Munich

[anshjain97]

I have been to Munich 2 times. The first visit was in Jun 2011. It was a completely final idea since our original plan was Austria. So this was added to it. It was a superb city and I was thrilled when I got an opportunity to revisit it the next year.
This will first be about my first visit.
We landed from Frankfurt.
Here is the area of just outside the terminal.

We took the S-Bahn (suburban railway) to get to our hotel.


On the way...the selection for the city for 2018 winter olympics were soon...


The first bits of the city came into sight.


A little background: I had no idea of what to expect as I had done no research. Visa issues just before going meant I wanted to forget all about ever thinking about the plan...

[lagatta]

This will be interesting! Did you go to Austria as well during the trip? Did you go by rail from Munich, fly or rent a car? I want to do that trip by rail as I have a friend who lives in a small town on the rail line between Munich and Vienna, in the very south of Bavaria, on the Austrian border.

[anshjain97]

Yes, after spending 2 nights in Munich, we took a train to Salzburg. Spent 4 night there, took day trips to Linz and Innsbruck, as well as a short side day trip to the Lake area. Followed by 3 nights in Vienna.

[anshjain97]

We got off the S-Bahn at the Hackerbrucke stop- which is a bridge across the rail lines (very close to the Hauptbahnhof- main railway station).


This was the more boring part of town, except for Theresienwiese nearby: Theresa's Meadows, where the Oktoberfest takes place. I didn't see that, though.






View from my room:


And the street just in front:

[anshjain97]

We were on the way to the Altstadt (Old Town), the main attraction of town I had no idea about because I had done zilch research.
This was a junction close to the hotel.


And here is a small playground.


And we reached the deserted Theresienwiese U-Bahn (metro) station.

[Deleted]

It's always interesting to discover a city that you know nothing about. Of course, then you have to kick yourself when you get home and somebody tells you that you were only two blocks from the most incredible sight in the entire city. Because of having this sort of thing happen to me once or twice, whenever I am in an unknown city with no specific plans or information, I look carefully at all signs and posters and sometimes just the general direction where people seem to be headed.

[anshjain97]

I agree. But in this case, I was lucky. I knew that Marienplatz was the heart of the old town so should go there- only when I saw it, did I realize that it's the most beautiful city square I've seen.

In fact, before I saw it myself, I didn't know what Piazza San Marco in Venice was. 3 months before going there, I had seen a movie and a scene was shot in that square- and I didn't know where it was.

[anshjain97]

We took the U Bahn to Odeonsplatz, a square on the north-east fringe of the Old Town. Our hotel was west of the Old Town.


And here's a slightly better pic from a bit afar.


More of the area:


Just here, exiting the Old Town, was the nice residential district of Schwabing.


Just beyond is one of the world's largest parks called Englischer Garten (English Garden).


It is home to a few beer gardens. Here is one. We sat down for a while, while my dad took the more modest size of the mugs- there was another, huge one.


There was, apart from the beer, a small buffet-like place with some snacks- mostly pastries. Here I had my life's first real Apfelstrudel (apple strudel). Delicious!
A close-up of the seating.

[anshjain97]

Here is a little more of the big park:


And closeby is the University of Munich area. Here is around.


Then, back to the Old Town.



From the Universität (university) station, we took the U-Bahn back to Odeonsplatz.


Walking around, the architecture was brilliant, it wasn't flashy or anything but still very attractive.




What are they selling here? Stones?

[anshjain97]

And what may this thing be?


The platform there provided a view.


Walking around, through a shopping area with the usual chain stores, we reached one of the city's main squares, Max-Josef Platz.

The building you can se eis the Nationaltheater (National theatre).

Other pictures of the square:

[mich64]

Great report Ansh!

Munich was our intended holiday destination this September but we have since switched to Scotland as we had flight issues to Munich. We landed at the airport outside Munich a few years ago when we visited some small towns in southern Germany and Austria but left Munich for another time. Hopefully next year! Until then I am happy I can enjoy reports such as this. I look forward to languishing in the Englischer Garden some day.

[Deleted]

The architecture of Munich does look soothingly regular, which I presume means that quite a lot of it was completely rebuilt after the war. During a rebuilding phase, they generally get rid of all of the bumps and clashes that appeared over the centuries.

[bjd]

I have been to Munich twice, a week both times to visit a friend, but I admit that I remember nothing much about it. It just didn't make a big impression. The only thing I really remember is going into a church and seeing that it was just all white inside and realizing that it had indeed been restored after the war, but only on the outside.

The other memory is ladies dressed up in tweedy suits and little hats with feathers having coffee and cakes mit schlagzahne in the cafés.

[anshjain97]

Here is a better picture of Hackerbrucke, the bridge near our hotel. I thought it was the bridge over the river, but it is over the railroad tracks. The river, Isar, is in the eastern part of the center, and isn't a focal point at all, unlike many other European cities.


View of a train from up there.


The next morning, we walked towards the Old Town. Random street view here- but not the Old Town.


Opposite the Hauptbahnhof (main railway station) there was a bakery, we got some croissants and the like. I love the chocolate croissants in Europe with its soft chocolate. Here in India they just put a hard block of chocolate in it.


Looking around:


Entrance to the railway station:


The first square we arrived at in the Old Town was Karsplatz.



Behind this arch was the pedestrianised street Neuhauser Strasse, among the longest pedestrianised streets in Germany.


A church on the street


Looking back towards the arch.


And looking forward- on the by large shopping street.


Then we veered off a side street where this massive structure lurked ahead.




I only went inside it on my second visit. Since I am showing as a timeline, I'll show it later, but if you think I shouldn't, as should show it as area by area, please let me know.


Anyone willing to translate this?

[rikita]

the complete overhaul and conservation of the 120 historic gravestones was done in 1982/84 by the Messerschmidt Foundation of Munich.

oh and the bakery sign higher up says "we are in everyone's mouth", which is a play on words - you say "to be in everyone's mouth" if everyone is talking about something, but in that case of course it could also mean that everyone is eating their food...

[anshjain97]

Thanks for that, rikita.

I knew the bakery sign, weil ich Deutsch studiert habe. Thanks anyways.

[patricklondon]

And what may this thing be?

If you mean the three-arched building on Odeonsplatz, that is the Feldherrnhalle, which has a number of historical claims to fame and/or infamy. It often appears in newsreels of Nazi ceremonials, since it was an important place to them:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feldherrnhalle

Thanks for these pics. I'm off to Munich for a few days in a couple of weeks, followed by a train ride up to Innsbruck for some time in the mountains, so it's a handy appetite-whettener and reminder.

[anshjain97]

Thanks, Patrick. cheers

[fgrsk8r1970]

Great photos of Munich Ansh - I have only been there once with my Ex and it was more stressful than anything. I don't remember much at all (except that I had to drive into the city and find parking)

I'd love to explore the English Garden someday, usually I try to stay out of the cities though when I visit Bavaria. But I love the way you are seeing the city!! Really great photos

[Deleted]

Interesting variety of things to see. From the clothing people are wearing, it wasn't freezing but it clearly was not a heat wave either.

[anshjain97]

Yes- the weather was pretty optimum, maybe upto the mid 20s in the day.

Ont he same building was an interesting clock.


Looking back at the street


And then the road opened up to a large square. My first reaction was...WOW!! This was Marienplatz, I had no idea how it was so it was simply superb.
The dominating structure is the Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall).



From another angle.


Looking around the square:

[anshjain97]

We walked through the doorway of the Town Hall.
I think this is the Coat of Arms (?).


And this is the view from the inner courtyard.


The viewpoint at the top would be opening in 15 minutes (it was too early) so we decided to come later. We roamed about for a while. Here is another view of Marienplatz.


Just off Marienplatz was another square called Petersplatz.


...and around. This was close to a major food market called Viktualienmarkt.


Now that the viewpoint would be open, we headed back to Marienplatz. Views were great. Here is that massive building (church).


And more views.


Over the rooftops...

[bjd]

This makes me realize how many fine views I miss by not liking heights.

[anshjain97]

Back to street level:


Here was another square called Platzl-which was far less crowded.


This then came up on Maximilianstrasse, a very high-end shopping street in Munich.


And it ended on Max-Josef Platz. These touristy wagons operate around- but I can't imagine who will pay so much for it (in Vienna a similar one was around 150 EUR per hour or something- but I can't recall well) given it's so slow and expensive.


And here, a random streetview


We took a U-Bahn to the BMW Museum next to the Olympiapark (the Olynpics centre), north-west of the Old Town. Here is the sleek exterior of the BMW Museum.


One could sit inside any of the cars in the museum. The shops were interesting and there was also a restaurant.

It was split over 2 stories. Here is the view from the upper one.


And then towards the Olympiapark.

[anshjain97]

A view of the Autobahn from there.


Olympiapark was largely green- didn't see much around- but just sat around for a while before heading back to the Old Town.


Back at the north-east fringes of the Old Town, not far from Odeonsplatz.


And later, we took a tram to the eastern-most parts of the Old Town, near the banks of the river Isar. here is the Maximilianeum, home of the state parliament.


Here is the Isar.


Here is the entrance to the Hofgarten, a garden near Odeonsplatz.


Inside...





Back to around Marienplatz. I didn't see this building before.


Here is a cross-section of Marienplatz, with the Neues Rathaus (Town Hall) at the left.

[Deleted]

Marienplatz is clearly quite impressive. Thank god most of the cities of Europe have transformed all such areas into pedestrian zones because I can imagine the chaos if cars still went through there.

[anshjain97]

The next day we arrived at the Hauptbahnhof; we were leaving Munich and going to Austria now. It was surprising to see very few places to sit inside.
A view of inside the railway station.


And from the train...





That was the end of my first visit. I will now start about my second visit, which was about 10 months later.

[anshjain97]

Actually Kerouac, it is not completely pedestrianised- there is a small road passing through.


But the square is so big, it really doesn't seem to make a difference.

[anshjain97]

And, from my second visit. This was a 10-day exchange visit to Bavaria (organised by the school), so I was staying at my exchange partner's house in a town called Simbach. The group from our school- but not the exchange partners because it was a weekday- visited Munich one day.
Entering the city.



In the Old Town, this was Koningsplatz (King's Sq), home to several of Munich's main art museums.



First, we went to the Alte Pinakothek, the medieval art museum.


Back around the square...


Back to that big red church- which is St Micheal's- it wasn't really impressive from the inside, as much as the exterior had suggested.



The last thing in Munich was a visit to the Allianz Arena, Munich's football stadium in the suburb of Frottmaning.


Inside:


OK that's the end of the report. I didn't spend much time there, so I would love to go back.

[Deleted]

Well, you certainly took plenty of pictures, so I now have a much better impression of Munich other than what I saw just driving through it on the autobahn! I really appreciate that you took the time to post all of this because I happen to know that it takes a certain amount of effort.

Can't wait for your next adventures...