A week that started in Munich and ended with the arrival of my sister and brother-in-law from Poland, who came to spend 2 weeks with us, their usual October visit. So besides Munich, there are some images from showing my visitors around, including the beach, my mountainous “playground”, and the city.
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I flew to Munich Monday afternoon. This was going to be a short trip; the next day I had meetings at the European Patent Office in the morning, and then a flight home in the afternoon. So I was determined to make the most of it, photographically speaking, and already while walking from the S-Bahn station to my hotel in a rather non-descript neighbourhood, I was on the lookout for little details. Here, a sticker exhorting the adults to support the climate strike on 20 September:
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Flower pot:
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Next to my hotel there was a small shopping centre where you could get your pet food and see a strip show:
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Per my standard modus operandi, I checked in at my hotel, hung my clothes in the closet and headed out to explore the city. Already on the metro to the centre, it was obvious that I was in Bavaria. While Lederhosen are worn in Munich all year, they are especially in evidence during the Oktoberfest–and that it is where I was going:
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Later in the evening, I found myself at the entrance to the Wiesn, the site of Oktoberfest:
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I spent a couple of hours there, taking in the atmosphere and some beer, a very enjoyable evening:
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The next morning, I took the U-Bahn to Karl-Preis-Platz. This statue intrigued me, although I never found out whom or what the man is supposed to represent:
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I walked to the EPO. Munich, despite being the home of BMW, is very much a bicycle city these days:
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I enjoyed the morning light on Erhardstrasse, along the banks of the Isar river:
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The meetings at the EPO ended a bit earlier than planned, so I had time to walk to Marienplatz and have lunch in the city before heading for the airport. Passing Gärtnerplatz, I photographed the people enjoying the sunshine:
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A different kind of green light for pedestrians:
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A natural scene to follow the previous image, on Viktualienmarkt:
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Viktualienmarkt, adjacent to Marienplatz, is Munich’s main outdoor food market, but there are also many shops and eating places:
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Little Bavarian man:
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Viktualienmarkt is dotted with small statues like this one, of Ida Schumacher, a popular Bavarian actress:
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Getting her hands wet:
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At the heart of Viktualienmarkt is the Schänke, where you buy your beer, either in the proper 1 liter size or the miniature 1/2 liter:
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You take your beer and look for a place in the Biergarten:
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In extremis, you find a spot on a bench:
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Marienplatz was full of tourists:
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The crowd was there to look at the Glockenspiel on the city hall tower:
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The Falun Gong people are everywhere these days, except in China I guess:
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In the gate of the city hall are the symbols of Munich’s partner cities around the world:
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There is also an inscription commemorating the US troops which occupied Munich in 1945; the phrase actually refers to the “liberation” from the Nazi regime:
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I took the train to the airport. While waiting for my flight to Barcelona (and another flight to Alicante from there), I took my last photo in Munich, a woman quietly strumming her guitar while looking out onto the tarmac:
A full gallery of my visit to the Oktoberfest is here.
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The next morning I was back home, taking a pre-dawn walk on the beach:
I have just bought a new micro 4/3 camera, a Panasonic GX80, to take advantage of several excellent lenses I have in that format. It had arrived at my office while I was in Munich, so Wednesday morning I tested it the way I do–by taking pictures. I started on the beach in the morning.
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Waiting for the sunrise:
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Fishing:
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Later, at the office, I continued the testing on one of my favourite subjects, Carolina:
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Another snap from the office, a small rest corner with a fine example of Italian design:
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On Saturday I was in the centre and stopped by an arts and crafts fair at the old bus station, now used for this kind of events:
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I like the murals evoking Alicante’s maritime traditions:
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A scene outside–an unhappy little girl:
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My sister and her husband arrived for their annual October visit on Thursday evening. My sister’s birthday is October 13th, and they always celebrate it down here with us. My brother-in-law Telesfor loves the beach and went swimming every day:
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Meanwhile, my sister and I enjoyed the beach in my preferred manner:
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My daughter Monica came by also; she loves the beach too, and as opposed to me, she gets in the water before enjoying a drink at the bar:
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Father and son in the sand:
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On Sunday, we drove to Tibi and visited Lili to buy some goat cheese from her. There were other customers in the shop:
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Lili gets one of her great handmade cheeses out of the fridge for us:
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On the way back, we stopped at the highest point of the drive. This is a place I sometimes visit on my bicycle:
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Lunch that day was a grilled chicken from our local mercadillo:
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I finish with a couple of B&W portraits on my front porch. My sister turned 74 during the visit, and my brother-in-law is 80. I think they are both holding up quite well:
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