Day 19 – Golden

Beautiful, crisp, clear day to day. White frost on the park across the way and on the car rooves. We rug up and wander into town (about fifteen minutes brisk walk), and start to get the lie of the land.

At twleve o’clock, the clock tower in Mariatz Platz puts on a show and, although it’s Sunday and the shops are closed, hundreds are gazing up to see what transpires. There’s oohs and ahhs when one knight bests the other in a jousting competition and when, finally, a traditional dance takes place.

We hop into a beer hall for lunch, which is absolutely packed. I should note at this point that, having possibly over-done the dairy thing, what with all the cheese and all, I’m having a bit of a detox day. It’s an ancient and traditional food free, ‘black coffee and red wine’ detox. So Di has some awesome looking bacon loaf and mustard (like the butcher at Jindabyne used to make), and a beer and I, coffee and red wine.

You’ve seen beer halls and this place had all the expected hallmarks; men in lederhausen, buxom maids in checked shirts with white frilly bits, and lots of beer. Testamant to the volume of beer consumed here is the men’s bathroom containining no less than sixteen stand alone urinals!

After a couple of reds, the detox was progressing nicely and we wandered through the broad plazas and down a small alleyway now and then. We’ve done a gasquillian churches but it’s always worth sticking your head in. Munich’s Frauenkirche had some really different stained glass – purples and blues rather than the traditional reds, blues and greens.

In Odeonsplatz this young tenor belted out ‘O sole mio and Nessun Dorma while we watched on shifting from leg to leg to keep warm – it was really beautiful.

As the afternoon turned golden we arrived at the English garden. Munich and their dogs were out in force enjoying the winter sun, hundreds strolling, throwing frizbies, watching the geese land on the ponds and feeling the warmth on their backs and faces.

This bloke was playing a piano that you wack the strings with with spoon looking devices, sounded cool. Must’ve had fund dragging it into the park on the gravel paths.

Leaving the park we came across a bunch of crazy German’s surfing a standing wave on the river. There were maybe four or five young men and women on each side and they’d take turns throwing their boards in, jumping on and surfing back and forth for a few minutes before allowing themselves to be swept down stream or wiping out after some trick (three sixties seemed popular). Looked like fun – cold fun (although they all had thick hooded wet suits on.

We leave the english garden on dusk, stop at “Tobias” on Odeonsplatz for a (ridiculously expensive) drink then wend our way back to the main square (still packed) and into a nice restaurant district just south east of the lower town gates.

There’s a nice warm looking pub full of people and big groups checking the menu outside (a good sign) and we wander in. A swiss family see us standing at the bar and invite us to join their table. Mum’s a marathon runner (Interlaaken to Jungfrau! – few hills in that one!), the son is at college and the dad’s a hoot. We talk politics and bushfires and energy – the swiss are big into reducing CO2 – generally becoming more knowledgable and worldy wise as the evening wears on.

They leave and pay our bill, unbeknownst to us, one of those unexpected niceties of travel, and we’re joined by a Spanish dad and son. We have one of those great conversations where someone talks to you passionately and with animation in another language (the dad) then looks to the interpreter (the son) with a ‘tell them’ look. They leave to get some sleep for an early Madrid flight tomorrow, and we’re joined by this lovely German bloke who tells us some great places for New Year’s eve. Actually he was wearing a cravat so we might need to double check some of those.