Friday May 31 -- Munich

Very quiet day today -- all I did was walk up from the apartment along the river until I got to the Englischer Gartens. This involved repeating the walk I did a few days ago and then continuing past the museum -- which is on its own island in the middle of the river -- to the north. There's one part of the Gartens on this side of the river that is home to the Angel of Munich statue and the huge Maximilieneum building, which now houses the Bavarian parliament. I strolled through that -- little ponds and woodlands and people on bikes, walking dogs and pushing strollers -- and then headed north again on a long wooded walk beside the river which finally brought me to a big weir. From here I was able to cross on to another island, more deserted, which seems to be a kind of adventure playground -- there were a bunch of kids there at something called a 'kindergartenwald'. And still I pressed on, seeing almost nobody but squirrels and woodpeckers, until I reached another bridge that brought me temporarily back into the city at the impressive St Luke's Church.

One more bridge brought me at last into the main Gartens, which are enormous -- at least four times the size of Centennial Park. It's all very flat, and bounded by two tributaries of the Iser. A third flows through the middle. In fact I suspect the reason it hasn't been built on is that it's one big flood plain. I was worried when the sky darkened and it began to rain, but my weather app assured me that it was light rain and that it would end in exactly fifteen minutes, which it did. German rain is very precise.

It was very pleasant scenic walking, although to an Australian there's something disconcerting about being surrounded by clumps of dense woodland. People emerge from the trees, whizz by and disappear again. Voices come from places that you can't see. After an hour or so I was quite glad to re-emerge into the city.

It was about two o'clock, so I thought I would spend the last part of the afternoon at the Neue Pinakothek, but when I got there I discovered it was closed 'for several years' for renovations. I really think Google Maps should have picked that up. But the Bavarian Historical Museum was not too far away, so I staggered there instead and used up my remaining strength looking at artworks. I had thought there would be more history and less art, but there were a few interesting things there; ancient wooden models of Munich from the 18th century; maps and globes, armour and weaponry, and some furniture in addition to the paintings and carvings. And once again I had many of the galleries entirely to myself.

Home again after a coffee and a 'Bananenkuche' in a chain bakery. I thought the Bananenkuche was the strudel-like slice at the front, but it turned out to be half a banana on a marshmallow and chewy biscuit base, all covered with chocolate -- think of a banana Wagon Wheel. We live and learn.

Love to all,

Jon.

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