There are three things I’ve found the Germans are very good at; Markets, Kitsch and speaking English (thank goodness)! The Boy and I discovered this on a day out on our own while in Munich. I now associate the Bavarian area of Germany with images of cows and goats – they were everywhere! They also seem quite good at graffitti as we found along Fraunhoferstr:
We were making our way to the Deutsche Museum but we discovered some interesting shops along the way.
We had caught the S-Bahn to Fraunhoferstr as after finding Sweet Cherry Marmalade‘s blog I decided to explore the areas she had mentioned. I wanted to give the route we had taken as we took in some fab vintage shops, the Deutsche Museum and then the Viktualienmarkt.
It was a lovely walk but more luck than judgement (the Boy lost the map half way) but it’s proving too difficult to work it out so I will just mention the shops we went to in the order we came across them.
There are lots of junky antique shops along Fraunhoferstrasse to Baaderstrasse. Unfortunately everything was shut, it looks like they don’t open until the afternoon.
Luckily Daniela at Froschgoscherl was just opening her gorgeous shop and I had to have a peek inside.
She makes couture Bavarian trachten outfits which include the dirndl (dress), blouse, and apron with are traditionally worn at events such as the Oktoberfest (huge Bavarian booze up!). Daniela was very kind and gave me a really useful notebook called Landmark notes which is about arts, crafts and coffee in Munich – right up my street!
We walked past Tricia Leonard’s vintage shop but it was also shut 😦
I rather fancied the bag in the window so it was perhaps just as well! Her opening times are Wednesday to Friday 2 p.m. to 6p.m. and Saturdays from 12 noon to 4 p.m. (also at other times by appointment) the reason for the short hours is that she is a jazz singer the rest of the time (I wish I could sing!). There are some good pictures of her shop here
Almost next door to Tricia Leonard was Cat with a Hat and (drumroll) it was open! Yay! Above is Rene (the man with a pearl earring) outside his fab shop.
The shop is run by Rene and Silvia and they were very happy to talk to me about the shop which has been open for 9 months and had a good variety of vintage clothes, bags and homewares as well as plenty of kitsch. More about the shop here.
You’ve got to love the 1950’s Fish Kitsch and the “Gottle a Gear” ventriloquist dummy!
I asked Rene if he had his clothes made for him but he told me the trousers were vintage American motorbike police, bought on Ebay, and the jacket (which matched perfectly) was from Portobello Road Market in London. I don’t think I would get out of the house in the morning if I wanted to look this sharp, it takes a lot of thought and planning! Rene even had a dangly pearl earring which looked very dapper. Silvia had a bohemian look on the day we met but she said they did have “dress down days” (like me every day!) as it wasn’t always practical to wear vintage. The shop’s website is here.
By this time the Boy was running out of patience (understandable really!) So we made our way to the Deutsche Museum (sign posted at the end of Baaderstrasse) and I had to pass up another vintage shop on the corner to avoid him having a paddy!
The museum is on its own little island which you have to cross the river to get to. We were in here for three or four hours, the children’s area has plenty of interactive areas for the kids to enjoy.
Too right!
Children’s artwork in Kid’s Kingdom
And here’s a fairly random selection of photos from other areas of the museum to give you an idea.
From the museum we continued walking in the area of Buttermelcherstr/ Utzschneiderstr- and taking photos – at which point the Boy lost the map so we had no idea where to head next!
We found galleries, cake and craft shops in this area, but heaven knows what the owners of the cake shop with the yellow sign were thinking – Back means Bake by the way.
We even found a very fancy, fancy dress shop.
Eventually, by chance, we found Alexa’s Vintage along Utzschneiderstr. Alexa was very welcoming and the Boy made friends with her dog while we chatted.
The shop was chock-a-block with mainly clothes and accessories including vintage dirndls in the wardrobe above. Prices were probably higher than at home but I don’t frequent vintage shops in London so perhaps the prices would be comparable.
We asked for directions to Vintage Love and came across the Viktualienmarkt in front of us. By this time the sun was shining and the market looked like a gorgeous urban oasis! But first , Vintage Love.
Don’t trust the cute face. His bark is definitely not worse than his bite
Unfortunately the welcome at Vintage Love was not so warm and welcoming. After the dog went for the Boy as he tried to stroke him, I was brusquely asked “Can I help you?” – Not only had we disturbed the dog but I think we had interrupted a chat the owners were having with some friends! Unfriendly owners and yappy, people- hating dog aside, the shop was very classy and had a boutique feel. Prices here were higher than at Alexa’s.
The shop sold mainly clothes and accessories, from all eras as far as I could tell, but there were a few nik-naks too, though not many.
Next the Viktualienmarkt, I thought it might be closed at first, it looked fairly deserted but on walking further into the market we found all the people – underneath the steeple! They were having a beer or two in the sunshine – what a great idea!
The market sold mainly food and crafts, the stalls looked lovely – I couldn’t stop taking photos!
The Germans seemed to like their “hangy things!”
We walked through the market….
…and out the other side…
and I realised we were in the Centre of Munich! Result! A cup of tea and a small apple juice in the delightful, candle-lit Ratskeller (and 7 euros lighter!) we were homeward bound via the S-Bahn from Marienplatz after a lovely day out.
ArtyCraftyAli 