"Munich's Deep Freeze with a ..." a Munich Travel Page by richiecdisc

Munich is one of my favorite cities in Europe and one that I seem to return to again and again. Though lacking the grandiose architecture of places like Paris or Budapest, the cultural diversity of Florence or Berlin, or funky counter cultural ambience of Amsterdam, this relaxed big city lures you with an old world charm that avoids cliché with a mixture of great open spaces and a workman attitude towards having fun. Sure, this capital of Bavaria has its fair share of museums and awe-inspiring buildings but they seem to take a back seat to the simpler pleasures in life. Set in close proximity to the Bavarian Alps and Forrest, a love of the outdoors seems to invade the very souls of its fair citizens as is evidenced by a high prevalence of city parks. They have even managed to combine this outdoorsy lifestyle with their love of food and beer in the uniquely Bavarian beer gardens where you are often allowed to picnic with your own food as long as you purchase a beverage, and of course, the beverage of choice is beer. Though a picturesque city, I have never managed to capture it on film. My college sophomore trip in 1978 found me arriving during Oktoberfest with no camera and a rather singular agenda: PARTY. Ten years later, I traveled in a more relaxed mode with a girlfriend rather than college cronies, and discovered the charms of the beer gardens aglow in springtime weather. I had a simple camera but no skill in using it and other things seemed to get in the way. I made a brief solo stop there in 1999 but it was strictly a beer pilgrimage having read about a handful of places that I just had to go and knowing that I left my good camera behind in anticipation of potentially “forgetting” it somewhere. ;=) So, it was with great anticipation that I returned this past September, finally to capture this magnificent city on film. I was going to Slovenia and Munich was a far cheaper entry point than Ljubljana so it appeared the perfect opportunity. Besides, there were some VTers to meet and as luck would have it, it was Oktoberfest! Of course, that is where the luck ran out. The weather was bleak my four days there and the only thing I managed to capture was a lot of fun. You can see the results of that trip by clicking on the Munich Madness travelogue to the right. As luck would have it, I got another chance at Munich. I returned at Christmas after being away for only six weeks. I went looking for love rather than beer this time and though things did not turn out anywhere like I planned, it worked out just fine. As did the photos, I was blessed not only with luck in love, but also with some lovely weather and here are the results.