Reflections on Half a Year in Munich

I find it hard to believe we’ve already been living in Munich for six months! 

In some ways it feels like we’ve always been here, and in others it’s like we stepped off the train yesterday.

Our too-brief time in Hamburg taught me to take full advantage of the opportunities offered around me. 

So I thought I’d share some stats and, of course, some pictures from my first six months in Bavaria.

Since moving here in April, I have:

Done a Munich walking tour (twice) and a biking tour

Here I am with my good friends Amanda and Anne on a recent biking tour. If I can find a good cruiser seat for Betty like the one I had on the tour, I might get more into this biking thing!

Visited 13 Munich museums or special exhibits

My favorite museum to date is the Glyptothek--a collection of ancient statuary

The Toy Museum gets a nod
for its creepy display
of disassembled teddy bears

A cool statue in the Bavarian National Museum.
That's right, she's made of WOOD

The coolest non-museum display
I've seen was The Art of the
Street exhibit. Graffiti/street artists
showing off their incredible talent!

The Egyptian Art Museum gets the creativity prize for using hieroglyphs to explain the museum rules.

Visited 13 other Munich sightseeing attractions (including Dachau)

Blutenberg Palace, complete with small moat, was hosting an art exhibit and a wine festival the day I visited

The lovely Botanical Gardens are next door to my favorite Munich attraction, the Nymphenburg Palace.

Visited the 3 remaining city gates, 4 aesthetically exceptional churches, and 4 craft or folk fairs in Munich

Asamkirche is not very large, but makes up for its size by its extravagance.

In May we attended Munich's first-ever Craft Beer Festival.
(I'll write more about German beer and its purity laws in a future post.)

Been to the top of two different towers for panoramic city views

The view from the Olympic Tower is nice...

...but I've climbed the tower of St. Peter's Church three times, and the view over the older part of Munich is even nicer.
On my latest climb, the late-afternoon/early-evening  haze cleared for a great view of the Alps!

Experienced Oktoberfest

The first time I saw this car, we were on our way to Oktoberfest. My first thought was "oh, security back-up."
Then I did a double-take.

Hiked in the Bavarian Alps

A statue outside the Alpine Museum in Munich
(haven't visited this museum yet)

Hosted my family and five best friends from college

On Marienbruecke just outside
Neuschwanstein Castle, 1976

On Marienbruecke just outside
Neuschwanstein Castle, 2017

It's nearly impossible to get pictures of my dad, so we were happy that BMW World gave us ample opportunities

Family selfie!

And here we are in downtown Munich
for our (on average) biennial reunion

I could do a whole separate blog
about the L-Mates and our
28-year friendship! Here we are
as college freshman in our dorm lobby
on Valentine's Day in 1990

Visited 14 other cities (including Landshut and Hanau)

Ulm is Albert Einstein's birthplace,
and home to the world's tallest church steeple.

So naturally I climbed it!

During my family's stay, we went to Berchestgaden and visited a Nazi bunker and Hitler's Eagle's Nest

Visited 4 other countries

You can check out pictures from my May trip to Venice in this post.

You can check out pictures from my July vacation in Malta in this post.

Like Malta, the primary purpose of our September getaway to Mallorca was the beach, but on a day when the weather turned unfriendly, we ditched the sand and visited some nearby prehistoric caves.

With my family I hit three different cities in Austria:
Innsbruck (famous golden roof shown here)...

...the nearby town of Wattens, where we visited
the Swarovski Crystal World...

...and Salzburg, where we explored the town a little before heading up to explore the fortress.

My local bucket list is much shorter now, but my vision is long. I’m looking forward to the next six months of adventures!