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x_losIt was rainy on Friday, and the rain only condescended to condense into snow for a cold second. This made walking around looking at Art Nouveau buildings more unpleasant than it ought to have been; in future, I'll try to plan more inside, sitting down activities to break up days and in case of inclement weather.
I was about to go to the flea market, but luckily before trekking out there I discovered that the all-German website (and only the all-German website) specifies that it's closed this specific weekend. I had back up plans, but this was annoying.
***
I was about to go to the flea market, but luckily before trekking out there I discovered that the all-German website (and only the all-German website) specifies that it's closed this specific weekend. I had back up plans, but this was annoying.
***
Schwabing Christmas Markets at Münchner Freiheit:
Despite claims to the contrary, Münchner Freiheit does not have a good Christmas market. Look, I love that everything is hand-made and each stall announces the origin by province. But these were the same goods you'd find at any London craft fair ever.
One issue with people's travel recs is that a lot of travel blogs are by Midwestern American women who haven't been to many cities or countries. I remember once watching this huge crowd of people at the Missouri state fair just losing their shit over living statues, something completely meh if you are urban. It can be technically impressive, but that kind of thing is part of the landscape. People talked about this market like it was astounding, but I would not have made a special trip for this, because it's something I could have gone to anywhere and am now fairly jaded about.
This is a weird problem you get sometimes: I remember a time my mom was really annoyed that my sister Meghan and I heavily critiqued a Globe play we saw with her. Mom sees maybe a play a year, whereas Meghan has an MA in stage management and I review theatre professionally sometimes. What we want and expect is not necessarily usefully the same; mom didn't want to hear Meghan's talk about how Emma Rice's aerial rigging was under-supported and seemed unsafe (I mean it's theatre in the round with walls of seating going straight up, you can see the issue right there--and very little else, given what Rice Rice Baby did to the sight-lines during her brief, doomed tenure).
Such bloggers also brand themselves with ENTHUSIASM, at weird-even-for-an-American decibels. So between the tourist board, the various bitch and moaners of Trip Advisor and the click-mes, no one is going to be that real with you.
Chinesischer Turm Weihnachtsmarkt:
We went to the small Christmas market at the base of the Chinese Tower, a famous Oktoberfest venue in the English Garden. The garden is nice even in December. A nice huskyish dog with one blue eye and one brown walked up to me for attention.
I have to say though, there was a lot of construction going on in Munich when we were there, and this is one of the places that didn't look its best on the ground. I'd also describe this market as small and shit. The two-year Covid shutdown has not necessarily done these markets favours. It may be a while before all of them are fully back in the flow of things.
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Jugendstil Walking Tour, Part I:
Some highlights in Schwabing, mostly (but not all) Art Nouveau.
Siegestor:
A round, turret room with a ring of circular ceiling moulding:
Georgenstrasse 10
Franz-Joseph-Straße 19, 1903
Monkey house in Schwabing:
Two corridors leading to courtyards in Schwabing:
Münchner Freiheit has a good conditori on one side (Café Münchner Freiheit) with very sound apple strudel (not too sweet, good depth of flavour), and on the other, this building:
Infrastructure:
Almost Mesoamerican inflected, like that South American Art Nouveau genre in, I believe, Colombia:
Other buildings:
Loving the Celtic knot stonework, the plaster on the underside of the window frames, and what Katy described as 'the sort of house a reclusive rich aunt would leave you':
Honeycomb! Anyway, that's enough Schwabing. We didn't get to all the Jugendstil highlights on the other side of the Isar; we were tired and the rain was grim.
***
Despite claims to the contrary, Münchner Freiheit does not have a good Christmas market. Look, I love that everything is hand-made and each stall announces the origin by province. But these were the same goods you'd find at any London craft fair ever.
One issue with people's travel recs is that a lot of travel blogs are by Midwestern American women who haven't been to many cities or countries. I remember once watching this huge crowd of people at the Missouri state fair just losing their shit over living statues, something completely meh if you are urban. It can be technically impressive, but that kind of thing is part of the landscape. People talked about this market like it was astounding, but I would not have made a special trip for this, because it's something I could have gone to anywhere and am now fairly jaded about.
This is a weird problem you get sometimes: I remember a time my mom was really annoyed that my sister Meghan and I heavily critiqued a Globe play we saw with her. Mom sees maybe a play a year, whereas Meghan has an MA in stage management and I review theatre professionally sometimes. What we want and expect is not necessarily usefully the same; mom didn't want to hear Meghan's talk about how Emma Rice's aerial rigging was under-supported and seemed unsafe (I mean it's theatre in the round with walls of seating going straight up, you can see the issue right there--and very little else, given what Rice Rice Baby did to the sight-lines during her brief, doomed tenure).
Such bloggers also brand themselves with ENTHUSIASM, at weird-even-for-an-American decibels. So between the tourist board, the various bitch and moaners of Trip Advisor and the click-mes, no one is going to be that real with you.
Chinesischer Turm Weihnachtsmarkt:
We went to the small Christmas market at the base of the Chinese Tower, a famous Oktoberfest venue in the English Garden. The garden is nice even in December. A nice huskyish dog with one blue eye and one brown walked up to me for attention.
I have to say though, there was a lot of construction going on in Munich when we were there, and this is one of the places that didn't look its best on the ground. I'd also describe this market as small and shit. The two-year Covid shutdown has not necessarily done these markets favours. It may be a while before all of them are fully back in the flow of things.
***
Jugendstil Walking Tour, Part I:
Some highlights in Schwabing, mostly (but not all) Art Nouveau.
Siegestor:
A round, turret room with a ring of circular ceiling moulding:
Georgenstrasse 10
Franz-Joseph-Straße 19, 1903
Monkey house in Schwabing:
Römerstraße 11:
Two corridors leading to courtyards in Schwabing:
Ainmillerstraße 22:
Münchner Freiheit has a good conditori on one side (Café Münchner Freiheit) with very sound apple strudel (not too sweet, good depth of flavour), and on the other, this building:
Infrastructure:
Almost Mesoamerican inflected, like that South American Art Nouveau genre in, I believe, Colombia:
Other buildings:
Honeycomb! Anyway, that's enough Schwabing. We didn't get to all the Jugendstil highlights on the other side of the Isar; we were tired and the rain was grim.
***
