A Great Excuse to Tour my City

After Zurich was Easter. My Easter was fairly low key this year. I went with Sam to the Munich International Community Church at 4:00 for their Easter service and afterwards went out to eat with the usual group of folks from church. In the past two times I had been there I had really appreciated how welcoming and friendly people were and I decided spending Easter in with people I’ve gotten to know a bit would be nice. It was.

The next day, Monday, my friend Brad from U of M came to visit for a bit. He’s currently studying in Zaragoza in Spain but had been given a week off on account of the Easter holidaying. With that time he came to visit me. Hooray! I’ve been rather fond of telling people that having visitors gives me a chance to see things in Munich I have yet to see. Brad’s visit fit that bill exactly.

Once Brad had made it safely to my room and dropped off his stuff, we ventured off to the city center for a bit of sight seeing. In doing so I finally got my aerial view of Munich. Take a looksie:






We walked through the Englischer Gartens, in all it’s naked-sunbather glory. Got another nice view of the city:



And went into the Frauenkirche, one of Munich’s most recognizable landmarks.






There are a lot of important Munich and Church figures buried in the Frauen Kirche. On top of Louis IV's (he was a Holy Roman Emperor) grave, in the back corner of the church, was a sculpture-clad sarcophagus that looked a bit like a wheel-less carriage. Here here:




One of the pieces of folklore about the church involves a story about the devil and the church windows. I can’t remember it all that well, but it has something to do with the devil making a deal with the builder that no windows were to be built into the church. When one stands in a particular spot at the entrance to the church they cannot see any of the church windows because they are blocked by pillars. As legend has it the devil saw this view and let the church be consecrated, only to take a step forward and see everything. In anger he left his footprint at the spot where you can't see any of the windows. It looks like this:



After a day of touring we went into the University area to eat some good German food before jumping then to the film museum where we saw a “Dirty Harry” movie. The film museum has been on a bit of a Clint Eastwood kick of late and, consequently, so have we.

Stay tuned team, more to come! Soon! Hopefully!?

"Did you take Tram No. 7 to Heaven?"

My peoples. Once again I am writing a post with two weeks hindsight as I try to catch up with more contemporary adventures. My job-ing has since finished and my schooling has just begun and the past two weeks or so have been a whirlwind of transition and trying to fit errands and other tasks in between enjoying the wonderful European spring.

So as to not confuse me (and you maybe) I think I'll jump right into my re-cap of the week containing April the 9th.

I finished working that week with a Monday and a Tuesday of overtime and two days of vacation. In the usual ironic twist at the end of my jobs I had more to do in these last two days then I would usually have any other time previously. It is nice to feel needed though. I had spent the week before building a 3D model of a wind tunnel and building in AutoCAD that Jacobs was proposing to have built in Sweden. I had to but the finishing touches on that and make somewhere around 50 images showing the building at different angles and, in some cases, cut through. At the end of it all they offered to take me back later if I wanted during this summer or if they needed help with the model I built. Kinda cool I guess.

Bye Jacobs!



I left work that day with the sun setting on the first part of my time here and the recently arrived spring breeze and orange light filled me, as I walked south through the industrial park, with a satisfying sense of the unique promise in the months to come.



So work was done, horray! But there was no time to celebrate and relax for the likes of me and Sam because the very next morning, at 7:12, we left the Munich Hauptbahnhof carried southwest to Zurich in ever-neutral Switzerland. Our train took us over rivers and really beautiful alpine lakes as it drove towards the snow-capped peaks looming in the distance. Zurich itself sits on a lake (Lake Zurich) in the foothills of the alps. Overall a very nice sight to see.

We arrived in Zurich at around 11:30 and set off semi-immediately to our hostel on the outside of town. Zurich public transport in only trams and buses, which offers a really good way to see the city while traveling places. The tram we took to the hostel was Tram No. 7, which made me chuckle as I thought about the Jens Lekman song of the same title. No connection otherwise.

The hostel was pretty nice. I had never been to a hostel before and didn't really know what to expect, but this was nicer than the hostels in stories I hear. We stayed in a 4 person dorm in a very new looking and clean hallway with spotless bathrooms and showers. Breakfast was provided too. The fact that we were about 10 min outside of the city center probably contributed to this cleanliness.

We shared our little 4 bed room with a Buddhist guy from Brazil; he was certainly an interesting fellow. On the first morning, as we were getting ready in the other room, we heard him doing his morning chant/prayer/meditation thingy. Wacky.

By now, I'm sure, you'd like to see pictures. I really like having the chance to view cities from high; I feel like it's a really important part of feeling a city and I like to think about similar places in Ann Arbor and Cleveland. Anyway, Sam an I climbed into the tower of the Grossmünster (which means Great Minister) in the center of town. That's this one:



Zurich sits on the banks of the river Limmat and Lake Zurich, with the lake feeding the river. The city sits on both sides of the river and there were several bridges connecting the banks. It all has a really nice European feel to it.






What a fine town indeed.

Another thing we liked a lot was all the decorative/drinkable water fountains everywhere:




We were really skeptical at first but after seeing lots of people drink directly from these fountains we were fairly well convinced it was ok. I am now a huge fan of having drinking fountains everywhere; it's awesome!

The next morning we hit the town again. First we found James Joyce. He was dead:



He was also a statue:



We went to their art museum too. I liked it. They had a Rothko and a van Gogh and some other single tokens from important painters, which is nice to see. I do, however, want to see some of the big Rothkos in London. Soon.

As we walked around town we saw what looked to me like the inclines in Pittsburgh. We decided to ride one and see if we could take us to another fine scenic overlook. Instead it took us to the Doder Grand Hotel, a fancy-schmancy place indeed. I just looked at the room rates, the cheapest room you can get is a single for 350 euro! Goodness.



To get in you walk down a long underground hallway lined with display boxes full of fancy suits, watches, and jewelry. The place was really nice inside. Being under-dressed for such an establishment Sam and I pretended to work for Google, thinking that internet businessmen might dress like us. I don't think it really mattered that we were there; we just felt like being goofy.

After all that Sam went off to see Tolstoy’s SOMETHING in one of the Zurich theaters. Normally I would have gone along but I really was not up to trying to sit through a play I know nothing about in a language in which I am not yet competent as last time that resulted in pure frustration, exhaustion, and grumpiness on my part. I instead opted to walk around the city and the lake as the sun set and nighttime crept in. Here’s some Zurich by dusk and by night:








I took a stroll down the lake for a bit then worked my way northwest into town once more. At one point I stumbled across a big party going on in what looked to me like a schoolyard playground. Other than that, nothing too exciting.

The next day, Good Friday, we awoke reasonably early to prepare for our trip back. We had both intended to by some chocolates and the like on our way out but soon found everything closed and thus could not. Before leaving we walked along the river one last time. Then we were off.




What a nice a town. Zurich is definitely not very touristy. Instead I see it as the kind of place best suited for hanging out with friends and just living.

Our journey back that day took a different route than our train on Wednesday had taken because, while searching for tickets, we had found some very exciting possibilities, namely a boat ride. Instead of a direct train home we rode instead to the shores of the Bodensee, crossed by boat, and then worked our way back to Munich. The trip took no more than half an hour more than the direct route would have, so we figured it would definitely be worthwhile.

We only spent about 45 minutes on the boat but that was plenty of time for me to feel like I was riding a ferry on Lake Erie again, though Sandusky does not have any old church steeples visible away from shore.





All in all, a very good trip and a great way to spend my hard earned vacations days!

More to come, more to come.

What a long train-ride.

Still on the train (make sure you read the entry below first). (I was when I started this one at least)

Last weekend all 24 of us took another daytrip out to Regensburg, a fairly sizeable town about ¾ of the way to Nürnberg. During the middle ages the town was very important for the salt trade and as the seat of one of the German bishops. The town had very little strategic significance in the 1940’s and thus did not share in the obliteration by bombing that Munich and Nürnberg would endure. As a result, the centuries worth of buildings, bridges, and churches have survived to this day for us to see and explore.

Compared to Murnau or Lengriss, Regensburg is an active city with a lot going on; I really liked it.

The first thing you see as you arrive in Regensburg is also an important navigational landmark, the Cologne-esqe cathedral:





We would go inside later on in the day so, for the sake of being mildly chronological, I will save the inside pictures for later.

From the Cathedral we worked our way towards the town’s Lutheran Church, seen here:


Onward we went to the Danube and the wonderful old bridge seen here:






We went out onto the middle of the bridge for a great view of the city and the buildings lining the river.

We then had two hours free for lunch so a bunch of us decided sat down at Wurstkuchl by the river. I have been variably told that this restaurant is the oldest “fast-food” restaurant in the world and the first place to serve bratwurst. Ever. It was really really good. Check it out:



After lunch was the Cathedral tour. The place was really impressive:







After looking at these pictures for a bit I've decided that they do not do this place justice. I think I may say that every time I post pictures; be aware.

This cathedral was started in the 1200’s but, like the Kölner Dom, the spires were not finished until the mid-1800’s. I was really struck by how elaborate and ornate the place was, considering the majority of it had been built between 1200 and 1550. Those Middle Aged Germans deserve some commendation.

After touring the cathedral for a bit the group moved on to a building next door, moving quite quickly I might add, and I missed everyone leave as I continued to check stuff out in the church. I found everyone again in little time but it was really strange how quickly I was lost.

From the Cathedral we walked west to circle the city’s palace and end finally at the palace’s Lutheran Church. This church has a really beautiful interior, which I wish I could show you all but the service was going on and they wouldn’t let you take pictures. I’m ok with that though. Palace:




At this point the tour was “officially” over, but Patricia gave us the option of staying longer on our own if groups of 5 could be formed to use the Bayern Tickets we had from our trip up. She then asked if anyone was interested in staying and I and 4 other raised our hands. Perfect.

One of the newly formed group of 5, another Chris (!), recommended that we stop by the town brewery, the Fürstliches Brauhaus, by the palace. He had been to Regensburg several times before and really wanted to stop by and enjoy some of his favorite points in the city.

As we sat at Fürstliches drinking a really delicious Weißbier Chris told us all about his lengthy and fairly interesting connection to Bavaria here. Four or five years ago he first set foot in Munich as a high-school exchange student. Over the course of his stay he would meet and begin to date a German girl from Munich, a relationship that did not end when he went back home to Maine. Between then and now he had managed to keep in good contact with this girl and would visit, for months at a time, for the next few years. Then, as a journalism student now in his junior year at a college whose name I’ve forgotten, he decided to return to Munich to study abroad. That’s some impressive commitment. As a result, of course, he is fluent in German and knows the city really well. Crazy!

After the brewery Kyle, one of the newer JYMers, and I climbed up into the tower of a church for a really great view of this fine city. It was a really great way to cap off a pretty solid trip.






Sorry for the delay on that one team; I’m gonna hunker down today and try to get through at least my Zurich trip and hopefully into what I saw last week. Cherrio!