Art, parks, and a trip through the Alps

So no big news from Friday. It was a travel day on the train. Next time, I would like to stop and see Verona and Innsbruck, 2 cities we passed through on the train.

Yesterday, Astrid and I went the the Neue Pinakotek, an art museum that includes modern and contemporary art. I’m a fan of some modern art, such as Die Brücke, Biedermeier, Jugendstil (art nouveau) and surrealism. The contemporary art of the last 30-50 years, not so much.

The collection at the Neue Pinakotek was started in the 19th century by Ludwig I and expanded by his son, Maximilian. Max´s son Ludwig II didn´t do such a great job, but then right after the turn of the 20th century, a new curator really built up the collection. It now includes some of my favorite artists — Klee, Kandinsky, Picasso, etc.

One thing I noticed though, is that all the artists´self-portraits are non-smiling, sometimes downright grim. Weren´t these guys ever happy? My guess is “no” since WWI and WWII influenced them all.

After that, we went shopping along Munich’s main pedestrian mall, and took a subway to the city’s Englischer Garten. It’s an enormous public park opened 200 years ago as a gift from the royals to the public. Until then, such recreational parks were only provided to royal families. This park is bigger than Central Park in New York.

What makes this very Bavarian is that there are several bier gartens throughout the park. One has a large gazebo with tiered roofs reminiscent of Chinese-style roofs. Sure enough, it´s called something like Chinezische biergarten. At this biergarten, you can sit and have beer and pretzels while watching your kids on the playground.

Where was Doug all this time? Not shopping with us or enjoying art. He and Timo were at the Bayern Munich soccer game. Doug was in heaven. He took lots of pix and video. Sadly, Bayern lost. But it was still everything Doug had imagined. He had never been to a soccer game with that many fans in attendance: 69,000-plus.

When we all came together at around 6 p.m., we went to Timo´s grandparents for a traditional Bavarian meal of leberkase (some kind of pork), pretzels, mustard, and yes, beer. This timing was unusual for our hosts because they usually eat their “hot” meal at lunch.

Timo´s grandmother, who is chatty and sweet and fusses over everyone, asked Doug if he had a nice grandmother. I think she would have volunteered, but we assured her that he has 2 nice grandmothers. She is so cute!

Today, Astrid and I traveled to Salzburg and back. We went through the Alps to get here, and the craggy, snowcapped mountains are breathtaking. Salzburg is a lovely city, complete with Sound of Music sites and Mozart’s birthplace. My descriptions can’t do justice to this elegant old city. So I’ll post photos when we get back. This was actually the second visit for me to Salzburg. I visited with my Aunt Carmen during my semester abroad in Vienna.

Tomorrow is our last full day. We will mostly be doing last-minute things like buying German candy and packing. I hope to stock up on my favorite Mozartkugeln. Mozart’s cafe in Clintonville sells a version of this candy, but my favorite is only here.

It’s been a great trip, but I’m looking forward to getting home. I miss everyone, especially Will and the girls.

Best to everyone.

Tchuss!

Christine