The Gasthaus Raidel serves a typical German breakfast: Cheese;
salami; choice of rye bread, "kaiser" rolls, or crusty football-shaped
rolls; coffee or tea; 4 blocks of butter (not mere
pats, these 4 cubes add up to nearly 1/4 lb) per person; and fresh apricot
or strawberry jam. And apple juice, if you know to ask for it.
Now we're on the bus to sunny (finally!) Munich (München). Gene
gives us a brief orientation tour, leading us through the Viktualien Market
(more on that, later), into the main square, Marienplatz, past the Weisses
Brauhaus, and into the famous Hofbrau Haus. Big hall. Oompah
band. Pretzels. Brig prefers the Weisses instead. Bill
had taken her there when she visited Munich years ago. So, to the
Weisses Brauhaus.
Note: This is where Hitler got his big start. He
began his failed "beer hall putsch" (coup d'état) at this place.
We decide that the irony begs for us to enjoy the fruits of his eventual
failure. Besides, the best revenge is living well.
We
grab a sunny cafe table, and wrestle with the German menu for awhile.
The waitress arrives, figures out our nationality, and quickly returns
with an English menu. Our selections:
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we share the house specialty, a Weis beer.
It's not bad, but not good enough to get me drinking beer on a regular
basis.
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a plate of smoked trout with a very lightweight (heavily creamed) horseradish
sauce/relish.
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an assortment of sausages (veal, pork, and ?) with potatoes and sauerkraut.
The trout was very good. The sausages were very good. My favorite
was the sauerkraut, though, which was very mild, and flavored with caraway.
Also, the bread was very good -- but it ain't free: There is a basket
on the table. You select what you want to eat, and let the waitress
know how many pieces you had. The cost was minimal.
We walk through Viktualien Market on the way to St. Peter's, but decide
to climb the bell tower before spending time in the market. Well,
almost -- a pair of large, luscious, sweet, purple figs call out to us,
so we buy them and devour them before charging up the tower's many stairs.
Yes, the figs were as good as they sound.
The climb up the tower (DM2.50 apiece) stimulated each of our fears:
some of the stairways are quite narrow; and the walkway outside the tower
is crowded, narrow, and over 150 feet up. The view is awfully nice,
though. Here are some sample shots of Marienplatz and of central
Munich from the St. Peter's church tower:
The Neues Rathaus ("New" City Hall)
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The Frauenkirche
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Another view from St. Peter's' bell tower
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The Viktualien Market, from above.
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That's
as long as we can resist the call. Back down the stairs, and into
Viktualien Market. We can't resist a good market, and this one is
truly amazing. They've got everything: produce, fresh meat, sausages,
cheeses, pickles, prepared foods, restaurants, flowers.
We
covet all the goodies, especially the olives, pickles, and huge array of
pestos. We focus on the fruits. Several of the stands have
fresh lychee that only look so-so. Despite our passion for lychee,
we pass on these. I buy some grapefruit (mundane, but my body seems
to work better when I have them) at DM1.20 apiece, and each no larger than
an orange. We pounce on some mangosteen (they turn out to be in poor
condition, and we get only 4 good sections out of two mangosteen). There's
an interesting fruit that I later remember having encountered in a produce
market in Hong Kong: Dragon Fruit"). It's beautiful and
tempting, but for some reason, we decide not to try it. (I wish we
had. We passed on it in HK, too.) Brigid spots a display with
small baskets of "wald erdebeeren" (wild strawberries). These are
tiny berries, smaller than raspberries. They are sweet and very fragrant.
The flavor is good but not astounding. And, many of them are overripe.
We later pass them around the bus, for others to share.
We
meet the group at Marienplatz.
Things we want to return to Munich for:
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More weisbier at Weisses Brauhaus.
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And perhaps a brezen. I never did taste a Munich pretzel.
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The Deutches museum. It is apparently an excellent museum of technology
and industry.
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The Pinakoteks (Altes and Neues): Has lots of Renaissance works.
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The Viktualien Market, to sample more of the fruits, cheeses, pickles,
meats, pastries, breads,...
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A walk of the pedestrian shopping streets.
But now, it's time to board the bus for...
...Dachau
This is was Hitler's first concentration camp, and the model for the
rest. Dachau is a suburb of Munich. The town residents claim
not to have known what went on here, other than the public story of its
being a prison for enemies of the state. Although the gas chamber
(as usual, disguised as a group shower) was never used here, the Nazis
did manage to kill at least 30,000 Jews, political prisoners, Gypsies,
communists, journalists, unsupportive priests, and even war prisoners.
The Krematorium was, at the end of the European war, unable to keep up.
I feel relatively little connection to this place. My father's
sisters and mother, and his aunts and uncles, probably never reached the
camps. Or, if they did, it was more likely to have been a Polish
camp, such as Aushwitz. Mostly, the place just reminds me of how
versatile the human mind can be. Too many of us seem able to rationalize
any
behavior that suits us.
On the bus, while traveling to Reutte, Gene shares
an opinion offered by a member of a previous tour. This person felt
that the lesson of Dachau is that the right of citizens to bear arms should
not be infringed. His postulate, a common excuse for those opposed
to gun control, is that an unarmed populace can be easily subdued by a
well-armed government. I bite my tongue, considering that while nobody
invited Gene to share this person's unrebutted opinion, nobody invited
me, either. His intent was merely to share a novel view.
My view is that this opinion is unadulterated bullshit.
Education of the population, encouragement of independent thinking, and
freedom of the press -- these are the most powerful tools to prevent fascism.
Lethal weapons in citizens' hands will do absolutely no good. Those
weapons would easily be pried from cold, dead hands.
Enough politics.
On our way through Bavaria, we stop at the Wieskirche (Church in the Meadow).
Built around 1756, it is an incredible place. Truly in the middle
of working pasture and rolling hills, the insides are fabulous.
Very upbeat painted scenes, intended to instill hope for salvation.
Extreme ornamentation (i.e., Rococo style). Sorry, no photography
was allowed inside. The outside is unremarkable, other than the dairy
cows strolling around...
As we go south, so does the weather. By the time we reach Reutte
(actually, the hotel
is in nearby Unterpinswang), it's pouring. At Gutshof zum Schluxen
(Hotel Schluxenhof), our room is beautiful. A balcony with flower
planter, a view of the green hills, a bed with down comforters and pillows
(no, the hotel has no synthetic pillows -- damn) a TV with remote control,
and a 3/4 bathroom. This turns out to be the most plush accommodations
of the entire trip, by my judgment.
Dinner:
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Bärlauchcreamsoup, which turns out to be cream of wild garlic.
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Mixed green salad from the salad bar.
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Chunks of tender veal and pasta.
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The piece de resistance: a berry compote (blackberries, raspberries,
and currants) in a thick bed of luscious sabayon. This was the best dessert
so far.
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