Venturing Out of Vienna

The day started at the early time of 7am. We had quite a bit scheduled for the day so off we went. The first stop was a ways out of town in Hainburg which is about 90 minutes away. It is about 5 miles from the Slovakian border. We went to a small church called Martin Luther Church designed by Viennese architects Coop Himmelb(l)au. They are also the architects of BMW Welt in Munich. It was a stark contrast between the two buildings. It really shows the range that Coop Himmelb(l)au is able to operate. The church was very small and the absolute max capacity was around 120 people. It was a cool little find in the middle of nowhere.

Martin Luther Church

I was hoping that would continue another 5 miles or so into Slovakia and its capital Bratislava but we started back to Vienna. Just a few miles down the road we came to Carnuntum. It was an old town that was a relic of the Holy Roman Empire. They reconstructed a lot of the buildings on the original foundations and set up the area like how it used to be. It was interesting to walk through but my interest wasn't piqued. I was more interested in a wooden playground on the site. From there we made our way back into the city of Vienna.

Roman Ruins in Austria

We stopped at another church this one called Church of the Most Holy Trinity or more commonly known as Wotruba Church. It was designed in the mid-1970s by sculptor Fritz Wotruba and architect Fritz Mayr. It is a very startling church. The whole design is based around these concrete blocks laid mostly vertically and glass windows placed between. This creates a very interesting interior and exterior condition. While it was intriguing to see I personally didn't like it.

Wotruba Church

We continued into the heart of the city arriving at Schönbrunn Palace which was the summer residence for the Habsburg Dynasty, the royal family of Austria. It was a very formally designed building as one would expect from a palace. We sort of rushed through the palace as every room looked the same and we wanted to see the gardens. Behind the palace lies the gardens, a zoo, a large 200 foot tall hill, and the Gloriette. This provided gorgeous views of Vienna and the surrounding area, We also got a quick bite to eat here before going on our way.

Rear of Schönbrunn Palace

The last stop of the day was the Church of the Holy Spirit designed by Jože Plečnik (who also designed a church I attended Mass in Prague). This church was similar to the one I saw in Prague albeit completed earlier. The rectangular/square open plan is readily apparent. It is of great use in churches where it provides satisfactory views of the altar from other seats. I enjoyed this church although I liked the one in Prague better.

Interior of the Church of the Holy Spirit

We bused back to the hotel following the church and had the rest of the night to ourselves. We had a group dinner at the hotel without Hans as he was visiting some family. It was nice to have a relaxing evening. Tomorrow, Hans has some buildings planned to see on the outskirts of the city.

The Vienna Voyage

Today is the first full day in Vienna (or Wien in German) and it was pretty packed. We started by taking a bus across the city to the first stop which was the Vienna University of Economics and Business. The new campus for the university was completed in 2013 after just three years and costing just under €500 million. The buildings were designed by Zaha Hadid, Laura P. Spinadel of BUSarchitektur, NO.MAD Arquitectos, Estudio Carme Pinós, Hitoshi Abe, and Peter Cook. Most of the buildings were pretty cool and responded well to the needs of the university though some of it seemed unnecessary. Despite that, the campus was pretty well laid out.

Library and Learning Centre by Zaha Hadid

The next stop was also a college called the Vienna University of Technology. We met up with the architect who did restorations/renovations and got a personal tour from him. The main stop of the tour was the cupola at the top of the building. It was a very interesting room to see. The structure was exposed and readily apparent. Once the tour was over it was time to go next door.

Cupola Hall at Vienna University of Technology

Just two buildings down was the Karlskirche. It is a church built by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and dedicated to Saint Charles Borromeo. It is considered one of the best baroque churches in Vienna and most outstanding buildings in the city. We have learned about this building a lot throughout our time in school. The plan isn't the typical plan of churches I usually see and its basis is around the elliptical dome. The drawback to this church is that there is scaffolding up to allow visitors to reach the top of the cupola. This takes away from the beauty of the church greatly. Plus it really isn't worth the visit to the top of the dome. There wasn't a whole lot to be seen. We finished up with the church pretty quickly and Hans took us on a walking tour.

Karlskirche

We walked around for a bit seeing some of the city before going to the Austrian National Library. It was built again by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach in 1723. It was a very beautiful library and very elegant. I was thoroughly impressed with the building. There was so much history in the place that was also part of the palace. I wish I could've appreciated it more but I was super hungry after not being able to eat lunch. So Hans let us go and a group of us left to get dinner.

Austrian National Library

We made our way to Naschmarkt and had dinner. I had finally had true Wiener schnitzel made with veal. It was very good and delicious. We digested dinner a bit before heading back to the hotel. On our way we stopped at the Westbahnhof which is the main train station for West Vienna. It looks similar to the CCTV Headquarters in Beijing by OMA. Underground is a mall which we walked through. We decided to call it an early night being we start our day at 7am tomorrow, I hope whatever Hans has in store for us is great.

Westbahnhof

Long Day to Vienna

Today was a travel day. We were going from Salzburg to Vienna which is on the opposite side of the country. We left the hotel at 7am to make an appointment at 10am in Steyr which is about halfway. We got a tour of the Gartenhaus by the architect that designed it, Gernot Hertl. The building dates back to the 1600s and he took the bones of the building and transformed it into something new but old. Hertl uses the house as a summer home. It was an interesting complex but the heavy concrete walls transfer too much cold for me to be comfortable. Maybe it is just better in the summertime.

Gartenhaus

The second stop was just a little ways outside of Vienna in St. Pölten, the capital of Lower Austria. We walked around the Landhaus complex which is the government center of the city and the state of Lower Austria. The problem was that it is Easter Monday which is a federal holiday in Austria so everything was closed. So after a short peek around and some lunch it was time to hop back on the bus.

Part of Landhaus complex

We arrived in Vienna around 3:30pm and had a few hours before meeting back at the hotel for dinner. A group of us decided to go the aquarium around the corner called Haus des Meeres. The wild thing about this aquarium is that it is built inside of an old World War II anti-aircraft tower from 1944. It was amazing how they repurposed such a horrid piece of wartime weaponry. The layout was interesting and the animals were pretty cool.

Haus des Meeres

We walked around some more before heading back to the hotel for dinner. It was a long day and some rest is much needed before we start the truly extensive part of our journey. Look forward to more Viennese fun.

Easter in Salzburg

Today was our first full day in Salzburg. It is a quaint little city not far from the German border. Most people know Salzburg as the home of the Sound of Music. This city is full of character. Since today is Easter I felt I should attend church. I accompanied Rebecca and Hannah to Mass at the Salzburg Cathedral which is the main church for Salzburg dating back to 1628 when this church was completed. This was also the church that Mozart was baptized in. Mass was in German again but that was okay because they played a lot of music including Mozart which was a great, all-around experience.

Salzburg Cathedral

From there, we met back up with the rest of the group and went to Hangar-7 which is a display building owned and operated by Red Bull (whose headquarters are located in a neighboring town). The building consisted of this steel structure that spread out like a spiderweb and was enclosed completely by glass. It was an awesome building and one that asks a lot of architectural questions. We stayed there for a bit after getting a free coffee (which of course made the place that much better) and bused back into the city.

Hangar-7

Hans took us on a walking tour of the city. We started at the Mirabell Palace and Gardens which the Sound of Music filmed at. He explained to us the planning that went into it. It was a warmish Spring day and the flowers were blooming and people were out. This made the gardens more inviting. Next, was the Kollegienkirche (University Church) by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach around 1707. The church was super cold. It had to be at least 10 degrees colder than the outside. And the church was stark white with little ornamentation and the altar was a lot smaller than most of the other churches of the time.

Kollegienkirche

Hans let us go from there. A small group of us took the time to photograph the two other churches we previously attended now that there weren't as many people in them. Once we finished with that we took an elevator up Mönchsberg, which is one of the mountains around Salzburg, to the Museum der Moderne. The views were great and the museum was nice. It was interesting to see how they built a museum on the cliff of a mountain.

View looking down on Salzburg

We walked from the museum up to the Hohensalzburg Castle on a neighboring mountain. This castle overlooks everything for miles in every direction. It provided beautiful views of everything. There wasn't much to see in the castle as it was actually closed so we took the funicular down after we got our fill.

Hohensalzburg Castle at night

We got dinner at an American burger place called Burgerista. It was fantastic. It was like a piece of home. Afterwards we got some Austrian beer at a bierhaus so you can't call us uncultured. It was a relaxing end to a busy 36 hours or so. Tomorrow we make the trip across the country to Vienna.

Through the Alps

Today we left the Villa bright and early at 7am. We have a chartered bus to take us through Austria which is nice not to have to deal with trains or public transportation. The ride to our first stop was absolutely, breathtakingly gorgeous. We drove through the Swiss Alps from a low elevation (896 ft) at Riva to an elevation of more than 5300 feet at one point. We even drove through the snow capped part of the mountains. It was so beautiful.

Swiss Alps

Our first stop took us to Vaduz which is the capital of the country Liechtenstein. I get to mark off another country on my list. We walked down the main pedestrian street that had a bunch of markets set up with a lot of people that actually spoke English. Everything smelled good although I didn't buy anything. We viewed the exterior of the architecturally significant parliamentary building before heading off.

Landtag of Liechtenstein

The second stop took us to Bregenz, Austria just over the Swiss border. Here we saw the Kunsthaus Bregenz by architect Peter Zumthor. It is an contemporary art museum that we have learned so much about in our years in architecture school. I was very excited to see it. The downside was we couldn't see inside the rain screen layers that make this building truly unique. It was still an interesting structure but left something to be desired.

Kunsthaus Bregenz

Our third stop was in the middle of nowhere on the German-Austrian border near a town called Erl. Here were two buildings called the Passionsspielhaus and the Festspielhaus. The Passionsspielhaus was built in 1959 by architect Robert Schuller. It is a orchestra theater that looks very much like a church. It was closed except for one door was left unlocked so naturally a group of us went inside. It looked abandoned although we found a poster for a show that occurred there two weeks prior. The auditorium was pitch black and covered in sawdust and the stage looked a mess (from what I could see thanks to my iPhone flashlight). I was sure we were in a horror film. But we made it out alive with a interesting story to tell. The Festspielhaus contrasts with the Passionspielhaus very abruptly. It is all black and cuts in horizontal lines that make it very modern. It was built in 1998 by Delugan Meissl Associated Architects. This building was completely locked up so we couldn't sneak in. With that we set off.

Passionsspielhaus

Festspielhaus

We finally reached Salzburg at 7pm, 12 hours after we set out on our journey. It was a long day and one that earned us some down time. Group dinner was right after we got our rooms and it was a buffet at the hotel which was decent. Following dinner, a small group of us went to Easter Vigil Mass at the Franciscan Church. We got there just as it was beginning and it was a unique experience and one that I was glad to be apart of. While I still don't understand German I love to immerse myself in the culture.

Spring Break comes to a close

Today was the last day of spring break. Like I've said before it is bittersweet. I am exhausted and I am ready to be stationary but there's nothing I would have done different. This spring break was a blast and I had so much fun and learned a lot. Rebecca was a great travel companion and made this week infinitely more fun than it otherwise could've been. With that it's time to start the last day.

The first thing on the to do list today was to check out of the Airbnb. We still had a few hours before we had to leave to go to the airport so we ditched our bags in the luggage lockers at the Prague train station. Since it was Sunday Rebecca and I were going to Mass. She picked out this church to attend that also happened to be on Hans list of buildings to see. After a bit of a hike we made it to the Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord. Mass was in Czech so obviously I didn't understand a single word but it was a nice place to be. It was unlike any church I have been in. It was a large square room that was double height or more with brick walls. The room was lined with engaged brick columns. It was such a beautiful building. It was a great experience.

Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord 

Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord Interior

We sort of ran out of time or else we were going to check out another building but we had to be back at the train station. The walk back was shorter since it was mostly downhill. From the train station we caught a bus to the airport. Caught our flight and then a bus to the main Milan train station and then a train back to Riva. It was a long day and an exhausting one after an exhausting week. It is good to be back to the Villa but there won't be much downtime as we have a project due Friday and leave for Austria on Saturday.

Some final thoughts on my Spring Break trip. I walked over 90 miles over the course of this trip which astounds me. Germany doesn't open before 10am on weekends. Germany also closes at 8pm everyday. Berlin was supposed to have this great nightlife that rivals New York yet we couldn't find it. Each city was unique in its own way. Munich is fairly walkable and is a mix of old and new architecture that keeps its old character intact. Berlin is not a walkable city as public transportation is a necessity and despite being a very old city everything is new and fairly recently built given it was pretty much demolished by the Allies in 1945. Finally, Prague is such an old city and it keeps its character as such. There isn't a lot of modern architecture but it isn't trying to be modern. It is fairly different in that regard. I loved my time in these three cities and wouldn't trade my experiences for anything.

Prancing in Prague

Today is very bittersweet. It is my last full day of travelling for Spring Break but I am completely exhausted and ready to go back to the Villa. But I definitely didn't want to waste any time. We got breakfast on the way at some local shop and I had an omelette. It tasted of America. Our first stop brought us to the edge of Charles Bridge. It is the most famous bridge in Prague because it was the only bridge crossing the Vltava River from 1402 until 1841 and it connected Prague Castle to Old Town. We planned to cross later so off we went.

Charles Bridge

We passed by a movie set on the way to our next stop. I'm not sure what it was but it was a period piece involving Nazi Germany presumably during World War II. It was a lot of fun to see. Next was the Nová Scéna or New Stage which is part of the National Theatre of Prague. It is an interesting building on the exterior with a glass bubble like appearance and on the interior a lot of green marble was used. We didn't get to see the actual theatre but what we did get to see was pretty cool. There was also a market outside in the plaza that was interesting to walk through. Following that just down the street was the Dancing House designed by Frank Gehry. It is a very unique building that is supposed to resemble two dancers. It was an interesting building to be sure and one that only Gehry could come up with. We spent quite a bit of time here before heading out.

Dancing House

We walked a little bit farther down the river and came to the Emmaus Monastery. It is a monastery that dates back to 1347. It is sort of a plain looking compound and the main church is simple but pleasant. The exterior of the church, namely the roof, is modern having been built in the 1960s. This was a rebuild following bombing by the USAF in 1945. The roof line looks interesting but it doesn't really fit with the building nor is it reflected on the interior. From here we crossed the river to see a very modern building. Jean Nouvel's Golden Angel building sits on the a crossroads and on top of a train station. The train station also looked pretty well designed even though it was Soviet designed in 1985.

Golden Angel

We crossed back over the river this time using Charles Bridge which ended up being super crowded. We made our way to Old Town Square where a market is located and Easter festivities were occurring. We watched the Astronomical Clock on the tower do its hourly show but after seeing the Glockenspiel in Munich I was thoroughly disappointed with this one. After walking around for a while and checking out a design store and just taking it easy, we decided to go up in the Old Town Hall Tower. Breathtaking views of Prague were abundant up here. Although we weren't as high as the Lookout Tower yesterday it was still a nice bird's eye view in the center of the city.

Looking at Prague Castle from Old Town Hall Tower

From there we got dinner and called it a night. We have a couple things left to do tomorrow before going back to Riva so a good night's sleep will be great.

Czech Yourself before You Wreck Yourself

Today marks the start of the third leg of my spring break and it begins in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. After a quick breakfast we set off towards Prague Castle. On our way we passed by the Wallenstein Palace. This building is home to the Czech Senate. We couldn't go inside but stopped in the courtyard for a peek. This was our first experience with a Czech palace. From there we climbed up the rest of the hill, through a vineyard, and made our way into the Prague Castle grounds.

Looking down at Prague

The Prague Castle was definitely super touristy but it was worth it to see everything. The first attraction we saw was Golden Lane. It is so named because it was said alchemists came here looking for a reaction to produce gold. It was super touristy and kind of lame so we moved on. Next was St. George's Basilica which was done in the Romanesque style in 920. It was an interesting church but one that seemed pretty plain. It didn't seem like anything exceptional to me. I was more excited about seeing the next church.

St. George's Basilica

The church that can be seen from miles around is St. Vitus Cathedral. It is a rather big church done in the Gothic style dating back to 1344. It is so very beautiful with many flying buttresses, a large rose window, and many stain glass windows. It was such a grand space and one of my more favorite churches I've seen. The last building we saw at the Prague Castle complex was the Old Royal Palace. It is a pretty straightforward building with a lot of empty rooms. It has elements from the Gothic, Renaissance, and Romanesque styles. The important thing to note is its unique and complex vaulting system. I really don't understand it as it looks unnecessary and over-complicated.

St. Vitus Cathedral

After leaving the confines of the castle complex and the tourists behind, Rebecca and I found ourselves in a quaint residential area of the Praha 6 District. We were looking for the Villa Müller designed by Adolf Loos that Hans had recommended we see. It wasn't hard to find but when we got there we found out it was closed on Fridays. So we took some photos of the exterior and headed off for a late lunch.

Villa Müller

Next we went into the park located on top of the tallest hill in Prague called Petřín. We went to the Petřín Lookout Tower which resembles the Eiffel Tower a little bit. It was 299 steps and 208 feet up to the top but it was worth it. There were incredible 360 degree views of the entirety of Prague. It was beautiful. I spotted a structure I wanted to see so we headed down and walked to it.

Petřín Lookout Tower

The structure I saw from the tower is called Strahov Stadium. It has 9 soccer fields on its interior and used to host synchronized gymnastic events on a massive scale. The stadium also can hold 220,000 spectators making it the largest stadium in the world and fourth largest sports venue. The stadium though has fallen into disrepair. It looks abandoned and like a dump. Despite this, AC Sparta Prague practices there. We walked around part of the complex and came to this weird tower structure that appeared to be the most modern thing around. Turns out it was a ventilation tower for the tunnel underneath. With that, we set off down the hill in search of food.

Strahov Ventilation Tower

Prague is a very old city with architecture that reflects that. It is full of character and that is good to find in a city. Tomorrow is my last full day of Spring Break before travelling so here's to making the most of it.

Bumming in Berlin

Today is my last day in Berlin and it is to be a half day. We started off by checking out of our Airbnb and making our way to Berlin Hbf, the central train station, to lock up our stuff. This is where we will be leaving from later on. Our first real stop was to see the Interbau Apartment House designed by Oscar Niemeyer in 1957 for the International Builders Fair. It was a social housing project that bares striking resemblance to the ideas put forth by Le Corbusier's Radiant City. It was interesting to see but without being able to go inside I couldn't form a complete opinion.

Interbau Apartment House

Next on the list was a building called Miniloft Apartment Hotel, originally known as Slender/Bender, by Deadline Architects. I had seen some pretty good photos online but those were better than actually seeing it. It was a little underwhelming and looked odd for the sake of being odd. We couldn't go inside so we had to settle for what we could see. Later on I saw interior photos and determined the inside was drastically more beautiful than the exterior.

Miniloft

From there we made our way back to Museum Island with the intention of (and time for) seeing one museum, the Pergamon Museum. Unfortunately, the people working the museum didn't take our student ID cards so the ticket price was full instead of half and with only an hour to see anything we determined it wasn't worth it. Instead, we chatted outside in the bright sun and basked in the warm air.

Alte Nationalgalerie

Finally it was time to catch our train to Prague. We said our goodbyes to Hannah who we will see later at the Villa and set off to the Czech Republic.

A Tour through East Berlin

The day started out warmer than yesterday plus the sun was out and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We got breakfast at a little cafe and kept on walking to our first destination. We arrived at the Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Centre which is a library that is part of Humboldt University. It was designed by Max Dudler and opened in 2009. The first thing I noticed was the windows on the exterior were different sizes and wasn't until I went inside realize it was reacting to the space. Skinnier windows were in the stack areas while larger ones were in reading areas. Also the center of the building was a large atrium like space where the floors stepped up from the center to provide study areas for students. It is a beautifully designed building.

Interior of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Centre

Next we stopped at St. Hedwig's Cathedral. It differed greatly from all the cathedrals that we have seen thus far. The building was round and domed and had one center space for everything to occur. It was very obviously modeled after the Pantheon in Rome. It was an interesting building but not one I liked as a church. I liked it as a building but I have a view on churches now after seeing so many. From there we walked around the corner to Gendarmenmarkt which is a plaza that houses the French Church, the German Church, and the Konzerthaus. It was cool to see those all in one place but we didn't enter them. Also the German and French Churches looked almost identical. We got lunch across the street and made a plan for the remainder of the day.

St. Hedwig's Cathedral

Our next stop was the German Historical Museum which told of the history of Germany. It was an interesting building that had been restored following World War II. An additional exhibition building was added on in 2003 by I.M. Pei. This part of the building is very reminiscent of the interior of the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The space was beautiful and the exhibits were interesting.

Interior of I.M. Pei Addition

From here we walked to the König Gallerie. It is an art gallery that exists in the former St. Agnes Church. It is of a brutalist style of architecture were heavy concrete plays a huge role. The spaces were divided up differently than what they were used for as a church so the sizes felt a little off. The quality of the spaces didn't suffer though. From there we went to the East Side Gallery where over a mile of the Berlin Wall still exists and is used as an outdoor art exhibition. It was quite an experience to walk along the wall and get a feel for what it used to be like.

Berlin Wall

To end our day, we made our way back over to the Sony Center and had a nice dinner. It was a long day and involved a lot of walking. Tomorrow I leave Berlin by train in the mid-afternoon to Prague. I have some time to go to places I hadn't seen yet.

Sony Center

Berlin Reunification

Rebecca and I got into Berlin right on time. There we met Hannah who came from Milan shortly after us. By the time we got to our Airbnb and had dinner it was time for bed to get a fresh start in the morning.

The first thing we did was buy day passes for public transportation as we knew we'd be all over the place. The first stop was the Chapel of Reconciliation. It was built following the fall of the Berlin Wall on the site of a former chapel previously destroyed by East Germany. It is very elegant in its simplicity. The chapel is a clay and aggregate (mainly rubble from old church) mixed central room surrounded by wooden columns on exterior. The chapel was actually located within the death strip of the Berlin Wall. There was a memorial across the street from it and section of the wall was reconstructed to show how it used to be. The whole stretch through this area was rich in history. After a stop for breakfast we were off to our next stop.

Chapel of Reconciliation

We made our way into the city center and stopped at the famous Brandenburg Gate. It was amazing to see such an iconic part of Berlin. Next we walked over to the Reichstag to make reservations for a viewing of the dome in the evening. It took some standing in the cold but we got one. Since there was nothing to do there for the time being we went to the Berlin Philharmonie. It was an older building by Berlin standards dating back to 1963. We showed up just in time to get a tour of entire place. It was a great tour and it stood out even more compared to the Renzo Piano building in Rome.

Brandenburg Gate

It was a bit late in the afternoon but it was time for lunch. We went across the street to the Sony Center which is like a giant outdoor mall. It is a tall space and one used for red carpet events. It was a nice place to eat lunch and people watch. We walked back towards the Gate to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe by architect Peter Eisenman. It is these concrete slabs of varying heights laid out on a grid over sloping ground. There is also an information center underground. The slabs were very oppressive. It felt odd walking through it which I suppose is the point. The underground information center was too much for me so I had to leave it.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Following the Memorial, we went to the Jewish Museum designed by Daniel Libeskind. It chronicled the history of Jews in Germany and it was a nice change to that of the memorial. The building is really well designed but certain things stood out that the client added to the building that clashed with the architecture. Overall, I think Libeskind did a great job on most aspects of the building particularly his "voided voids."

Interior of the Jewish Museum

At this point it was time to catch our appointment at the Reichstag. The Reichstag is a government building that houses the German parliament. It has a history dating back to 1893. It went into disuse following a fire that occurred in 1933 that coincided with the Nazi Party coming to power. It wouldn't be used again until 1999. Another historical note of record is this is where the Battle of Berlin and World War II was finally won by the Allied Powers. It ended when the Soviet Union erected the Soviet flag atop the building in a now famous photograph. The only part of the building we got to go into was the dome which was designed by Norman Foster and finished in time for the grand reopening of the Reichstag in 1999. It was beautiful and ultra modern compared to the building it sits on. It gave 360 degree views of all of Berlin.

Reichstag

It was late and food places were scarce so we decided to eat at Hofbräu Berlin which is a franchise location of Hofbräuhaus in Munich. It was just okay. Apparently Germany closes early. It can be really frustrating. But anyway, it turns out today was spent mostly exploring West Berlin. Tomorrow we tackle East Berlin and see if there is a difference in architecture.

Munching in Munich

Today we had a half day in Munich before catching a flight to Berlin so we tried to make the most of it. First we tried going to the Ohel Jakob Synagogue but it was closed. It was an interesting piece of work but you can only see so much from the outside. From there we decided to go back by the Frauenkirche to photograph the outside towers a little bit. We were kind of running short on ideas at this point so we went to another church to check it out. St. Michael's Church was huge and more ornate than some of the others.

St. Michael's Church

Once we got some breakfast we went to the market called Viktualienmarkt. It was a permanent market area that sold lots of fruits and veggies and wines and honey. We didn't buy anything but looking around was pretty cool. The sun also decided to finally grace us with its presence which felt nice. We found ourselves once again wondering what to do when we noticed some people on the top of a tower. That's when we decided to go back to St. Peter's Church to climb up Alter Peter. The tower of St. Peter is about 300 feet high above Munich and provides a breathtaking (and terrifying) 360 degree view of the entire city. It was well worth my new found fear of heights.

View from Alter Peter

After the tower, we went to the Neue Rathaus (New Town Hall) and wandered around inside. For awhile I didn't feel I belonged but no one ever said anything. The interior of the building was pretty interesting with a lot of vaulted ceilings. We were getting hungry and didn't want to spend airport prices for lunch so we grabbed a döner kebab which ended up being delicious. We were near Hofbräuhaus such we decided to peek in again and see the second floor and museum. It was interesting to see it empty and all the history that this place packs.

Neue Rathaus

Finally, it was time to go to the airport and catch our flight to Berlin. There, Rebecca and I will meet up with Hannah and the three of us will explore Berlin.