Marienplatz

This is Marienplatz, a square fairly squarely in the center of town. It's usually pretty busy and appears to be a central meeting place for people otherwise scattered about Munich. My hotel is just four or so blocks down Kaufingerstr. and then down a couple of smaller adjoining streets. Kaufingerstrasse is a wide mostly pedestrian street cutting through Marienplatz but early in the mornings its occupied by trucks bringing in goods to the stores on the street.

On the other side of Marienplatz stands this ornate building, the Rathaus maybe? I'm not really sure what it is, but I think maybe it houses City Hall. The status is of St. Peter, I believe. Kaufingerstr. is lined by fairly upscale stores, some of which look really expensive. One curiosity is that some of the stores sell what look like to be traditional Bavarian garments, lederhosen and the like. It's difficult to tell whether this is meant to be some kind of costume or whether it's everyday wear.

Typical outfits of what people wear vary, but have that European look: this time of year a lot of the women wear knee-high boots (over jeans), the men have pointy shoes. There's a few "Goth" representatives and these guys—I particularly like the guy at right who is "AGAINST ***ALL*** AUTHORITY". Meanwhile, just off one of the corners of the square is this little market, the Viktualienmarkt, offering various victuals, as the name suggests. It's really quite convenient when you're just looking for a snack, you can find really tasty sandwiches here. I was looking for a quick bite one afternoon, but didn't want dinner yet. This was ideal, just grabbed a sandwich and that hit the spot. I'm glad I picked a hotel close to Marienplatz because of its central location. There's a subway station here that connects everywhere: the conference center (a 1/2 hr ride) as well as the airport (about an hour if I remember correctly). A colleague of mine staying at an official conference hotel says there's nothing there, so he's got to ride the subway in both directions: conference and city center. Not a big deal I guess, but it's nice to have something of interest nearby I think.