Weinstraße München - Wine Street Munich

In a few short months, I’ll be taking my annual trip to Munich Germany, and as always, I’ll be visiting my favorite beer halls and other such places.  As I reminisced about prior years, I found myself thinking about one particular autumn day perhaps 20 years ago, a day sitting outdoors on Wein Street.

Now, for those of you not familiar with Munich, This particular street is in the pedestrian section where no cars are allowed. This may sound a bit odd to Americans, but it has to be lived, to be experienced, before one can truly imagine it. This street is on the west side of city hall or Rathaus as the Germans call it., and I was sitting with a friend just south of the main city square called Marienplatz.

It was a Sunday, and on Sundays, nearly all stores are closed. Restaurants and other such places, however, remain open. This creates an ideal atmosphere for relaxing and window shopping. On the Marienplatz one can always find traveling performers: musicians, mimes, and artists of all kinds who earn their living on the donations of those passersby who stop to watch.

My friend and I ordered our beers and began to talk about things in general when the church bells began to chime. In Munich during the spring through fall, the church bells chime at 5:00 P.M. From where we were sitting, we could hear the bells of the Frauenkirche (a symbol of the city), Alter Peter (“Old Peter” as the locals call it), the Heilig Geist Kirche, and the Theatinerkirche.

One would think that these different bell starting to chime one-after-the-other would sound like a cacophony, but, instead, the bells combine to form a virtual symphony. The bells all sound different, and chime at different rhythms, yet the sound is…is…, well, it’s Munich.

By the time the bells went silent, my friend had already found himself fixated on some of the performers who were behind me. I, on the other hand, was enjoying a different view. I was watching the fashionable young ladies of Munich wearing their very best. One sees elegantly dressed women (eye candy) far more often in Germany, actually Europe in general, that in the U.S. Maybe that’s part of the reason I go there annually, and this particular day did not disappoint me.

Eventually our conversation resumed and before long, we began to talk about good friends who were with us no more. Then, suddenly…as if in the middle of a laugh…we both went silent, and…after that…we were quiet for a long time.

Now, as I said at the beginning, that was about 20 years ago. Every time I visit Munich, I make it a point to sit at right about the same spot and enjoy some great Bavarian beer. Sort of a pilgrimage you might say. Only now, and for many years now, I sit alone. I enjoy watching the “eye candy”, but I also remember the many, many dear friends with whom I shall never sit again.

That’s it for now, no thoughts to ponder, no different perspectives to consider.

This is something that I, and I alone. shall forever think about.