Friday
August 6, 1982 - Munich
Up bright
and early this morning after a good night’s sleep – didn’t even hear the band
go home past our window. We were in the dining room by 07.00 for breakfast
which was a serve yourself affair with cold
meat and cheese.
We were
ready so early that we decided to walk to the station instead of catching a taxi.
I need the exercise too – not being able to run in the morning and eating all
day means that I am putting on weight – and how! I would love to have a shot of
the “safari” when we set off in line astern with our baggage on wheels- what a
sight. (Wheeled baggage was not in use at
this time, so we each had a small foldable trolley to put our suitcases on.
They worked well, but the trolleys were a nuisance as an additional item of
hand baggage.)
We got to
the station in very goodtime and changed a bit of money to get our tickets. We
are about $25 over budget which is not bad considering some of the major
purchases we have made. The train, which came in about 08.40, turned out to be
a sleeper from Italy,
so Rab was worried about finding a place. We got one without any problem which
we had to share with a couple of young German lovers. Rab couldn’t keep her
eyes off them, they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. The scenery was
less spectacular than yesterday but, for me at least, more interesting. Matt never pays too much
attention to the passing show and Rab lost interest early today.
We arrived
at Munich on time at 11.16 and then the fun and
games started because none of the taxi drivers had heard of the
Intercontinental Garden Hotel where Munich
Re (another large reinsurance company
with whom we did business) had booked us in – and I didn’t have the street
address. I finally had to phone Munich Re to find where the hell the place was.
Even then my pronunciation fooled one of the local blokes. As luck would have
it though the next cabbie was an African-American from New York who was over here trying to break
into the opera and he knew exactly where the hotel was. So all was well that
ended well.
It is a nice
hotel – a bit more expensive than we have been paying but at DM180 for the three of us, still good value. We have
a small suite with a fold down bed. This incidentally caused a minor incident
this evening at bed time as both Rab and Matt wanted to sleep on it! Three
guesses as to who won that contest. (At
this distance in time it is impossible to guess why either would have wanted to
have this bed – neither remembers.)
By the time
we got here, with all the messing around it was 12.15 so I just had time to get
changed into my suit and shoot off to the Munich Re offices for lunch. They are
not far from here, but of course the buildings are neither signposted nor
clearly numbered.(There was a corporate
view around this time that identifying corporate buildings would increase the
risk of terrorist attack.) They are also security proofed so I spent about
ten minutes trying to get into the wrong building. I finally found the right
entrance and it turned out to be just as well that I was late because quite
obviously they were not expecting me at 12.30 – if they were expecting me at
all!
I met Prince
Burchard who is a very pleasant old cock and we had a very nice, if somewhat
light, lunch. Mixed hors d’oevres followed by two very small fillets of fish
and stewed pears accompanied by a small taste of dry white wine. At least I
didn’t get the trots this time. It was quite obvious that although I was made
very welcome, it would be even better if I moved on smartly as my host and the
Prince were both going on holiday today and intended to knock off early. I was
back with Rab and Matt by 14.30. Their meal was better than mine – they had a
nice veal and noodle dish down the road.
 |
| The Marienplatz Clock |
After
unpacking all the cases – so that we could re-pack them as they were getting a
bit lumpy – and Rab doing a bit of hand washing, we set off for the Marienplatz
and the station to sort out our tickets for Heidelberg on Sunday or Monday. We got to
Marienplatz at about 18.00 after solving the intricacies of travel by the
U-bahn with the help of a passerby. It was just in time for us to see the
famous clock on the cathedral when it started to chime the hour. Groups of
mechanical figures dance and pirouette and the finale is a jousting competition
between two knights one of whom is almost unseated.
 |
| The loving couple! |
We strolled
all the way down Marienstrasse, popping into shops here and there. Matt was
delighted to get Star Wars vehicle at
what he considered was a good price. We got our tickets without much ado and intend to leave for Heidelberg on Sunday at
09.00. We were a bit weary about walking back to the square, where we intended
to look for the Hoffbrau Haus so we caught an S-bahn and made enquiries as to
the HBH location. Setting off for it, I had second thoughts, especially as Matt
is not too keen on what he perceives as ‘rough bars’. We settled in the end for
the Ratkellar underneath the Rathaus and all had Rat Pie! No, only joking, Matt
had Avocado Ritz, Rab had roast sucking pig and I had a Munich sausage. All washed down by a litre
and a half of beer for about DM56.
Good value I reckon.
 |
| The name of this jeweller took us aback. |
Back to the
U-bahn and the hotel for the argy-bargy referred to above and then peace and
quiet as both fell asleep.
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