Olympiaturm and Exploring Old Town

We started off today taking the U-Bahn north from our usual station, which was a first for us.  Our destination, the Olympiaturm (Olympic Tower), is the highest building in Munich, and we were told it provided excellent views of the city and countryside beyond.  Once again, the guys at work gave us good advice because the views were absolutely stunning.  There was some cloud cover, but it was high enough that we were able to see all the way to the Alps!  I'll probably go back on a sunny day to get some better pictures, but it was really amazing to see the whole city splayed out in front of us with the Alps on the horizon.  Definitely something worth doing if you ever come to Munich.

View south from Olympiaturm

Hopping back on the U-Bahn, we made our way down south of Marienplatz to Sendlinger Tor, the southern gate to the old city, which was build around 1300 B.C.  We then walked up Sendlinger Strasse past Asamkirche to the Viktualienmarkt.  Disappointingly, the market isn't open on Sundays, so we'll have to go back another time.  So, we headed over to Marienplatz to catch the Glockenspiel at noon.  The Glockenspiel, if you don't know, is a set of figurines in the clock tower of the Neues Rathaus that move and dance to music a few times a day.  It was interesting and worth seeing once.  I took a couple of videos of the Glockenspiel in action that I will upload somewhere later.

After the Glockenspiel's spiel we walked the short distance over to Peterskirche (St. Peter's Church), which is a Roman Catholic church sitting on the highest point of the Old Town, according to my guide book.  The church, Munich's oldest public building and the oldest church in the district, was actually formed with part of a monastery from which Munich received its name (Mönchen = monks).  Atop the church sits a 91-meter-tall tower built in the 17th century.  To get to the viewing platform at the top of the tower, we had to take a very skinny, very long staircase that could not fit two people side-by-side.  Fortunately, the leg workout was worth it because the view from the top was excellent.  We had an awesome view of the Old Town and, of course, the Alps on the horizon.  Thanks to Nell for the suggestion on this one!

Frauenkirche, Neues Rathaus, and Olympiaturm in the distance,
as viewed from Peterskirche.

Next, we headed west from Marienplatz to Karlstor, the western gate to the Old Town.  From there we turned north into the northern half of Old Town and meandered our way to Odeonsplatz, where we had a great view of the Theatinerkirche and Feldherrnhalle.  Feldhernnhalle was the sight of Adolf Hitler's failed coup attempt in November 1923, known as the Hitlerputsch.  He used his time in prison that followed this failed coup to write Mein Kampf, and, well, you know the rest.  We then walked through the Hofgarten, past the northern side of the famous Residenz and the Bayerische Staatskanzlei (Bavarian State Chancellery), and turned south to return to Marienplatz.  Another quick U-Bahn ride dropped us off near the Paulaner Bräuhaus, our destination for a late lunch.  After another excellent meal, this one consisting of the Braumeister Schnitzel (pork with a spicy crust, potato gnocchi, and root vegetables) and a half-liter of the Paulaner Dunkler Wickerl (brewed in-house), we called it a day.

Flicker photos:  https://www.flickr.com/gp/finigdan/8SW5nv