MUNICH

Thursday
Today we got up really early and left the house since Sandy had to go to work. She took me to Nicky’s house, which is about 45 minutes away and I spent the day with Nicky. Since I was still pretty tired I slept a little while and then we went for a walk and to the Frauenkloster with Leonie. The Frauenkloster is an old church/cloister, which still functions today. Most of southern Germany remains to this day Catholic, like Austria. It is mostly in the north that one finds a larger Lutheran population, I believe. Then we went to a café where Leo found a stationary cow to sit on, and Sandy came to join us. We walked home and then got ready to go to Nicky and Thomas’s choir practice. Nicky is celebrating her 10^th year in this choir! (It is not a church choir, just a regular choir). So, we left and Leo figured out that mama was leaving and so she cried, even though she loves her “Tante” (=Aunt) Sandy, who watches her on Thursday evenings. We went to the choir and I was able to sing along with them (I sang the alto part since I always think it is more fun to sing that part), and so did Nicky. I remarked to Nicky that the director looked like he was 16! I was wrong – he was 21. But he was a very good director and he asked me if I was new and planning to come back. I think it would be too far to commute, so I had to decline. The last thing they did was sing a special Bavarian song to a woman who was having a birthday this week. Then after the rehearsal they had a little snack so we stayed and talked with some of the people. Most of the people were old ladies, and it was neat to meet real Bayrische volk there. Then we went back to Nicky’s, packed up and drove back to Sandy’s. I finally got to chat with David, though only on AIM, and I tried to call Kyle to wish him a happy 18^th birthday, but the internet connection is dial up and so it wouldn’t work. It was also World AIDS Day today.

Friday
Today we did NOT get up early, but rather we slept in, which was very nice. We packed up the car and went to the Bayrische Staatsbibliothek, the Bavarian State Library, which has a collection of manuscripts from Ernst Friedrich Koch, a composer who is not very well known. The library is huge and is very impressive from outside and in. I had made arrangments to meet the head of the music collection, Frau Sabine Kurth, who had set aside the Koch documents for me. She was really very kind, and I was able to handle the documents by using special gloves. There was Schimmel on the books (=mold), so you have to be careful when handling it since it can be dangerous. I was not permitted to photograph the manuscripts, but I did find out how to order copies. I was very impressed with how helpful Frau Kurth was. It was a great collection there. As I was leaving I noticed that they were planning an exhibition on some old Hebrew documents from the 16^th century. Sandy also noticed that they were currently having another exhibition on a trek through the middle ages – which is her area of research, so she looked through that and said it was very interesting. We left the library and went to go do some shopping. You’ll never guess where we went. No, really, I’m telling you you’ll never guess…. WalMart! It was unbelievable how big it was. It was actually just as big as any American Walmart, with most of the same departments and variety, but since I haven’t seen a grocery store bigger than a Walgreens in 3 monthes, I was impressed. And I was also tantelized by the fact that everything was in German. Niedrigpreis (basically the equivalent to “Always Low Prices”) is seen everywhere. Judith said she doesn’t usually shop there since here, too, WalMart is known for not treating their employees well. I was so amazed by this place that we were taking video of it, when a man from the management came up to us and asked us not to take video, so we stopped. Well, I COULD be an American spy! Well, we bought some stuff and then left for the Christkindlmarkt again. We drank some Glühwein, drank some coffee at Starbucks (yes, there’s also Starbucks here) and then headed back home, where Sandy and Judith used their clothes dryer (they made me promise to mention that SOME Europeans DO have dryers!). I guess it was kind of an “American” day.

MUNICH VISIT

Tuesday

Sandy, Nicky, Leo and I went to Garmish-Partenkirchen today to visit the Richard Strauss museum and library. Sandy lives in between Munich and Garmish, so Nicky came over with Leo and we took off from there. It took about 45 minutes to get there and when we arrived we parked and walked around the small mountain town. Garmish is well known for the fact that it contains the Zugspitze, which is Germany’s highest peak (in the Alps), and also for the fact that it hosted the 1936 winter Olympics. We found the Richard Strauss museum at Strauss’s villa and went in to look around. It was really fantastic and we got to lots of great Strauss memorabilia including a large press plate of “Morgen,” from the Vier Letzte Gesänge, and also Strauss’s score to the opera Salome. We went up to see the library, which has a huge collection of Strauss scores and books about Strauss. The manuscripts are possessed by the surviving children of Strauss, who keep a tight hold over them.

After that we went to a café in Garmish and drank some coffee. We walked almost all the way back to the car (a long walk) and then discovered that one of Leonie’s shoes was gone, so Sandy and I went back to look for it. She found it outside the café! Then we went back home and ate dinner with Judith. Another fun-filled day.

Wednesday
Sandy and I got up and made our way into Munich via the Schnellbahn (train) to see the Alte Pinakothek, which has many paintings from the 14^th through 16^th centuries. They have a great collection of Albrecht Durer and Lucas Cranach paintings and also works from the mannerist style. Lots of Flemish paintings from the Renaissance, too. I enjoyed it very much.

After that we went to a Classical music CD store called, “Becker” where I was tempted by the largest collection of Classical music CDs I have ever seen in my life – no joke! Not even the Tower Records in Chicago can hold a candle to this place. OMG – I wanted to buy everything. Then we went to a cool women’s book store, and to the Black Bean Café for some coffee and to chil out. I went to meet Jule Simmich then (who was also an exchange student with us in 1993). She looks exactly the same as the last time I saw here. It was so good to catch up with her – we had a nice time. She studied law and works at a bank now. Just got her own apartment last year and has a boyfriend who is finishing his law degree now. We walked around the Christkindlmarkt near the Rathaus and saw lots of really interesting x-mas arts, crafts, Gluehwein, and goodies. Then we parted ways but not before taking a picture by the big x-mas tree in the main square. We went home on the Schnellbahn and talked a little before going to bed. Fun day.