Munich
Trip Start
May 15, 2008
1
40
60
Trip End
Jul 24, 2008
Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Saturday, June 28, 2008
After a short nap in the hotel room, we headed out around 7pm for dinner. This time, we headed north at Karlsplatz, walking along Maximiliansplatz and some backstreets before coming to the pedestrian Theaterinstrasse and Residenzstrasse which run southward from Odeonsplatz. We decided to eat at Pfälzer Weinprobierstube, a wine hall (serves no beer), right off of Odeonsplatz. My dad was disappointed that it didn't serve beer, but we shared a nice bottle of wine and it had a good atmosphere, so I can't complain. Behind us, a concert was going on in Odeonsplatz. After dinner, we walked back through Marienplatz and Karlsplatz, which are both really neat and prettily lit at night.
Sunday morning we decided to head north to the BMW Museum, which is really neat but somewhat of a ripoff. It's a guys museum though, and I knew they'd enjoy it. We parked the car a couple blocks away and walked, watching as the iconic BMW building, which almost looks like a 4-leaf clover, grew larger. This whole area, including BMW World and Olympiapark, has such a unique and modern atmosphere that I love. We spent about 3 hours inside, taking pictures of each other with cars and marveling at the new museum, which was exactly what you'd expect from BMW - sleek, trendy, modern and with tons of cars and motorcycles. After leaving the museum, we said goodbye to our friend, who was driving up to Berlin for business, and we headed to Olympiapark, stopping by BMW World on the way. Olympiapark is definitely one of my favorite places in Munich, as I love the modernist architecture. After spending a while walking around (there was some bicycle race starting or ending there, so parts were blocked off), we headed for lunch in the University district, near the Englischer Garten. Because we'd both visited the English Garden before and were tired, we headed back to the hotel for an afternoon nap.
That evening, we took the S-Bahn to Laim, to check out the apartment where I'd be living. After strolling by the apartment, which had a great location right near the S-Bahn stop, we strolled through some neighborhood back streets to reach Nymphenburg, one of the largest places in Germany. Since we got there right as the sun was starting to set, the lighting was magnificent and the area was empty, which provided for some great pictures. It really was an impressive moment. We went to the Hirschgarten, world's largest biergarten, from there, a short walk away, to find it packed with probably 10,000 people watching the Euro Cup Final between Spain and Germany (my two countries!! Guess I'm good luck). The food lines were crazy, and we were hungry and not keen on sitting on the ground, so we headed back to the Old Town, knowing we'd find something. There we stopped at an Augustiner restaurant, where we had dinner and watched the Euro Cup on a smaller TV. It was so sad to see the sad German fans trickling away from the center city after the game.
Monday morning, I headed straight to the Goethe Institut for my language class placement and to get all the information I needed. My dad, meanwhile, headed off to the airport to fly home. That afternoon, I ran to the grocery store and unpacked, getting ready for my first day of my German class.
My first day of class passed uneventfully, as did my second, as I got settled into five hours of German lessons in the morning. The class itself was quite international, though almost everyone spoke at least a little English (many of the 15 others in the class were practically fluent in English). After class on Wednesday, I opted to go on a Goethe Institut city tour, even though I'd already seen most of the places. Starting from Sendlinger Tor, the closest old city gate to the school, we headed through old town, stopping to admire the Asamkirche, a magnificent rococo church built by the Asam brothers in the 1700s. Since it's not right by Marienplatz and it blends into the street, too many tourists miss it (unfortunately). I've been to a lot of churches, but the inside of the nave is one of the most impressive I've ever seen. It really was the highlight of the tour.
We passed some more of the city's plentiful churches as we approached Viktualienmarkt, which we used as our gateway into Marienplatz. After a brief stop there in the swarming crowds, we headed to the Hofbräuhaus, which we walked through without stopping for a drink. We then headed through some quiet squares and back streets before emerging onto Theaterinstrassse and the square that holds the Theatre. From there, we headed north along Residenzstrasse, which follows the side of the Residenz, Munich's royal palace, until we reached Odeonsplatz, at which point I broke away from the group and headed home.
On Thursday, I headed to the Alte and Neue Pinakothek, two of Munich's finest art museums, which are located between Koenigsplatz, Theresienstrasse, and Universitaet's U-Bahn stops, near the Technische Universitaet in Maxvorstadt. The Alte Pinakothek covers fine European (especially northern European, i.e. German and Dutch) art from the 14th-18th centuries. The Neue has the collections of 18th and 19th century art, while the Pinakothek der Moderne covers 19th and 20th century art. Unfortunately, I never made to the final one, despite plans. I enjoyed both museums thoroughly, but to my dismay, when I emerged from the latter, it was pouring down rain and I got soaked running to the U-Bahn stop, and then again running from the Laim stop back to my apartment.
On Friday it was rainy - as my whole stay from then on out seemed to be - so I decided to take it easy and go back to my apartment - after all, I had a lot to catch up on in my blog and a lot of trips to plan.
