Fünf Höfe

There is this great little shopping center just north of the Marienplatz called the Fünf Höfe, which means 'Five Courtyards.' It has pricey shops within it, mixed with some decent ones like a branch of Hugendubel (though the English language branch of theirs is just outside of the Fünf Höfe and has been a pretty good resource for up-to-date travel books; still prefer The Readery for fiction, though), a Muji store, and a pretty good Thai restaurant. The wonderful things about it, though, are the five courtyards and various passageways linking them. They are such a stark contrast with the typical indoor mallscapes you would see in the States. It was designed by the previously mentioned firm Herzog and de Meuron. Personally, my favorite is the Prannerpassage which has these small discs, probably 3 inches or so in diameter, embedded flush within the concrete walls, gradually decreasing in density towards the arched ceiling of the two-story space. It's absolutely gorgeous on a sunny day and changes so much during different times of the day especially since the entry-way off of the street is painted with this slight purple color. Definitely worth a stop if you're in the area, and it tends to be my small addition to Kyle's nearly perfected Munich walking tour. Oh, and also, there's an interesting parking garage just down the street that is skinned in some sort of cut-metal:

Genuβ für Leib & Seele

We had a pretty busy weekend, surprisingly. Friday night was movie night - the new James Bond flick - which we both liked very much. Action packed, entertaining, worth the money. Saturday was the perfect day for a museum - cold, damp, drizzly, and generally uck. We've been holding off on museums here in Munich waiting for the crappy weather to arrive, and it finally did. We started with the Alte Pinakothek, and will progress on to the others as winter continues. Rather appropriate musuem, as Saturday was Epiphany, which is a holiday here in southern (Catholic) Germany (yes, all the stores were closed), and we saw plenty of represenatations of the three kings arriving in Bethlehem. Here in Bavaria, various representatives from the churches will also bless homes and business on Epiphany. As one walks around Munich, you will often see '20*C+M+B*07' written in chalk above doorways, which is updated every year. Traditionally, the letters 'C', 'M', 'B' represent the first letters of the names of the wise men, but supposedly it really represents 'Christus Mansionem Benedictat' or 'Christ bless this home.' We had dinner later that night at the traditional Augustiner Brewery - yummm.

On Sunday, we decided to take advantage of the sunshine, and headed out for a day trip to the Andechs Monastery. Of course, by the time we got there is was rather like Saturday, weather wise, but still proved to be a great day. After an hour walk through the woods, up a hill, we arrived at the Church, Brewery, cloisters, etc. on a plateau on top of the hill. On a clear day you can supposedly see the Alps! The photo above is of all of the regulars' mugs, under lock and key until they are ready to use them. We lunched, sampled some of their brews ('good for body and soul'), and in general had a very relaxing afternoon. The stained glass image at left is in one of their brewhalls and reads' Hops and Malt - God's ingredients." We headed back down the hill with the daylight fading behind us. And yup, a bit of sleeping on the train ride back home...

Frohes Neues Jahr!

Happy new year! We're back in Munich, and boy is it cold! Dec. 31st was amazingly gorgeous - high in the 60s - so we took advantage of it and headed out to the Englischer Garten for a great walk. Later that nite we headed over to a party hosted by some American friends. Dinner was great ( a real Turkey to make up for our lack of on Thanksgiving), followed by a great bird's eye view of the fireworks going off all over the city. We have decided that Munch-kins must be pyromaniacs! Fireworks were going off right in the middle of the street, and not just silly old bottle rockets. A great nite, and the holiday gave us a chance to fully recover from jet lag.

Ah, queso...

My favorite is Mag Mud, which we gladly shared with our friends one night. We've also had the opportunity to go to the McKinney Architects holiday party - great to see everyone again, as well as meet the new faces. And other wonderful dinners with friends back here in Austin throughout the week. We've been staying with friends here in Austin, taking up a whole room for well over a week, and are quite grateful.
Now, though, on to our holiday adventures. Hope everyone has a happy holiday season, and best wishes for a wonderful New Year!

Merry Christmas!

The In-Laws Visit

No not the above, but this loverly couple: The creature in the top photo is actually this thing called Krampus which look quite evil and scary. We've encountered them several times recently, along with nearby children crying. Still don't quite understand how you can mix something so evil with something so nice like St. Nick, but ah well.

In any case, we've been having a ball going to Rothenburg and Salzburg, and now Munich, especially with all of the Christmas markets. As always, trains make for a great way to catch up on your sleep.

Tis' the season - prost !