Peterskirche

It’s a dreary, wet morning in München. The weather forecast calls for rain, but no more snow- sad! Snow’s much more pleasant to be out in. Rain just gets you wet. Still, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be at the moment.

It’s just after nine in the morning here, and I’m sitting in the lobby surrounded by the hustle and bustle of breakfast. The wall of glass to the street is full of people going places, wrapped to the nose and with hats pulled low in the cold- it’s still not much above freezing. There’s a wide median, or narrow park, between the two lanes of the street, with a playground and a covered fountain. Many of the larger fountains are covered for the winter to keep them from freezing and damaging the pipes inside. Except for the odd bit clinging to rooflines, the snow has melted.

There’s a café across the street I’ll likely hit up for coffee and breakfast later, Ida’s Milchladen (Ida’s Milk Store, whatever that is), and Surja’s Hexenladen (Surja’s Witch Store). I’m intensely curious about the Hexenladen, and will likely be making a sojourn there before we leave. What does a Hexenladen sell? I imagine it might be some sort of new age or herbal store, or else cashing in on the local witchcraft legends (every German town has them), but we’ll see.

Yesterday was a day of minor errands (laundry! Postcards!), and some more walking around to hit the major sights in the Altstadt (oldtown). The Viktualenmarkt (victual market) is a sort of gourmet farmer’s market selling everything from prickly pears to fine cheese, local meats (and Bayern does know its meat!) to wine, honey, imported fruits in a variety I’ve never even seen in California, baked goods, breads (there’s a difference!) and much, much more. The Altes Rathaus (old city hall) was gorgeous on the outside (in daylight this time, no less!), but we didn’t go inside to see the toy museum inside. We missed the Glockenspiel on the Rathausturm (the glockenspiel with rotating carousel of figures on the city hall clock tower), but did make it to the Peterskirche (St. Peter’s Church) between when it opened from cleaning and evening services.

The Peterskirche is gorgeous inside. First erected in the 14^th century, it has been renovated numerous times including in the Renaissance (added a spire) and Baroque (rebuilt the alter). In all, the church was an awesome testament to over 600 years of human dedication to their religion, and I mean that in the most literal sense. Walking into this place floored me with the opulence and dedication to gold leaf. To modern sensibilities, it’s a bit garish really, with gilded, larger-than-life statues on the columns down both sides of the nave, a huge, ornate alter (also gilded) a high ceiling covered entirely with brightly colored frescoes, etc, etc, etc. I couldn’t help but wonder what could have been done with that much money to feed the hungry, the poor and the ill. Sure, there were collection boxes throughout the church, but only one was dedicated to the poor and ill- the rest were dedicated to keeping up the church, keeping up the art, a petition to beatify a local woman who lived in the 1600 hundreds, etc. Still, quite a testament to generations of dedication.

Then back to the hotel where I crashed hard for an hour or two, while Amy went out for dinner and another turn through the Weinachtsmarkt. Today we’re making foray to the local museums (well, that’s the plan- we haven’t been too good with sticking to plans) and then… who knows?