At home, it was total eclipse day, but we had Munich to explore. We took the U6 line to Marienplatz for a city walk, inspired by Rick Steves.

Lining one entire side of the square is the impressive facade of the New Town Hall (Neues Rathaus), with its soaring 280-foot spire. The Neo-Gothic structure looks medieval, but it was actually built in the late 1800s (1867-1908). At the very top of the New Town Hall is a statue of a child with outstretched arms, dressed in monk's garb and holding a book in its left hand. This is the Münchner Kindl, the symbol of Munich. The town got its name from the people who first settled here: the monks (Mönchen). (We went back for the 11 am glockenspiel show.)

The Old Town Hall (Altes Rathaus) is to the right of the New Town Hall, with its green spires. The city seal is on the bell tower, with the Münchner Kindl, a castle, and a lion (representing the first ruler Henry the Lion, who built them). It was in this building, on November 9, 1938, that Hitler called for Germans to rise up and ransack everything Jewish — Kristallnacht. As much of the square was destroyed during WWII, the Old Town Hall was rebuilt to as a copy of the original.

The next stop was St. Peter’s Church. The oldest church in town, St. Peter's stands where Munich's original monks probably settled perhaps as far back as the ninth century. Today's church (from 1368) replaced the original monastery church. Here’s a picture, taken from a high vantage point, borrowed from the Viator website.

The tower in the New Town Hall (access by elevator) was closed for renovations, so we walked the 306 steps up narrow staircases at St. Peter’s for the view.

The next stop was the Viktualien Markt

After the market, we headed toward Ohel Jakob synagogue, built in 2006, with a kindergarten and day school. There is a museum and a kosher restaurant in the square as well. The lower stones of travertine evoke the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. The upper section is supposed to represent the tents used during the wandering in the desert.

We walked quickly to the Italian Baroque and Rococo Asam Church for a quick peek before heading back for the 11 am Glockenspiel. It was built by the Asam brothers in 1740 as a private chapel and as a promotion for their architectural skills. There are many architectural tricks, e.g. wood columns painted to look like marble and a flat ceiling painted to look like a domed one.

We headed back to the New Town Hall for the Glockenspiel show at 11 am. Figurines come out on the balcony to spin and dance. The Spiel of the glockenspiel tells the story of a noble wedding that took place on the market square in 1568. We took video but here are some pictures.

On Dienerstrasse, just north of the New Town Hall, is the famous Dallmayr Delicatessen, the famous food market of the royalty.

We then walked past Max-Joseph-Platz, with the National Theatre and the The Residenz, the former "residence" of the royal Wittelsbach family (Eileen will tour the inside this week), and sat in the Hofgarten for a few minutes before hopping on the U6 at Odeonsplatz to head back to the hotel.

Dinner was with a group from MEF (the meeting Larry is attending) at Delhi Mehek, an excellent Indian restaurant less than a 10 minute walk from the hotel.