Munich - Cars, Castles and Pretzels

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As any well-seasoned traveller will tell you, it's best to do your research on a place before you get there. That is, of course, unless you are the incredibly adventurous type and love to dive in head first. That is by no means what I'm like, so I set out from Dresden on my way to Munich, hoping to see the things I had read about.

The first train took me from Dresden to Nurnberg (or Nuremberg for us English speakers). It took four and a half hours, which was one of the longest journeys I've had so far. Luckily I bought and iPod before I left home, so I had plenty of songs to listen to. I managed to find my connecting train in the ten minutes we were stopped there, and an hour later I was in Munich (or Munchen for those German speakers out there). Now, considering I was there for the last few days of Oktoberfest, what do you think is the first thing I saw when I hopped off the train? In amongst the crowd was the occasional person in traditional German dress. The men had the leather shorts with knee-high socks, and the ladies had the white frilly dresses. I thought they must have been part of the entertainment at the Oktoberfest, like the barmaids or band members.

After checking into the hotel, I got the subway back towards the city centre and arrived at Marienplatz. It is like a town square, with the main building being the Rathaus, or the Town Hall. At the top there is a Glockenspiel that rings a few times a day. Unfortunately I wasn't around to see it do its thing, but apparently some figurines come around and enact the story of a long-ago nobleman's marriage. But I did take a picture of the building, with all it's nice flowers blooming. As I was a bit hungry, I decided to try my first pretzel (call a brezel in German), which was a lot yummier than I was expecting. I was most surprised with the really large salt granules they had, but it was probably part of the recipe, and certainly gave it a distinctive taste. The biggest decision was between the regular size (a sandwich-size plate) or the large size (a dinner-size plate). I went for the smaller size, because I wasn't sure if I would like it. No worries there as it turns out.

The next day I got the (by now obligatory) hop-on-off bus around Munich. It took us out to the area of the Olympic Park and BWM factory. For some strange reason I love looking around big sporting stadiums. Maybe it's because I subconsciously know I was born to be a sporting star (please, you can all stop laughing now), or maybe it's just all those seats (yeah, that's a strange one). Like most Olympic precincts these days, the venues are multi-purpose and are used long after the Olympics have been staged. The main stadium was smaller than I expected, but then again it was built for the 1972 Games and times have changed. After walking around the upper levels of the stadium, I wandered through the lakes and garden that dot the place. I also saw a series of posters advertising the upcoming concerts at one of the buildings, and it reminded me that Queen were giving a show there the following night. Hhmm, I didn't want to pay a lot of money to see them play, but maybe I could just hear them play for free. We'll see how that one works out.

Across the road from the Olympic Park is the BMW precinct, comprising the factory and headquarters, BMW Welt (or BMW World) and the BMW Museum. BMW Welt is basically a big showroom of their new cars and motorbikes, some displays on their technology, and a conference room area. There were a few nice cars there, but I was most impressed with the Formula 1 car. Across at the BMW Museum were the best things though. The whole building is geared towards showing how great the company is, and will be in the future. It was interesting to see and read about the cars and motorbikes from years ago, even though I don't know very much about engines. The coolest thing was a room that had about a hundred little balls on strings, each conected to a string in the ceiling via a motor. The balls are raised and lowered to varying levels, and eventually morph into shapes like cars and bikes. Ah, simple things amuse simple minds.

One of the day trips I had planned for outside of Munich was the Royal Castles. The weather forecast for the day was for showers and cloudy skies, and this is how it was when I boarded the bus at 8am, upon which I was surrounded by a large number of Americans. Nothing wrong with Americans, it's just that their accent doesn't sit well with me. We first stopped at Linderhof, a castle that King Ludwig II lived in up until his death in 1886. Ludwig was a bit of a recluse, and had a great passion for swans. He also idolised King Louis XIV of France (The SUn King), and the Palace of Versailles near Paris. This is the palace that was closed when I went there a few weeks ago, so seeing Linderhof was the next best thing as it was closely based around the French palace. Although Linderhof has all the opulence of a royal castle, it is quite small, and therefore seems more like a posh house. There are gold stautes, porcelain figures, and lots of things to do with swans. Unfortunately you aren't allowed to take pictures inside the building, but I do have some of the nice gardens outside and the really nice countryside. That's what I liked about the Bavarian region ... it was Autumn and the trees were turning from green into reds and yellows. Add this to the rolling green fields and it's a photographer's paradise.

Back on the bus and it was onto a small nearby town called Oberammergau. A lot of the houses have intricate paintings of either religious scenes or fairytales. I think the whole town was very religious, and it is famous for the staging of the Passion Play, stages once every ten years for a run of five months. The town is also known for its wwoodcarving, but I resisted the temptation and thought of the hassles quarrantine may give me back home. After our forty minute stop everyone was ready to board the bus for Neuschwanstein, and I got to listen to more American accents on the way. Neuschwanstein is the castle that King Ludwig was having built just before he died, and was the inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland. Apparently is is one of Germany's was visited tourist attractions, and that's why you have ticket's given for a set time (be there or miss out). We stopped at the town at the bottom of the hill, and had about one hour before our tour of the castle. Nothing much was happening down below, so I walked up the hill to the base of the castle. It took about 20 minutes, and I even managed to pass the horse drawn carriages on the way. It took a bit more skill to avoid the horse droppings though, as they obviously haven't been to Brugge and seen their horse-nappies. With some more time to spare, I walked down a little track to the Marienbrucke, a bridge that crosses a very deep gully. There are awesome views of the castle from there, but unfortunately I didn't quite make it onto the bridge. You see, a few factors prevented me from fully appreciating the view, and I'll list them for you. Firstly, I am not that fond of heights; I don't like bridges with wooden planks that move when you step on them (though there was a steel structure underneath); I believe every bridge has a load limit (depsite there being no signs advising that fact); I was embarrassed that a schoolgroup of seven year olds were braver than I was. I ended up standing at the start of the bridge for about twenty minutes, waiting for the huge number of people to dwindle. I know that my fears were probaby unreasonable, but they are my fears, and no one else can have them. Sweaty palms don't help when you are trying to grip the handrail.

I walked back to the castle and stood in line for my timeslot. Out guide took us in, and it was only then that we found out there was no photography allowed inside the castle (but we could take shots pointing out of the windows), and we were only to shown the three floors that were finished at the time of King Luwig II's death. We were lead through different rooms and told of the history and style of various parts. I actually enjoyed seeing Linderhof Castle more then Neuschwanstein, given that the King lived for a number of years in the former. The guide was also so boring she nearly put me to sleep. She obviously knew her stuff, but she spoke like she was reading it from a book and had no excitment in her voice. Frankly I was glad to be finished and able to walk back down, looking over the gorgeous rolling green hills. The weather forecast turned out to be a bit off the mark, and there were blue clear skies all around. On our way back to Munich I remembered I had my iPod and starting enjoying some music. The ironic part was that most of the others on the bus were fairly tired and had a nice snooze. This meant I didn't have to hear the American accents, only their snoring.

It was about 6pm when we arrived back in Munich, and I thought I might go and see how the Queen concert was sounding. I caught the subway back to Olympic Park and manage to hear the last half of the concert. I say hear and not see, because I was only standing outside the main doors. Still, enough sound was coming out for me to really enjoy what I was hearing. There were about six other people being as smart as me, as well as numerous catering and security staff going in and out. I know I missed seeing the band on stage, but seeing I paid no money I think I did alright. As it was now Queen with Paul Rodgers, they played music from both areas. It's obvious that no one can replace Freddie Mercury, but to hear the band play there great songs was still something awesome.

While I was in Germany I wanted to visit a former concentration camp. Dachau is one of those camps, and is only a 20 minute train ride from the city centre. Dachau is the name of the town that the camp was situated in. Once at the train station I followed the rough map I had, and spent the next half and hour walking through the streets and to the former camp. (There was a local bus I could have taken, but that would have been too sensible). It was a strange feeling to be in a place where so much human misery and degredation took place, but it was also good to see how it is being remembered and presented to following generations. The basic layout of the camp is preserved, but there are only two (reconstructed) dormatories left of the 32 that were originally built. These face onto the central courtyard where morning role call was performed. Inside the dorms are bunk beds of the styles that were used from 1933 until 1945. (Dachau was the longest continually operating concentration camp the Nazis built, and is regarded as a model for other camps.) Just outside the barbed wired perimeter fence is the block containing the crematorium and gas chamber. The crematorium has three incinerators and a beam above for the hanging execution of prisoners. The gas chamber was rarely used, and this most was likely only for experimentation. There are memorials/churches around the camp belonging to various religions whose people suffered in the concentration camp. In the main administration block there is a large display of historical information, going through the timeline of the Nazis coming to power and the subsequent changes that took place in Germany. I was really glad I went out to Dachau and have the chance to see how they are presenting the horror of those times, in a way that makes people think about the present and future generations.

I got the train back to Munich and decided to check out the Oktoberfest. I thought it was just a huge beer-drinking session, but found out it was much more. It's basically an Ekka without the cows. As soon as I walked through the gates (no cost to enter) I had the biggest smile. There were all the stomach-emptying rides and food stalls you would expect, as well as the famous beer halls. I didn't go into one, but you could see just how packed they were and how much fun they were having. I know I don't drink, but it still would have been nice to be inside with some people and listen to the music being played. I walked around for a while and ended up getting a big pretzel to eat. Mmmm, once you have one, you are hooked. The other interesting site was all the people in traditional German dress. It all made sense now .... when I first arrived in Munich I saw people like this at the train station, and assumed they were performers at the Oktoberfest. I now know that it is tradition to dress like that, and seeing some of the outfits the ladies wore I'm very glad they do.

Friday was my last day in Munich, which just so happened to be the 3rd October, Germany's Reunification Day. I thought the museums may have been shut on this public holiday, but not so. There was one right around the corner from my hotel called the Deutsches Museum. It is the world's largest science and technology museum, containing things from astronautics, chronometry, machine components and tools, music, and bridge building. There are lots of machines from the 1800's and 1900's, engines galore, a submarine and other boats, functioning printing presses, pipe organs, an electron microscope, and other things too many to mention. A lot of displays are behind glass, but there are plenty of interactive things to play with which help to explain the world around us. I got to the museum at about 10am and walked straight in. The map showed me where various exhibits were on each of the three floors, so I started at the bottom and worked my way onwards. When I looked out the window at 12 noon, the entrance line was about 30 metres long (probably because it was a public holiday). At about 4.30pm, after having nothing to eat, an announcement was made saying they would be closing at 5pm. By that time I was only about a third of the way around, so I hurried up a bit. The point is, there was so much to see, I could have spent two full days there. It was one of the most interesting places I have been to in terms of science and technology. I don't think there is anyone in the world who could go there and not find something that really interested them. If you are in Munich, I highly recommend the Deutsches Museum.

Munich was a great place to visit, especially at this time of year. I absolutely loved seeing the tree leaves turning from green to red to yellow. There is plenty to do and see, and if that doesn't satisfy you, try watching German television. The voices they get to overdub shows (like The Simpsons, House, Home Improvements) are a real laugh. Tomorrow I get the train to Switzerland and get to see the places I have been looking forward to the most.

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Photos

Hotair balloon over Munich
This icecream was too big for even me to eat.

Balls morphing into a car shape.
I was mesmerized with it for minutes.

Marienbrucke, near Neuschwanstein
It was really high up, had lots of people on it, and wobbly wooden planks.

Dachau Concentration Camp
The barbed wire fence and ditch that ran around the perimeter.

Plots where the dormatories stood.
Each plot is numbered. The buildings were demolished after liberation.

A rotating bar at the Oktoberfest
The combination of circular motion and alcohol doesn't see too safe to me.

Foucault's pendulum.
A ball on a 30m string swings back and forth over a circle. It's an experiment used to show the Earth's rotation. There are more than 50 of these in the world.

The Deutsches Museum
A aluminium mirror used by ships.

The Deutsches Museum
Too many of myself in the one room is not good.

Walking up to Neuschwanstein
It took some skill to avoid the horse droppings.

A house in Oberamergau
People love putting flowers on window ledges.

Comments

[Annette]

Amusing
A very amusing account. And the pictures are great.