Day Six - Travel Day from Munich to Berlin

     Today is our traveling day, but we weren't leaving until 5pm so we spent the morning roaming the area surrounding our hotel.

     Our hotel is a well known landmark, The Bayerischer Hof (during our stay Bill became exhausted trying to teach me how to pronounce its name, to no avail.) We've been told the other 3 top spots to stay in Munich are the Mandarin, The 4 Seasons, and a newly built hotel The Charles. The Bayerischer Hof has rooms that vary widely in style, decor, and size... our room was completely paneled in pine wood (even the ceiling) and had an old world feel, Lulu's room next door was black, sleek, and contemporary. I forgot to mention earlier that on our first night here, Bill came dashing up to our room and said, "Get dressed - there is a great band playing downstairs". Lulu and I reluctantly dragged ourselves down to the lounge (it was 10pm) and he was right! There was a group from Atlanta (we got to be buddies with them over the next few days!) that played a million dancing tunes from Motown, Disco, and even some hip hop. Suffice it to say that Lulu stayed for a half hour before turning in...Bill and I danced the night away!!! We ran into the band members at breakfast and asked for their business card...Cindy will be turning 60 in a few short years!!!

     The Bayerischer Hof was the favorite hotel of Michael Jackson - directly across the street is a small park which has several monuments and statues. One of the statues, depicting some general or someone, has been completely taken over by fans and devotees of Michael Jackson. Every night a few of them gather to tidy up the area and relight the candles.

     We decided to get a little fresh air and take a walk around the neighborhood, and we turned the corner only to find ourselves in a huge square, filled with people everywhere going about their day to day business.  It turns out that the square is the center of the Old City, and dates back to the 1300’s.  The square’s name is Marienplatz named for Mother Mary who is patron saint of Munich.  On the square is a gigantic building which serves as the city hall, called Rathaus. 

     Pictured below is a gold statue atop a monument to Mother Mary.  The photo on the far right shows the “Spieluhr” which plays twice a day, at 11:00am and 5:00pm.  Characters emerge and dance to music, like a coo coo clock!

     

     It was highly recommended that we check out the stores on the square, and so we sent Bill on a mission to find out when the “Spieluhr” would be playing (yes, this was clearly a diversionary tactic).  Lulu and I (and eventually Bill) landed in a department store not unlike Saks or Neiman’s, called Oberpollinger.  After-Christmas sales abounded… Meanwhile, Bill found this remembrance carved into the wall of a nearby building – he was here in Munich for the 1972 Olympic Games following his work on the farm… Bill’s dad was Treasurer of the US Olympic Committee at the time and had brought the entire family to Munich which included Bill’s 6 siblings, his mom and dad, and Bill Sr’s nanny, Schatzi. 

     On to the train station bound for the 6 hour ride to Berlin.  Lulu had brought her laptop filled with sitcoms including the first season of Modern Family and 30 Rock.  The man seated in front of Lulu and I kept turning around and glowering at us and shaking his head, and finally complaining, “Will you please stop making so much noise?!!!”

     I will leave it up to your imagination who that man (usually mild mannered and sweet) was…