Munich, Germany
Munich was not on my initial list of cities to visit. I had been here long ago when I was younger, but only for a few hours. Then a friend in Montreal mentioned how amazing it was, and then I met someone from Germany while I was in Rome who also said Munich was very much worth visiting. So I decided to board a train from Zurich to Munich and let chance take me where it would.
Upon arriving at the train station I immediately saw why German engineering is so sought after. Almost all of the trains are bullet trains, which travel at over 300 kmh. When you walk onto the street you see Mercedes after BMW, and those are just the taxi cabs. I got to my hostel which turned out to be the best hostel I stayed at on my whole trip. It had everything you needed in a place to stay:
clean rooms, clean bathrooms, and a pub downstairs that served cheap (but delicious) beer. I checked in and did a walk through the city.
The main walking street is littered with lions, the symbol of Munich. They are outside restaurant holding beer mugs, outside phone stores holding cell phones, and the unemployed ones just stand around wearing different colored clothes. It is one of the most whimsical ways I´ve ever seen city pride expressed.
My stroll took me straight to the sqaure that surrounds Munich´s town hall. It is a gothic building but it does not retain any of the somber mood of most gothic structures.
A large clocktower makes up the center of the building, and underneath it every hour a variety of painted wooden soldiers and court jesters dance in celebration.
I came back to the hostel and decided to sit in the pub and watch a soccer game. I ran into a guy from Adelaide, Australia (home of Cooper´s Pale Ale) and we both decided to go see what the famed Munich beer halls are like. Beer halls are massive rooms with tables strewn all over to accomodate the thousands who want some German cuissine and beer. There are over 120,000 seats in beer halls, and that is just Munich! The food they bring is enough for two people, but the star of the show is the biggest mug of beer your eyes will ever see.
No visit to Munich is complete without sampling this style of dining.
In the morning I walked to Munich´s main catheral with its world famous double domes: the Frauenkirche. Pope Benedict XVI was the cardinal at this cathedral long before he was called Pope. Most of the old town in Munich was destroyed during World War II, but this church is one of the few survivors, making it more than 500 years old. Inside the tomb of Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV, guarded by statues of saints and soldiers, dominates the entrance.
It was starting to rain so I searched for cover in the English Gardens. The largest park in the center of any European city, it contains sections for different cultures, each area fashioned under its traditional motifs. It is a hike worth taking, particularly as winding streams are alway within earshot, and sometimes they crash in a waterfall.
Weather was not my friend during my stay, as it would always end up raining at some point in the day, and with the rain came the wind, which bit right through your skin. So whenever the sun would peek over the clouds I was quick to take advantage of it. At this point the the sun was also peeking into the horizon, so I didn´t have much time. I made it to Munich´s Olympic Park and saw something strange: it is a combination of Montreal and Toronto. The tower is obviously reminscent of Toronto´s CN Tower, and the roof of the buildings around it are exactly like the roof of Montreal´s Olympic Park.
I walked up to a hill to be welcomed by a 360 degree view of Munich. The sun was just about to dip behind the buildings for the day, and with it end my Munich visit. I tried to stay up there as long as I could, but the wind picked up, then the rain again. I ran down to the U-Bahn station, where I sat down next to the craziest German Shepherd I´ve ever seen. He was with his family in the train, but everytime someone tried to pass him he would growl and bark very loudly. He almost bit one person. No amount of collar choking would stop him. I was getting a little nervous as my stop was approaching, and I would not only have to walk by him, I had to step over his entire body. One stop before I had to get off, his owner had enough of it and decided to walk the rest of the way. My sweat glands relaxed.
Munich was a fortunate addition to my travelling. I think it was the city where I had the most fun during this section of the trip. I also gained a new respect for German organization. When they say a train is leaving at 7:26, it is leaving at 7:26. The next day I was heading off to Brussels to see my cousin. But before I got there, I had a three hour stop in Cologne. And I had to make use of it.
Upon arriving at the train station I immediately saw why German engineering is so sought after. Almost all of the trains are bullet trains, which travel at over 300 kmh. When you walk onto the street you see Mercedes after BMW, and those are just the taxi cabs. I got to my hostel which turned out to be the best hostel I stayed at on my whole trip. It had everything you needed in a place to stay:
clean rooms, clean bathrooms, and a pub downstairs that served cheap (but delicious) beer. I checked in and did a walk through the city. The main walking street is littered with lions, the symbol of Munich. They are outside restaurant holding beer mugs, outside phone stores holding cell phones, and the unemployed ones just stand around wearing different colored clothes. It is one of the most whimsical ways I´ve ever seen city pride expressed.
My stroll took me straight to the sqaure that surrounds Munich´s town hall. It is a gothic building but it does not retain any of the somber mood of most gothic structures.
A large clocktower makes up the center of the building, and underneath it every hour a variety of painted wooden soldiers and court jesters dance in celebration.I came back to the hostel and decided to sit in the pub and watch a soccer game. I ran into a guy from Adelaide, Australia (home of Cooper´s Pale Ale) and we both decided to go see what the famed Munich beer halls are like. Beer halls are massive rooms with tables strewn all over to accomodate the thousands who want some German cuissine and beer. There are over 120,000 seats in beer halls, and that is just Munich! The food they bring is enough for two people, but the star of the show is the biggest mug of beer your eyes will ever see.
No visit to Munich is complete without sampling this style of dining.In the morning I walked to Munich´s main catheral with its world famous double domes: the Frauenkirche. Pope Benedict XVI was the cardinal at this cathedral long before he was called Pope. Most of the old town in Munich was destroyed during World War II, but this church is one of the few survivors, making it more than 500 years old. Inside the tomb of Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV, guarded by statues of saints and soldiers, dominates the entrance.
It was starting to rain so I searched for cover in the English Gardens. The largest park in the center of any European city, it contains sections for different cultures, each area fashioned under its traditional motifs. It is a hike worth taking, particularly as winding streams are alway within earshot, and sometimes they crash in a waterfall.
Weather was not my friend during my stay, as it would always end up raining at some point in the day, and with the rain came the wind, which bit right through your skin. So whenever the sun would peek over the clouds I was quick to take advantage of it. At this point the the sun was also peeking into the horizon, so I didn´t have much time. I made it to Munich´s Olympic Park and saw something strange: it is a combination of Montreal and Toronto. The tower is obviously reminscent of Toronto´s CN Tower, and the roof of the buildings around it are exactly like the roof of Montreal´s Olympic Park.
I walked up to a hill to be welcomed by a 360 degree view of Munich. The sun was just about to dip behind the buildings for the day, and with it end my Munich visit. I tried to stay up there as long as I could, but the wind picked up, then the rain again. I ran down to the U-Bahn station, where I sat down next to the craziest German Shepherd I´ve ever seen. He was with his family in the train, but everytime someone tried to pass him he would growl and bark very loudly. He almost bit one person. No amount of collar choking would stop him. I was getting a little nervous as my stop was approaching, and I would not only have to walk by him, I had to step over his entire body. One stop before I had to get off, his owner had enough of it and decided to walk the rest of the way. My sweat glands relaxed.
Munich was a fortunate addition to my travelling. I think it was the city where I had the most fun during this section of the trip. I also gained a new respect for German organization. When they say a train is leaving at 7:26, it is leaving at 7:26. The next day I was heading off to Brussels to see my cousin. But before I got there, I had a three hour stop in Cologne. And I had to make use of it.
posted by Nathan at 7:33 AM
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