We had breakfast at nearby cafe titled, Long Fellows. The place was quite awesome, providing some the finest hot chocolate I've ever tasted:
Marching to our first destination, we encountered some rather interesting stores along the way:
We found a Gamestop!
And a random Bollywood store:
We finally arrived at one of the great museums in Munich, the Glyptothek.
The Bavarian King Ludwig I first commissioned the development of the Glyptothek in order to house his collection of Roman and Greek antiquates.
It was fascinating to observe such ancient architecture. How they perceived the anatomy and developed what they considered art.
The Glypothek's main attraction is its extensive amount of sculptures from Temple of Aegina. A small reconstruction of the temple is shown below:
The contrast between the sculptures I'd being experiencing in Italy to the one's I was now observing from Greece was highly interesting. I can now see the Greek influence on the Italian sculptures.
What the Greeks developed in artistic merit through the design of marble, stone, and such material, the Italians took much inspiration from. And with it, perfected the art.
Some very sculptures stood very domineering and quite frightening:
It's unfortunate that many of the Greek sculptures present have been damaged due to age with numerous cracks, chips, and whole blocks missing.
At least, we're able to get a taste of their mastery.
Here I am, getting my philosophical side on with Socrates:
After stepping into a portal to ancient Greece, we turned our sights to the world famous Alte Pinakothek.
Considered one of most revered art galleries, The Alte Pinakothek houses masterpieces from Pieter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt, Raphael, and even Leonardo Da Vinci.
Wandering through the art gallery, I was presented with an ocean of imagination:
The Alte Pinakothek
Some of German painters had some of the most outlandish artworks:
A very epic and inspirational piece depicting a battle of Alexander the Great, stood mightily:
The sense of battle, scope, and scale is staggeringly detailed in this work and its influence can even be seen today in the Warhammer worlds created by Games Workshop.
The Renaissance room displayed some fine works from some notable Italian masters:
The six works of Rembrandt on display were staggeringly incredible. His painting of light is astonishingly striking:
I'd always heard of the mastery of Rembrandt's ability to paint light, but I'd hadn't observed his work until now. I finally understand why he is so revered and cherished. A defining artist that ranks among the finest.
But the most jaw-dropping, mind-blogging, and downright INSANE artist had to be Pieter Paul Rubens. My brother and uncle attended a special exhibition on Ruben's at the National Art Gallery in London some time ago and I remember hearing their overly enthusiastic praise on the Flemish painter. But it wasn't until I experienced his work myself that I've come echo their sentiments.
His ability to craft epic scenes, sprawling across the heights of the room is utterly encompassing.
His paintings don't fail to generic poses that many other artworks fall to. His artwork is always in motion, capturing the intensity and ferocity of the scene.
Here's a panoramic shot I captured of the Ruben's room:
Ruben's Room
The work of Pieter Paul Ruben's is everything painting should be. The ability to capture a moment and encapsulate the atmosphere of the said moment. Just observing at the Massacre of the Innocents, I could hear the screaming, crying, and utter chaos of the rape of the village. Feel the madness bubbling through the canvas and utterly enthralled by the ongoing actions of the characters graphically in action.
Here's a fantastic shot of a Ruben's painting which encapsulates his original sketch (in the foreground) with his final artwork (in the background):
I could on and on about Rubens. He is one of greatest painters to have ever lived and I'm just honored to be able to have observed some of his masterworks in person.
After such an awesome collection of paintings, I picked up a book which covers of the historical and symbolic background of the gallery's most revered works. Should be a fascinating read.
After attending the gallery, we slowly made our way to center of Munich, home to some of the most recognizable places in Germany.
On the way, we stopped by some defining monuments:
We also wandered into the English Gardens:
As we explored the gardens we found this gypsy playing a very intriguing tune.
German Gypsy 1
German Gypsy 2
Compare her melody to some of the other ones captured in this blog. Fascinating stuff!
We took a break at a German cafe, where they gave us the longest cake of all time:
We continued deeper into central Munich and observed their intriguing architecture:
Some of the most engrossing architecture lay in the numerous building found within the city:
On the way, we noticed local painter working on some original artwork.
German Painter
I was quite absorbed by his painting. Although he was no master, seeing a painter at work is always engaging.
The most famous church in all of Germany lies in central in Munich, the Frauenkirche:
As we found the Frauenkirche and entered into the church, we found that a Sunday service was in session:
We found some open seats in the back and fully observed the entire service.
It was incredible to experience this from a German perspective. Their pattern, dialogue, and music were very distinguishable in comparison to the English, Italian, or American way.
After attending mass (lol), we stepped out to find that the sun had left us. Though it was freezing in Munich throughout the day, it felt like sub-zero at this point.
This was when we decided the rest our night should spent in a warm environment.
Enter the Hofbräuhaus.
Beer was born in Germany and has since become a national treasure. With it, the development of Oktoberfest has taken place, the world-famous event which includes drinking, eating, and devouring all sorts of things German.
The Hofbräuhaus is the most famous beer hall in the world. It is a national symbol for Germany and houses many of cultural festivities within its wall.
The hearty atmosphere, jolly music, and authentic food, provide visitors with the ideal Germanic experience.
We just had to experience the Hofbräuhaus!
Hofbräuhaus Entrance
I'm no fan of Beer, but I had to devour all things German, since I was in Munich after all.
I ordered their classic beer.
I generally find beer to be of poor quality. I get bloated by it and just find the taste to be quite bland. BUT, the beer here in Germany turned out to be wicked! It tasted like it had life to it!
Even my Mom tried some of it:
The atmosphere around the Hofbräuhaus was fascinating. Every seemed to be having a jolly good time in the beer hall with no frowns to be seen.
The hearty experience at the Hofbräuhaus was awesome. So much so, I purchased an official Hofbräuhaus beer glass, to drink all my Coke Zero in style when I get back home.
Unfortunately, I was unable to finish my drink. Although I tried and tried, the size of the towering mug (it's bigger than my head!) overwhelmed me. At least I got half way!
Feeling quite exhausted after such an extensive day, we headed back to our hotel. We would need to be fully prepared for our adventure to the Bavarian countryside!
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