Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday dawned cool but sunny. We set off to church and were quite surprised by the start of the service. Across from St. Anna parish church is the St. Anna Monastery. The congregation gathers in front of the monastery for the traditional opening prayers.

You might notice that there are no palms. Instead people carried branches of greens mixed with pussy willows and tied with colorful ribbons. Everyone brings their own. Following the opening prayers the congregation processes across the street and into church for the mass.

Once inside the restoration of the altar fresco was complete and uncovered. Through the haze of incense you could just make out some of the detail.

In the afternoon our friend Georg gave us a tour of Munich. He picked us up in his car and for four hours drove us all over the city. This was both informative and very helpful. To get a sense of size and placement in a new city makes getting around so much easier. On top of that, Georg is quite the historian as well. He told us about each area we visited and pointed out the better known sights and their significance to Munich history. We even had our first glimpse of Nymphenburg Palace.

As we drove around, one of the odder sights was a tribute shrine to Michael Jackson.

At the end of our tour we stopped for a traditional Bavarian dinner in Au. Outside the restaurant we found a car that would make anyone want to go hybrid.

A lovely dinner followed by a stop for gelato and our introductory tour was complete. Thank you Georg.