Typical and the untypical Bavaria

We arrived in Munich to a fresh snowfall, and were once again thankful for German efficiency.  The train system was well organized and naturally punctual.  We arrived at the Hauptbahnhof, the main train station, without a clue which exit to take.  We sorted ourselves out and were soon at our hotel, which was a short walk away.  What we immediately noticed about our neighborhood was not the so-called red-light district that surrounds the train station (and which was seemingly benign) but that everything around us was Turkish.  Kebab and schwarma shops were mixed in with produce stalls and hotels.  There were Turkish flags and signs everywhere.  When we went grocery shopping, we found our favorite olives, sesame nuts, and Turkish delights.  Our apartment room was comfortable and spacious.  Sure enough, the only television shows on were also Turkish.  In the mornings, we had a typical Turkish breakfast of rolls, feta cheese, olives, and meats, along with yogurt, fruit, and apple tea.

Determined to brave the colder-than-expected weather, we took the train north to Dachau.  Outside the lovely town sat the infamous concentration camp.  We spent part of the afternoon in the museum, which spelled out in detail the history of the twelve-year-old camp.  It was really too bitterly cold to walk through the existing buildings.  The grey harsh weather even brought more solemnity to our visit.

Later that evening, we visited Liz’s brother, wife, and two kids at a local Thai restaurant.  It was a lovely visit that ended late, which helped our body clocks start to regulate.

Yesterday, we spent the entire afternoon in the old part of the city.  Still cold, we ducked into a half dozen churches varying from the Romanesque to Rococo styles over the past seven hundred years.  We admired the stained glass windows in the Rathaus, the government hall, and even found windows of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  We admired and tried on wool hats and sweaters.  We strolled through Marienplatz and the Farmers’ Market, trying samples of pork products, sauces, and bread.  Beautiful fruits, vegetables, and flowers filled the stalls even in the dead of winter.  We seemed to be the only tourists although there were plenty of people milling around.

There are foods and customs unique to Bavaria.  Under the blue and white checkered flags of the region, we started with weissewurst (boiled white sausages) that have their own special sweet grain mustard and are eaten without the casings.  We ate large salted brezels (pretzels) with another brown mustard.  While at the Hofbrauhaus, we drank Dark Radlers, which is their dark beer mixed with lemonade.  Radlers are not solely Bavarian but the biergarten/halle setting is.  We drank weissbiers at the Augustinerhaus, another Munich brewer, while enjoying the music and local color.

It was snowing again this morning, as we travelled by train southeast to Garmisch and into the Alps.  I felt like I was inside of a snow globe as we passed through idyllic villages.  The sun came out as we entered Austria and the immensity of the mountains took our breath away.  The snow was pristine and sparkled in the late morning sunlight.