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.