Day 51: Munich (Guest post #2 by my travel buddy, Julie)
On Sunday, I got a chance to go exploring Munich on my own. If you don't read the rest of this post, know that there are three things that the people of the city are most proud of – brewing beer, drinking beer and beer festivals. Seriously. I'll get to why in a bit.
I began my day by renting a bicycle at the train station. Though the sky was looking undeniably ominous, I wanted a chance to cycle around the Englischergarten, the largest garden in the world found within a city. Armed with a free map from the bike rental guy, highlighted with his recommended route, I set out to face downtown Munich. Munich is a very bike-able city (then again, most European cities seem very bike-able to me, when Toronto is the point of reference) and I happily cruised through neoclassical buildings, some fountains and an obelisk before finding myself at my destination.
The English Garden is kind of a funny name – it is found in a German city and is in parts more a forest than garden. Regardless, the colossal park was a fantastic place to explore. To enter, I first had to pass some royal grounds surrounded by palaces and well-trimmed shrubberies. Several rivers wind through the park, feeding into a small waterfall and a scenic lake at the opposite end.
Within in a few minutes of entering the park, I stumbled upon The Surfers. You almost have to see it to believe it, but there’s a hugely popular surfing spot inside the park. Under a low bridge at the foot of a narrow river, some sort of mechanism is set up to create rapid, erratic waves. At both sides, wooden platforms are packed with men, women and children decked out in full surfing gear, lining up for a chance to battle the current. Curious tourists, like me, crowd around the river banks and on the bridge to watch the fun.
A little farther down, I found myself at the base of a multi-tier Chinese pagoda. This is place is the heart of the garden. I sit down for a while in the beer garden around the pagoda, listening to a live brass band rocking out on the second floor for everyone in the park. The air is delightfully scented with the smell of fresh pretzels and bratwursts from the multitude of food stands in the area.
Next, I bike through some less crowded trails to the lake at the end. For such a cloudy day, the lake is packed with people in boats of every kind, crowding out the swans and their cygnets. I finished my two-hour bike ride with a climb up to the Monopteros, a classicist colonnade that provided the best panorama of the park.
Right after I returned my bike, it began to drizzle and would, unfortunately, continue to do so off and on for the rest of the day.
After a quick bite for lunch, I headed to the Marienplatz to take part in a Sandeman’s free tour of the city. Linh and I had previously went on a Sandeman’s tour in Berlin and found it to be absolutely fantastic. Though the Munich one wasn't as thoroughly engaging as the one in Berlin, it was still very enjoyable. The tour began outside the Munich Rathaus, an impressive neogothic structure that would have been imposing if not for the lines of bright red flowers decorating the balconies.
We then proceeded to the St. Peter’s Church, where there lay the fully-clothed corpse of the patron saint of single women (yep, you read right). Around the corner, in the back of the Old Town Hall is a statue of Juliette from Munich’s sister city, Verona, holding flowers in one arm and one golden boob – the result of many decades of touching, our tour guide informed us. She was supposed to be a charm for single men. How convenient…
We were also led around the Rindermarkt, a fantastic food market that was unfortunately closed on Sundays. At the centre was a May Pole. I highly suggest you Google the legend of May Poles – it’s hilarious and fascinating, though a bit too long for me to tell here (sorry, you'll just have to Google it).
We also got to see the Haufbrauhaus, the oldest wheat-beer brewer in the city. It’s quite a tourist trap, but fun to visit anyways, because locals with their own tables may come in dressed up in traditional clothing and order beers from their own steins that are normally locked up in cages at one end of the beer hall.
We also got to walk around the area of the palace, which is only one floor but is larger than the Buckingham palace. There, our tour guide told us of the origins of Oktoberfest – it was, in the very beginning, a three day celebration for Prince Ludwig’s marriage. The celebration as so popular, mostly for the gratuitous wine that King Maximillian decided to repeat the event the following year, and then the year after that, and so on. Eventually, wine was switched out for beer, which was cheaper, the festival was extended to 16 days, and was moved to September for warmer weather.
The tour ended at Odeonsplatz, a grand square surrounded by impressive buildings that also acts as the gate to the English Garden. However, Hitler, who also appreciated the grandiosity of the location, used the spot for many of his speeches. Thus, our tour guide also took us on a detour to Dodger’s Alley, used in the Third Reich by rebellious and bold Munich citizens who didn't want to pass through Odeonsplatz and thus be forced to salute to Hitler.
The tour ended an hour and half before my bus back to Memmingen, where I was staying that night. It gave me just enough time to grab an absolutely divine (and humongous) chocolate cake from Luigi Tambosi.
Ironically, as soon as I got on the bus, the skies cleared up, giving me a perfect view of the brilliant Bavarian countryside flashing by.
Photos by Julie Zhang.
