Munich
Highlights of Europe diary : Day 14 : 28TH APRIL 2016
More popularly called the home of BMW, Munich( referred to as MUNCHEN by the locals) is a major tourist destination, capital of BAVARIA ,often referred to as the SECRET CAPITAL after the world war II. Though it is popular among tourists for its museums and beautiful ancient buildings, it is more famous for its annual OKTOBERFEST celebration. This celebration began more than 200 years ago to commemorate the wedding of Prince Ludwig but today it is more of a festival dedicated to beer, good food and music. The city has around 60 beer gardens and is considered as one of the richest, with a high average annual income.
It was our second entry into Germany during this 19 day long tour. We left Zell am see (Austria) around 9 am and reach Munich by lunch time. Our accommodation was booked at a little house in Honigschmidplatz. To get there, we moved from the central station of Munich (Hauptbahnof) to Munich Laim. From Laim station we took a bus no. 168 to Honigschmidplatz. The house was just 200 metres away from where we got off. (Vacation apartment Muller 2). A small house but just ok when considering money’s worth and security. The downside was the absence of an elevator considering that the house was on the 2nd floor. It was no joke to tug our luggages to the top ! It was sheer exercise.
Later, that evening, we met up with the family of a close friend who now lives in Munich and coupled it with some shopping at Marienplatz. Good place and Munich being Munich kept us entertained with music by the road sides. We walked around Marienplatz , visited churches and had dinner at HANS & GLUK with our local friends. The soft burger buns at this restaurant was something that we rave about till date. They were to die for.
We then got back home and called it a day.
TIP : All the “S” bans (Sub urban metro trains) are free to board with the Global Pass (Eurail). We had purchased a 4 day local transport pass which included the other means of transport - trams, buses and “U” bans (underground urban trains/metro) which costed us 8EUR per head at that time, for an 4 day unlimited travel. This transport pass was a boon.
Day 15 : 29th APRIL 2016 : A TRIP TO DACHAU CAMP
We boarded a bus that morning from Hogigschmidtplatz to reach Munich Laim. A direct train from Laim to Dachau took us there in less than 2 hours. Once we reached Dachau, a bus from right outside the railway station dropped passengers directly to Dachau concentration camp memorial site.
On reaching the camp site we purchased tickets at the counter (EUR3 per head). We were allotted the 11 am batch and the guided tour around the camp was around 2 hours.
DACHAU CAMP
We all know that it is the first concentration camp built by the German Nazis. Though it was built with the intent of capturing Hitler’s political opponents on an abandoned factory grounds, it slowly grew to imprison not only criminals but also various foreign nationals from the countries which the Germans invaded during that period. This was done with an intent to induce forced labour.
The camp became infamous for the brutal treatment received by these prisoners comprising of hangings, floggings, death by live burnings and many more acts of terror. The number of documented deaths were around 32000 , let alone the unaccounted ones.
The stories narrated by the guide moved us completely. The narrow bunker beds on which more than one prisoner was dumped, some bleeding due to the flogging and other means of torture, the rooms smelt of blood. Stories pointing to the enclosures, where prisoners were asked to get naked for a bath and would be tortured with extremely hot showers poured all over them, with no room to escape, were heart wrenching. There were severe punishments for people who did not attend the morning assembly after a heavy night duty. These punishments ranged from running umpteen rounds around the camp to completing dirty and gory tasks. By the time we got to the enclosure which displayed the urn where people were burnt alive, we were literally in tears.
It was just unimaginable how the prisoners even survived each day. The torture gone through during Hitler’s reign was just hell, the height of human abuse. It was nightmarish and sad to hear the stories but very thought provoking too. At the end of it, we realised how blessed we are in this extremely good life of ours and so fortunate to be free.
We boarded the bus back to Dachau station and had our lunch right outside the station before setting out to Marienplatz for some shopping. Now that changed our grim mood a bit. We once again caught up with our friends and window shopped till our feet hurt. That evening we had dinner at a Pakistani restaurant - SHALIMAR. The food was awesome there. We returned to our accommodation at Honigschmidtplatz and called it a day.
Day 16 : 30th April 2016 :
It was decided that we catch up with our friend at AINDORFERSTRASSE bus stop, which was 2 stops away from HONIGSCHMIDTPLATZ. Our dear local friend played our guide for the day. First up was the NYMPHENBURG PALACE . It was a half hour bus ride from here.
NYMPHENBURG PALACE :
The palace is one of the most visited sites in Munich. A creation during the 17th century, commemorating the birth of Emanuel Max, son of the then Bavarian elector, it actually took around 15 years to be completed.
It is built on an open country side of Munich on a large piece of land and served as the main summer residence for many former rulers of Bavaria.
The access to the gardens is free, but the Interiors of the Palace that are today turned into museums can be visited with an entry free. We gave the museum visit a skip and walked around the gardens. The frontal width of this place is said to surpass the palace of Versailles (France).
It drizzled a bit. We managed to walk around the front portion and the rear portion of the Palace.
We spent around an hour in the place.
BMW WORLD :
The BMW world sits in the Olympia park. A bus ride from outside the Palace got us to OLYMPIA PARK in half hour. The park covers a huge area of land. We were welcomed by greenery.
As a home to creation of the BMW, it is not surprising that the city hosts the biggest BMW Museum in 5000 sq metres of land. The area is spilt into BMW WELT (BMW WORLD) into which entry is free and BMW MUSEUM that collects a fee of around EUR10. The entire place re-creates nearly 10 decades of automative innovation. It beautifully explains not only the journey and also runs through the brand history along with providing an insight into the future.
We visited only the BMW World. We were completely stumped by the sheer size of the place. Spread across many floors with easy access, it was indeed a completely new world of its own. There was also a cafeteria in the ground level. We walked from one section to another, enjoying the interactive session while exploring and understanding the world of cars and vehicles. It easily took us a couple of hours to cover the four floors of display. We especially loved the display of miniatures. I also picked up one miniature for a friend back in India, who is crazy about cars.
OLYMPIA PARK : The park was constructed in 1972 to host the summer OLYMPICS on an 850000 sq metre of land lying in the north of MUNICH. Today it is open all the year around is serves as a ground for cultural programmes, exchanges, religious and social events and much more. The park is accessed by locals for relaxation etc. The kids had a great time rolling on the grass, climbing trees and trying their hand at WATER BALL in the park. It was a great time for all of us as we spent time relaxing on the grass. We had our lunch here and also snacked on some banana fritters from a stall nearby.
OLYMPIA TOWER : A TV tower that became the city’s most noted landmark and tourist spot is what the Olympia tower is all about. It stands at a height of nearly 960 ft and offers some fantastic views of the entire city. We purchased the entry fee and decided to hit the top. The elevator got us to the view point in 7 minutes. After a great photo session, we returned to the ground level.
MUNICH CATHEDRAL : Commonly known as the FRAUENKIRCHE, Munich, the cathedral standing in the centre of the city is around 550 years old and is the seat to the archbishop. It was rebuilt in 2005 and was again subject renovation when we got there. The 11th century Cathedral actually boasts of more than 20 individual chapels and is dedicated to many saints and apostles. The two towers highlighting the entire structure is one of the noted landmarks of the city. The south tower is accessible by public and one can get beautiful views of the city.
We took a look at its beautiful interiors. The church hall consists of 3 naves and is almost 100 metres long. We noticed typical gothic styled pillars in the church. The interior decorations, wood work, and carved faces were truly admirable. The stained glass windows were noteworthy. The beautifully styled chapels, the altar area and other sculptures literally blew our minds. There was excellent opportunity for photographs. We spent a while looking around and also offered our prayers here before we walked back to the market area.
DINNER AT BELLA ITALIA:
We reached Marienplatz to continue with some more shopping. Dinner at Bella Italia was a welcome change. It is quite a famous restaurant in the city centre. We had to wait for quite a while before our turn, but the food was all worth it. Our day ended with this beautiful dinner and time with family /friends.
Day 18 : 02 May 2016 : We bid our farewell to our friends and the city and boarded a train back to reach Brussels. There was a hilarious incident at the railway station as we had settled in the wrong coach which stood on the same track as our actual coach, thus leading to some confusion. We realised our folly in the last minute when the destination mentioned on the electric board never changed. A passerby informed us that there were two coaches taking off from the same track and ours was the one behind. We had to run with our heavy luggage to the actual coach and were just in time for our train to take off !! Luckily we didn't miss our reserved train !