been great destinations and we have had such a good time, but we both look forward to not carrying around our heavy packs and having to put on and take off our heavy coats and scarves and hats.

BMW - Munich

We woke up this morning to temperatures well below freezing, but with lots of sunshine and blue skies so we decided to go to the BMW complex wich features a museum.

BMW Concept Vision Efficient Dynamics

I have to say, this museum was one of the highlights of the trip. It is well laid out and very engaging. It’s like history meets science meets modern art.

BMW Badges

The entire history of BMW was on display and it looked really cool seeing it presented in this venue.

Inside The BMW Museum

After touring the museum we made our way back to the hotel to recombobulate and then treated ourselves to a very nice, very leisurely lunch/dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant.

We spent the rest of the day just relaxing and packing up. Our flight is at 7:00 am so we’re getting up pretty early to get to the airport.