A Little More Munich and Some Handel

Returning from Berlin, Claudia and Helmut surprised me at the train station. Having intended to navigate myself to their Munich apartment, instead I was able to just follow them to the special weekend-only bus (which of course I didn’t know about).

The following two days were full of sightseeing and of course more delicious German food.

Helmut recently inherited some traditional Bavarian clothes from a cousin, and he donned those for a trip to the annual “Auer Dult” festival—-this country has many festivals!

We attended a performance of Handel’s Messiah at the gorgeous Gärtnerplatz Theater.

This production was unlike anything I have experienced. Earlier in the day, they talked about the Gärtnerplatz’s bold forays into provocative expressions of the arts, and how I should not expect a traditional performance of this classic work. They were right!

Juxtaposed with Handel’s work was a contemporary dance with some spoken words, telling a tale of mankind’s search for meaning (I think). Like with all good art, viewers were led to explore ideas and questions, not always understanding what was happening. It was exquisitely performed. I LOVED it.

The following day we explored some new (to me) parts of the city. One neighborhood was very close to where Helmut grew up, and he described bicycling to school, sledding in the park, and other activities from his childhood.

We visited a bathhouse, built in 1901, where people still swim and take saunas! It also has a little cafe where we ate lunch.

We visited a beautiful community center and library located at the site of where Johann Georg Elser attempted to assassinate Hitler in 1939. At that time it was a restaurant, and unfortunately Hitler left the building 20 minutes earlier than expected, so the attempt was unsuccessful. Elser was captured sometime later and taken to the concentration camp at Dachau.

Coming soon: Our day in Dachau.