Munich

It's been a month since our whirlwind trip to Munich. We fumbled our way through the rail system from the airport to the B&B and explored the city mostly on foot. I planned each day and Katie was a willing patient helper. Then one day, the day we needed to take the U-Bahn (subway) across town for an appointment with a research librarian at the Munich Archive, I brought the wrong map. I was fired from my job as chief map-holder and navigator. Katie took over as human GPS system, guiding our exploration of the city with (the correct) map.

I can close my eyes and picture it again. Church bells rang each morning and again at noon and almost all day Sunday. Cobblestone streets lined a pedestrian area in the old part of town which included medieval gates, towers and archways. Bicycles shared our sidewalks. The weiner schnitzel, sauerbraten and kaesespatzle were terrific but we steered away from the ones that needed the German-English dictionary (Hundsfleisch- omigosh).

After a couple of days of German-tourist-immersion, we spied the Hard Rock. English speaking waiter. English menu. The Who on video. We ate hamburgers that night. It was just the touch of home we needed.

Overall, the trip was completely worthwhile for me. The librarian at the city archive let us study a large map from 1935 which included streetcar lines and city landmarks. She pulled dozens of photos from the late thirties for us, photos of the streetcars, parades and clothing, one of which tells a story which I think will be an entire chapter. I got a feel for the city, the lay of the land and the heartiness of the people. I hope to bring Munich to life as Sophie's story is told.