Hofgarten with the Girls

Unexpected Sunny Day Alert!

Rains had been forecasted all week, but we had a surprise of sunshine last Thursday so the girls and I headed into "downtown" (what else do you call the old historic center of Munich?) to an area that I enjoyed walking around with Micah over 6 years ago when we came to Munich for the first time.

This is Hofgarten...  a courtgarden surrounded by an arcade (covered hallway with shops) that is decorated with murals from the early 1800's.  It sits adjacent to The Residenz, which is basically a huge palace-type home built by Bavarian royals.

 Actually, I took surprisingly few photos of the garden area.  I guess I was having too much fun walking with the girls, smelling the flowers and watching the fountains.  It is a very symmetrically laid out, simple formation of a garden, with the center being this 400-year old Renaissance-style temple with great acoustics.  The girls danced to some beautiful music, showing their appreciation by tossing in a few coins afterwards. :)

 Kate and Elsie are becoming quite the little buddies (perhaps getting ready for when Val is in school every day?).  I can't stop photographing them holding hands.  It's my favorite...

 Just outside the Residenz is Viscardigasse.  The area has a long history from Hitler's rise and fall, and though is headed by a huge monument now (which is what the girls - and everyone else walking through the area notices), on the ground is a path of shiny cobbles, recalling a bypass route that people once used to avoid a memorial Hitler built nearby at Odeonplatz.  When a person passed by the memorial, Hitler required them to raise their arms for the Sieg Heil salute, so instead, people often used this other route in order to avoid saluting Nazism.  Hitler's monument is of course, long gone now.

 The girls and I shared a treat on the steps of this monumental area...Kate and Valerie also did a little song and dance on the steps/platform, producing several smiles and even a few claps.