The Calming Effects of a Chaotic Farmers' Market
I am frequently reminded of how lucky I am to live in this beautiful city. The way the light is reflected on the buildings in the narrow streets between Odeonsplatz and the Bayerischer Hof in late autumn causes me to take pause — it is as if I am walking on a film set. The buzz of Schwabing on a warm summer night, when I stop in at the Drugstore Pizza shop for a late-night snack, and the last lingering girl talk with a good friend makes me forget deadlines, responsibilities and limitations. The quiet I somehow find in the bustle of the Viktualienmarkt centers me for a few hours. When I was new to Munich, I spent most afternoons caring for the daughter of a friend. Each day I would put Femvé in her stroller and set off to the market with a list. We had our favorite stands of course and soon the salesgirls anticipated our daily visit and greeted us warmly, picking the best produce from their bushels and presenting a delighted Femvé with a banana or a ripe peach. I relished those afternoons and learned some of my best Bavarian dialect there. I often thought about the Viktualienmarkt’s reputation as being set up just for tourists. I discovered the true side of the market then — an institution steeped in tradition where merchants cater to locals.
That is why I am so pleased with this month’s feature article. Staff writer Claudia Hellmann takes readers inside the Viktualienmarkt, guiding newcomers around each stand and uncovering some lesser-known tidbits that should broaden even the most frequent marketgoers’ knowledge. I hope it will inspire you to take the time to rediscover it for yourself.
Current billboards for the Deutsche Bahn seen around town emphasize the stress of traveling by car through Bavaria in late summer. Indeed, the combination of summer vacation travelers and the hordes of visitors to the Oktoberfest leave the Autobahns around Munich a very undesirable place to be in September. That’s why this month’s travel article features a destination close to home, even reachable by S-Bahn — Herrsching, the last stop on the S5, and near the world-famous Andechs Monastery.
On the subject of exasperating driving experiences, Ian McMaster gets down and dirty as he explains the penalties you will pay if you lose your temper behind the wheel. After reading Red Tape this month, you might think twice the next time you are about to make an obscene hand gesture at a fellow driver.
Finally, on a more serious note, Lise Cribbin addresses the revived pension payment law for freelance teachers in Germany. Threats of retroactive payments have already driven some foreign teachers of English back to their native lands. She explains in the Last Word this month.
Now that I don’t have the time for daily strolls through the Viktualienmarkt, I try to treasure each visit there. I slow down, ignore pushy shoppers, smile and take in the sights and scents of something utterly unique to Munich.
