Munich

I was back in Germany on another train. It was nice to be back to even more “Western” parts of Europe., a little closer to North America still. The ICE train was also wicked. 2nd class was swanky, with glass sliding doors, reclining seats, and who can complain at 300km/hour. It was fun to pick where to go on my way home. I basically just checked train times and maps to see which places were generally on the way to Amsterdam Schihopol, and Googled the city name to see if it looked interesting. Munich looked awesome. There is a lot of history to the city. It is the capital of Bavarian culture, mostly destroyed by the war, and home of the famous 1972 Olympics. I also can’t forget Bavarian beer, Oktoberfest, and all of Munich’s famous landmarks.

I had to switch trains from Prague in Nurnberg. The train was 10 minutes late getting in, which meant I only had 7 minutes to get bags my bags, leave train (with lots of old people in the way), find the new track, find my car and enter the train. The doors shut as I stepped on the 2nd train, pushing my bags in as they shut. Whoa. It’s too bad I didn’t get to see any of Nurnberg. I think it was better to have more time in Prague and Munich though. It was the place where the Hitler trials took place, so some pretty interesting history.

I checked in to my PIMP hostel. I splurged a little after living to cheaply in Kiev. Wombat’s, one of the best hostel’s in Europe, had free wireless, a winter garden courtyard with comfy seats, 1 Euro power hour beers at the bar, my own bathroom in the 6 bed dorm, etc. I’m glad I’m staying 2 nights here.

I walked around city at night checking out the main street and some of the sights. I got bearings and figured out the map and where I wanted to go for the next couple days. On the 2nd day, I walked the main street again. There was a symphonic band playing, lots of busy stores to check out Western style clothing (yes), a big church, the main square, and a castle. I went up the tower of the Frauenkirche with an awesome view of city. I could see as far as the Olympic village and the BMW headquarters. You could see all of the city from here, and almost make out the Alps in the distance. I got some better bearings, and even saw some green roofs.

Munich had lots of churches, old buildings, and squares. Lots of the architecture was very Bavarian. My favourite place was the Marienplatz, or main square, with the ornate city hall and Glockenspiel. I walked all around the city centre all day in the heat, making sure I saw everything that was worth checking out. There was also a big arch, the university, and Englischer Garten. This is a huge park, one of the largest urban parks in the world. It had lots of paths and seemed way bigger than Central Park. There were also lots of nude sunbathers, and surfers on a big tributary of the River Isar.

The second night I checked out Haufbrauhaus, the most famous beer hall in the world, and relaxed back at the hostel for power hour. I packed again and got ready to go to the next place. On the 3rd day I only had a couple hours before the train. I saw some more old churches, walked around the Jewish area of the city and went back to city hall to watch the Glockenspiel on the hour.