The last time I visited Munich was nearly 15 years ago. It was the summer of 2003 and I had just finished school in France and was backpacking Europe before flying back to the US. I had no money and was still shooting film on my old Olympus camera. And while I remember the feel of the place, the only thing I could actually remember seeing was this:
The frieze that broke the “fourth wall” by having the dragon climb up from below and break into the frame stuck in my mind. I took a picture of it then, and I took a picture of it again today. And while I must have seen all the other buildings around it, I had forgotten them, so I saw them again today as if for the first time.
It was cold, by the way. So cold the gargoyles were vomiting icicles.
I fortunately churches are (almost) always open and (almost) always warmer than the air outside. I found the famous St Peter’s, which dates from the 1100s, was badly damaged in WWII (has since been restored), and displays a terrifying skeletal martyr in one of its small chapels.
After St. Peter’s I found my way to the Frauen Church, which dates from the 1400s and has two onion-topped towers that rise 99 meters high. I know less about the history of this church, but I was surprised by how spare it was inside. I suspect that much of the original has been destroyed and replaced over the years.
By this point I was freezing and all the shops where I had planned to stop and eat pastries were closed for Sunday. So I went back to the hotel to warm up, take a quick nap, and call Justin.
