I arrived in Munich at a bit past 9 on Thursday evening. Feeling very ready to socialise I dropped my bag in my room, stopping briefly to chat to the one room mate that was there, a Canadian girl, who was also heading out, and immediately headed down to the hostel bar. As expected, it didn’t take long to make some friends! I sat and chatted with three girls at the bar, two more Canadians (but this time french Canadian) called Sophie and Amy, and a lady who was there on business from South Korea. After a few hours my room mate appeared, and so she and her friend from Munich joined. They were going out to a club and invited us along, with two finnish guys who had also joined us, and that’s how I ended up hearing Abba being sung with a german accent on mass. We walked back to the hostel together, with the sun having risen and the birds singing. The german boys we met thanked us for partying with them (imagine it in a german accent for the full experience) and making it the best night out they’d had. A bit of a contrast to my last two weeks…
After a little bit of a lie in I left to explore the city, following the amazing recommendations from Leo (thanks again!). The weather was once again wonderful, and honestly, the whole day was just beautiful. The pastry and coffee from the food market was delicious; the colours of the buildings were all my favourite tones (oranges and yellows); the atmosphere was energetic but also very calming. I was surprised at the huge number of churches. I listened to a travel podcast on Munich as I walked around, making it like a 4D podcast. My highlight was the Englischer Garten. A network of rivers flowing through it, the sun shining, people sprawled on the grass, some playing volleyball - it made me so happy. I ended up at a bridge where surfer’s surf the wave on the river. Suddenly all of the people I’d seen on the metro carrying surfboards made sense. That evening I met up with Sophie and Amy and we went to a biergarten. We enjoyed traditional bavarian food (currywurst for me) with 1 litre steins of beer.
This isn’t a fashion blog, but I felt like my outfit choice fitted in well with Munich fashion.
A much earlier start on Saturday saw me catching the train to Starnburg and then Possenhofen - towns to the South of Munich, on the edge of Lake Starnburg. Interesting historical bit about this lake, it’s home to a true crime mystery where the ex-King Ludwig II was found dead in the lake in suspicious circumstances whilst staying in an insane asylum there. I enjoyed a much warmer lake swim than in Switzerland and my lunch of two types of pretzels with hummus, and peaches. I caught the train up to Nymphenburg Palace. It was very grand, sat in the centre of beautiful gardens. I treated myself to an audio tour and spent the next 90 minutes learning an awful lot about Bavaria, its rulers (seemingly all called Maximillian) and the palace itself. I really love audio tours (if I could make a law it would be that all audioguides are free) and visiting historical places. I get tired of museums eventually, but visiting the actual places and learning about them is so much more interesting. My favourite titbit was the ‘Gallery of Beauties’ adorned with 36 female portraits, commissioned by King Ludwig I of ‘beautiful’ women of all social standing. Seemed pretty odd to me, and I wouldn’t like to think of what he was using the portraits for exactly. The diversity of their social standing (princess to a daughter of a blacksmith) was the only diversity by the way. They all looked pretty identical to me. I hope that if someone was so strange as to something similar today, that the collection would look very different. After I’d exhausted the audioguide I had a little wander around the gardens before heading back to the city centre. I got off the train in the old town as I fancied a bit more of a walk around. The evening sun was delicious and I saw yet more churches. I met up with Sophie and Amy again and we bought some beers and other interesting drinks from Lidl and walked to the park along the bank of the river Isar. It was gorgeous in the sunset. We got a hotdog and ate it with our beers, chatting about traditional Canadian sweets, Quebec politics, our days and how lucky we are to be travelling. We used the electric scooters to return to the hostel, which I realised is a great way to explore cities.
I was originally going to catch a morning bus to Prague on Sunday, but decided I wasn’t quite finished with Munich. I spent the morning wandering around the old town once more, shocked at how quiet it was and how everything really did close on a Sunday. I had a traditional breakfast dish of Weisswurst (was not a big fan) and climbed a church tower to happily observe the city from above. I caught a bus to Prague in the afternoon, after transitioning to rain mode to brave the storm that had appeared.
Munich exceeded my expectations hugely. It was beautiful and the german culture was very enjoyable. The food wasn’t my favourite… But I did really love the pretzels. The people I met were truly lovely, especially Sophie and Amy, and I wish them luck in Italy!