Madrid on the weekend, then Oktoberfest

It is very cool to be here. It is easy to be in a different country in a couple hours.

Finishing Madrid - The Prado
Sunday morning we all went to the Prado Museum. Like other big art museums in Europe, it has an embarrassment of riches. We spent 2 hours touring the second floor, with Goya, Velazquez and various Italian renaissance painters well represented. We took a sitting break and then trooped back up to the first floor to see the medieval works, several El Grecos, and the truly weird ‘Earthly Paradise’ by Hieronymus Bosch. I certainly don’t crave to have a strawberry for a head.

We limped out of the museum around 2. Got some lunch at a café on a Plaza. Strolled back to the hotel and rested for a bit. (While the hotel is on a quiet street, with no street noise at night, the walls apparently are transmitters. People talking, doors slamming, etc. late and early.) We went to a nearby restaurant for dinner and called it an early night. John & Amy caught a cab to the train station at 7 a.m. Monday.

Our flight out was mid-afternoon, so we walked out to see some more sights. Today was a bit cooler, with a brisk breeze. It still is warmer than Germany when we left. Headed in a direction we had not covered, and saw the fountain of Ciebele and Puerta Altaca which we hadn’t seen yet; and we walked through the newest ‘trendy’ neighborhood. The shops had great clothes and shoes, and the prices were much cheaper than in Munich. I’m holding off on buying clothes till the cold weather, though. As pretty as the clothes in Spain & Italy are, I think they won’t serve me too well in the German weather!

We had a great flight back. Part of the reason is that when Logan used the machine to check in, it spit out 2 standby tickets. Not what we paid for! We ended up getting bumped up to first class as a result. So we got room to stretch out, and a great meal on the 2-hour flight home. The weather is warmer here, too – mid-sixties and mostly sunny. We got back to the apartment around 7:30 p.m. and crashed.

Tuesday I spent doing laundry and cleaning up in preparation for Wednesday play day.

Wednesday morning was the Ladies International Association (LIA) meeting, at 10. I left the apt around 9:15 and got there just in time. I brought back a craft project that I took home last week to finish. (In November, the club has a fair and the proceeds benefit the Frauenhaus, a shelter for women.) The speaker was a marketing director for the newly re-opened Schrannenhalle in downtown Munich. “Schrannen’ means grain, specifically, the husk. In the mid-1800s, the central plaza was the Schrannenplatz, where people sold & bought grain. The king commissioned a covered building for this market, and in 1851 the architect started it. He used pre-fab iron supports, an innovation that enabled the building to be competed in about 2 years. And this was 30 years before Eiffel built his tower. The grain exchange moved in 20 years, and the market building was used for other things, fell into disuse, caught fire, and the remains were stored. They were rediscovered and the city decided to rebuild part of the market.

It took a few years of political wrangling, but it finally opened in mid-August. It contains tens of high-end, unique stores and several restaurants. The Champagne & Currywurst restaurant is currently doing the best business. The directors of the market had promised the vendors that they would pull in 9,000 people a week. It’s been 18,000 since they opened! They have actually cut back on the marketing because they haven’t needed it. They hope that after Oktoberfest is over the crowds will settle down a bit.

After the LIA meeting, I went through downtown and looked for a new apron from my dirndl outfit. Logan bought me a necklace in Stockholm and I wanted to wear it. I found no apron, but a remnant of lining fabric and ribbon that matched it. I zoomed home & with the iron and glue gun and a bit of hand sewing, turned it into a passable apron.

We had gotten tickets through friends to the Weisn for Weds night. Headed out a bit before 6, took the U-bahn and got to the tent by 6:30. It was getting a bit cold out, but very warm in the tent as people packed it. We spent the next 4 hours drinking, eating, standing on the benches singing along with the band and dancing in place. Very odd thing to be doing, but millions flock to Munich to do it every year.

This morning, we went back to the Landratsamt and got our residence permits. Whew, that’s done for a couple years. Now we have to figure out who to tell, that we moved from Unterhaching to Munich (Schwabing is a neighborhood within the city limits.) But that can wait for a bit!

I have been writing this sitting in the living room in front of the TV. We ordered the English cable package from the local provider, and just hooked it up Tuesday. (Were busy Weds, so this is the first I’m watching.) The selection is poor and so is the quality so I think we’ll have to find another solution. I’m thinking Bit Torrent.