While Rowan was in class (he is currently studying German so to be able to translate the few medieval documents he will need for his PhD), I was instructed to go to the Alte Pinacothek, or the old museum of art. A hearty thumbs up for this museum. I liked that they didn't have descriptions or tags next to the art; every frame had just a title and the artist's name. But, with your ticket, you get a free audio guide, and almost every painting had a very thorough description. It was a very user-friendly, easy way to move through the museum. I came to the conclusion, after wandering their huge Rubens collection, that I don't like Rubens. Pity. But I did like the rest of the collections. Met up with Rowan and went to the amazingly opulent Scholss Nymphanburg. Gawked at every room in the palace, and then strolled arm in arm through the gardens to all the "small" palaces that either of us would easily take as a home. Went into the chapel where you had to put on these silly slippers so not to ruin the floor. A rechoreographed version of the Ice Capades was necessary. Had wonderful conversations about Rowan's amazing life (Rowan is truly amazing, if you haven't been able to tell yet) and how he has met QE II, the person, not the ship, twice. Wow. I fully declare to the world that Rowan is wonderful and that we all must watch him, because he will be very famous one day. Even if it is in the tiny community of medieval trade history. As long as I can build your house...yes?
Got back into town and Rowan had this deep desire to try to get scalped tickets to the one night performance of "Roberto Deveraux" at the opera house starring the amazing Edita Gruberova. I am not up to snuff on opera as I should be, so Rowan told me that this role, Elizabeth I, could only be played by such a diva soprano as she and that people were making pilgrimages to see this. After seeing the people in tuxes and formal gowns pulling day luggage behind them, clearly having just arrived from the train station, I said, well, let's try to get tickets...and we did! Wonderful tickets in the front row of the top balcony. Perfect for seeing and hearing the performance. I will admit...I am now a believer in this Edita Gruberova. From the minute she walked onstage, she had the presence of a diva, and the voice...well, it was amazing! The die hard fans, aka us and a few others, stayed to give her numerous curtain calls. What a fabulous night!
Rowan went away for the rest of my time in Munich, which was a very sad parting. Rowan's notes guided me through Italy day by day (hour by hour), but having the real Rowan was quite a treat! However, while being led around, gawking at facades, one does not really get a sense of the city's layout. So I decided to take a free tour given by another amazing guy names Ozzie. He is worth going to Wombats in Munich and taking this tour. You will know him when you see him. He exudes fabulousness. To give you an idea, he started the tour outside the train station and screamed, "Hey! I'm a big, tall, black guy screaming the words Hitler and Nazi all the time. I've never had a problem! Munich must be safe." Wow. He gave us a great history of Munich from the very beginnings up to the Nazi regime, which started in Munich, by the way. You would never know because the city has tried to wash over everything to do with WWII...only a few hints on the ground. You wouldn't necessarily know that it was even bombed to smitherins, because they rebuilt everything in the older style of architecture. We had a good debate on whether that was a healthy or unhealthy way for the city to progress. Pros and cons to both sides. After giving Ozzie a huge hug (and a good tip), I headed to the Residenz, the city palace of the monarchs that was rebuilt in most of its glory after WWII. Headed over to the English Gardens, apparently the biggest park in Europe (ever city seems to claim this!), and wandered for a few hours there.
The next day was Disney princess day! I think I have now covered all of them, making me extremely happy. Of course, I am talking about a day trip to Fussen to see King Ludwig's fantasty castle, Neuschwanstein, used by Disney for the Sleeping Beauty castle in a few parks. First of all, Neuschwanstein, and it's older sibling, Hohenswangau, are located in the most beautiful setting in all of Germany. Second of all, Ludwig and Max, his father, were crazy, but the kind of crazy I would like as an architect. For example, the ceiling of their bedroom in Hohenswangau couldn't just be painted with a night sky and stars. Their stars had to be translucent with lights on the floor above so they would twinkle as the king fell asleep. They also had a hole cut above the bed, and a disc would slide around to mimick the correct phases of the moon. In Neuschwanstein, Ludwig had a bed made that looks somewhat like a carved wooden wedding cake that took four carvers four years to complete. The entire castle is decorated with allustions to all of Wagner's operas, Ludwig was a huge fan, so he hired a scenic designer to design the castle and the interiors for him. I tell you, scenic design is where the true creativity is at.
The next morning was spent at the outdated Deutches Museum, or science and technology museum. I have an issue with science museums because they are never updated fast enough to be interesting or useful. The computer section still was displaying a huge box from 1989 calling it the most recent of computer design. Hmmm. Some items don't change, like the history of musical instruments or a timeline of breakthroughs in chemistry before 1950, but I felt like I was reading an introductory history of science book (in German) from 1980. Don't waste your time.
But go to Munich for opera, opulence, and of course, Ozzie. And be sure to look at the ground, because that is where you will find the only marks of WWII.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment