Saturday, August 31, 2013

Ehrhardstrasse zehn...

Playlist
Brahms - String Quartet No 3
King Crimson - Asbury Park 1974
Glenn Gould - R Strauss Piano Music
Steffen Schleiermacher - Piano Music of the Darmstatdt School Vol 1
Trio Brasiliensis - Chamber Music from Baroque to Contemporary Vol 1
Arcis Quintett - Chamber Music from Baroque to Contemporary Vol 2
Ensemble Pyramide - Chamber Music from Baroque to Contemporary Vol 3
Ruzicka - String Quartets
Rihm - Piano Music

August over...


..and that means, Happy Birthday to my mum - 83 today...

But I did not see her because, were up at 4 am to head to the airport for a holiday to Munich and the Bavarian Alps...


Strangely, it took longer to queue to buy some water and a newspaper than it did to get through security - so someone's perhaps doing something right - though I don't think it's WH Smith...


Left on time...


...and, after a two hour uneventful flight, we were coming in to land North of Munich...


Down safe...


...and onto the S-Bahn after purchasing a "partner" day ticket - the most economical way to get to the centre of the city...


Of course we weren't to know there were works going on on the S-Bahn line we were using and we went straight through the centre to the other side without stopping at our intended target of the Hauptbahnhof...

After wandering about like a couple of lost idiots and some questions to the helpful S-Bahn staff, we alighted the correct train to take us back to the centre again...


..changing at Sendlinger Tor...


..and one more stop to Fraunhoferstrasse, just round the corner from our flat...

Along Erhardstrasse...


..and into an entrance reminiscent of our lodgings in Lille earlier this year..


Up 60 steps and into theatre director Claus-Peter Seifert's flat, our home for the next five days...

Packed with books, records, CDs and DVDs...



Compact but easily sufficient for our purposes...



After a quick tour and intro from CP, who was off to stay with his daughter during our residency, we went out for the first of many Munich walkabouts...

We were just by the Deutches Museum...


A quick look at the river from the Corneliusbrucke..


Up through Gartnerplatz...


...for a quick lunch at the Viktualienmarkt...


...where we weren't the only ones admiring some of the traditional Bavarian clothing on display...


On up to the Marienplatz...


...and the New Town Hall...



..with the Frauenkirche in the background...


Up Theatinerstrasse towards the Theatinerkirche...


..which stands at the Odeonsplatz, scene of Hitler's attempted putsch in 1923...


Into the nearby Hofgarten...

 


We continued up towards the Ludwigskirche...



...taking a left into the University district of Schwabing - where we enjoyed the first beer of the holiday...


The early start was taking its toll on the Exec Producer...


This was probably our favourite district of the city with its many book shops and galleries...



We stopped by closing down record shop Zweitausandeins where your correspondent picked up the first of probably too many CDs on the trip...

To nearby Tengelmann for some supplies for the flat...


Another S-Bahn home, deciding against walking due to the weight of all the beer and cakes we'd bought...


..and CDs...


Our first Kaffee und Kuchen episode of the holiday...



..enjoyed on the balcony...




Some time spent looking at Claus-Peter's extensive library...





...produced a couple of items also gracing our shelves back home...



Like me, CP adorns his walls with his own art...


A beer on the balcony...


..before heading back up to Schwabing's Schellingstrasse for our tea - a very tasty and well designed kebab indeed - with lashings of vegetables...


We walked back home, through Wittelsbacherplatz...


..and past the upmarket galleries of Maximilianstrasse...


...through Odeonsplatz again...


...and, as dusk fell, past the National Theatre and Opera House...


...and shops full of stuff for people with more money than sense...



...back through Marienplatz...




..and back to base...


..for more imbibation, reading, surfing the net on the iPod...


...and listening to avant garde piano music...

A good start...

Highlight of the Day : On holiday...