Munich Meandering
Munich you have my heart.
Woah Munich. This city was a total whirlwind but in the best way. After about an 11 hour train journey from Paris (be sure to book your trains at least a few weeks in advance just word to the wise) we arrived tired and ready for schnitzel and beer.
Munich is special to my heart because it has an undeniable warm and friendly atmosphere that strikes a high resemblance to that found all over southern Germany and Austria. Its an area based on tradition and radiates a culture that makes you want to buy a lederhosen or dirndl and start dancing the polka. You can even hear this warmth in the southern German dialect - it has slightly more of a drawn out melody than that heard in northern areas such as Berlin. If you're looking for a more "neue" Deutsch, or "new" German experience- I'd recommend traveling to the northern areas of Germany. These tend to have larger, more contemporary cities. In contrast, the south brings out a certain charisma of eternal German culture that can be found in any Hofbrau or Konditerei you meander into.
Our little studio in Munich was bright and airy with enough comfort to ease our end-of-trip needs. I thought booking an Airbb as our last stay in Europe may be a good idea just so we could do laundry, cook if we wanted, and have a space fully to ourselves. However, our studio didn't end up being fully laundry-equipped and we were too tired to cook, so I may have been too ambitious on that one.
We spent one full day at Oktoberfest. Which was (hands down) on of the best experiences I've ever had. More on that whole day to follow!
The rest of our time in Munich was spent relaxing and wandering our neighborhood. We stayed in the University district called Maxvorstadt. I loved this area because its close to so many cool museums, has a million different cafés to wander through, and tons of great places to grab a bite where you can sit outside in the sun and drink beer. One of my favorite little jaunts was walking though the Englischer Garten to the Chinesischer Turm- one of Munich's most famed beer gardens. We were there on a Saturday and there were a ton of locals listening to the live Bavarian music and soaking up the late afternoon sunshine.
The food scene in Munich is definitely one to note. You can of course find some of the best traditional southern German (Bavarian) dishes that taste just like your grandma makes. However Munich is also definitely on the health trend. I wasn't surprised, Germany as a whole has been at the forefront of the organics and whole-food movement that breeds smaller, local eateries with acai bowls, avocado gluten-free toasts, and of course fresh pressed juices all to your hearts desire. We popped into a little corner café and I got the avocado toast - it was larger than my entire head, I think they used at least two avocados to make that thing. We also got a more traditional German breakfast to go alongside - sliced meats, cheeses and butter with jam to go on freshly baked farm bread. I love this meal, both for breakfast or dinner or even lunch - there is no wrong time to have simple ingredients all perfectly sliced together and then placed on bread. Yum.
Munich also has one of the coolest museums scenes. There are a TON of museums in this city - especially for those drawn to anything art and history based. One stop I wish we did make was to the Haus der Kunst, if you're into WWII history and art definitely check it out. We were able to fly though the Neue Pinakothek a super modern building - it looks a bit like a 1970 library from the outside - but is really a stunning example of constructivist modern architecture from the inside. It houses pieces showcasing great achievements in new modernism from Neoclassicism through Romantic and Impressionist periods. Got to see one of Van Gogh's Sunflower depictions up way way close! And got to snap a photo! (In the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam das ist verboten).
Many of the smaller places that we frequented - cafés and restaurants, didn't accept payment by credit card so make sure you have euro on you when you're out and about. Its helpful to be friendly and prepared in these situations - locals are very accommodating, but appreciate when visitors are knowledgable of their way of business.
