June 16 - A festive day in the city and the beer garden

This morning we had a bus tour of the city with a local guide, Adele.  We saw the three remaining gates of the city wall (I only got pictures of two of them), 

rode out to Nymphenburg palace which has 600 acres of park and gardens and was a summer palace for the Wittelsbachs, the local royal family, 

and drove by the Olympic park where we saw several of the facilities used for the 1972 games.  All of the arenas are still in use today, and the Olympic housing was actually built and sold as condominiums but then first leased for use as the Olympic Village during the games.   

We drove past the BMW factory and museum, where, if you buy a car they turn the delivery into a ceremony where they give the car a dramatic entrance and present you withthe keys.  About 45 % of the city was destroyed during World War II but many of the buildings that were rebuilt were done in their original style.

We finished our tour back within the walls of the city at the Odeonsplatz, outside the (King's) Residenz and the Opera House.  From there we made our way down into Marienplatz in time for the 11:00 am "performance" of the Neues Althous (City Hall) Glockenspiel, which finishes with three crows of the mechanical rooster, although he has become a little hoarse over time.  The rooster is at the apex of the verdigris glockenspiel structure:

This weekend Munich is celebrating the 855th anniversary of its founding, so there is a big festival in the city center.  It's rather like a huge Occasion for the Arts or many of our other local fests, with lots of music stages, crafts and food vendors.

I spent an hour listening to a great Irish band, Burning Biscuit, who played a little bit of swing and blues, along with the usual jigs and reels. 

Evidently there is a Bavarian-Irish connection:

 I found a perfect spot in the shade and enjoyed a bottle of Apfelschorle (thanks to Marge Edwards for that tip).  And of course I had to pick up the requisite bratwurst and head over to the traditional Bavarian music stage, both for a little local flavor.

There were people in all sorts of dress--lots of couples strolling along in traditional dirndls and lederhosen--as well as diverse other costumes. 

Here were some dancers taking a break:

These folks came strolling by the Irish band performance.

And I'm not sure what their role was:

Booths of crafts people abounded, some demonstrating and others selling their wares.  It was warm and sunny, perfect weather, and the crowds were out enjoying the day.

Then in the late afternoon we changed into one of our performance costumes, black top and pants and a black and white jacket of our own choosing with turquoise jewelry, and boarded our bus for a party with the Harmunichs barbershop chorus at the Augustiner beer garden.  The chorus greeted us and took us to a shady area where they had reserved two long sets of tables.  We ordered our beverages (beer only comes in 1 liter mugs on Sundays--no half-liters today!) 

and then we were led to a stage where we performed four of our songs for the nearby tables (the garden has a capacity of 5,000 in a lovely park-like setting).  We added Viel Gluck at the end for an audience member with a birthday, and he was most impressed by the fact that we sang to him in German.

When we got back to our tables, large pretzels, similar to ones seen earlier today at the festival, about the size of your forearm, had been set on our table and soon our food orders began arriving. 

For me it was Schweineschnitzel and kartoffelsalat.  The waiter topped off the meal with glasses of schnapps.  When asked what kind--pear, apple, cherry?--he said it was "oopsla".   I never did figure out what that was....

The Harmunichs chorus took a turn performing for us.  With only eleven singers there, they did an amazing mix of modern harmonies and barbershop.

Then the owner invited us to tour the beer "lagerkeller", where beer would be kept cool during the warm months, from St. Michael's day in September to St. George's day in April  (now I know where our local microbrewery got their name) in the days before refrigeration.  I believe he said it was the only remaining beer cellar in Munich.  

We ended the evening sharing songs with the Harmunichs, joining together in We'll Meet Again, How We Sang Today, and That's What Friends are For.

Well, it's early to bed tonight because tomorrow's "good morning" call will come at 6:00 am so we can leave by 7:30 in order to make our reservation time at Neuschwanstein Castle.

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