May 9th, 2011 by Murray Barnes | Posted in Photography, To Munich and Beyond!, Travel, Trip Report | 2 Comments »
A trip report documenting visiting Katie in early 2011
- Purpose and Planning
- Away We Go
- British to Germany
- Einer kalten Tag in München
- Naturwissenschaft und Technik
- Munich, Y U No Open?
- Up in the Air!
Day three in Munich, and we had no idea what to do. We’d asked advice on reddit’s travel section, and all we got was advice to go to some beer gardens. Probably not the best thing to do in January, considering it was about minus eight. We decided we’d just wander around, and see what options there were. We also planned to do some shopping, get some souvenirs or something.
By the time we’d woken up and had breakfast, it was around 11am when we reached the Marienplatz, and everything was strangely quiet. Also, all the shops were closed. There seemed to be no Germans on the streets, just confused tourists. We were beginning to wonder if there’d been some sort of plague epidemic in the night that only affected German people. A bit of Google-fu, though, revealed that it was Epiphany, a Christian holiday that I, as a Christian, had never heard of before.
Luckily there were a few places open, museums and restaurants mainly, but all the shops we saw were definitely closed. We’d seen the Hunting and Fishing museum on our first day in Munich, but had decided against visiting because, well, dead animals, yawn. However, since it was open, and would be warmer than outside, and was fairly cheap, €3, or less for Ruairidh with his student card, we decided to pop in.
This gentleman warmly welcomes all comers to the Jagd- und Fischereimuseum
This gentleman is just hungry. I leave it up to you to decide whether I am referring to the fish or my brother.
One of the more surreal exhibits in the museum, of which there were a few.
The museum was, um, interesting. It’s not something I’d have chosen to do, if there’d been other options, but it was certainly surprising. Yes, it mostly consisted of guns and stuffed dead animals, but some of the exhibits displayed the quirkiness that is characteristic of Germans. Things such as satnav attached to a deer’s antlers, or a carved wooden Nintendo Wiimote in a cabinet full of fancy guns. Really rather bizarre. One case was full of animals made by combining several animals together, a rabbit with wings and horns, for example
This image, from Flickr User Gruban, shows that rabbit.
The museum proved to be not quite as much value as the Deutsches Museum, as we were out in around an hour, though it did mean it was now time for lunch. Since we’d so far failed in our attempts to try traditional Bavarian grub, we decided to take one last stab at it, and went to the Augustiner Restaurant which was pretty much across the street. We sat in the bier hall section, and ordered some sausages, and Ruairidh ordered some bier.
So, yeah, Bavarian food is disgusting.
I wasn’t a huge fan of the food. They did have nice pretzels though, and Ruairidh enjoyed the sausages. His favourite was apparently the “massive thick one (har har). The beer he ordered was an “Augustiner Bräu Lagerbier Hell” which is a “damn fine lager”, and he even bought one of the Augustiner litre masses as a souvenir for €10.
After lunch, we decided to just walk around and explore some of Munich that wasn’t the area immediately surrounding the Marienplatz or Hauptbahnhof. I’ve mapped out our walking route, and have some photos of it.
Six glorious miles, with no public conviniences. View larger map.
As fans of engineering, and dams in particular, the river Isar was a source of constant delight for me and Ruairidh.
I dunno man, some building, innit? This photo was taken from an island in the river that we only visited because it looked someplace where we could have a subtle whizz in the bushes.
A nice walk in the park. We saw several people sledging, and we were jealous of them.
Sergeant Bear was one of several Murals painted in one of the underpasses.
Surfing on a standing wave in the Eisbach, a man-made river in the English Gardens. This man was crazy enough, but further downriver we noticed an older gentleman strip off all his clothes and go for a short swim in the river. Madness.
This massive greenhouse ISN’T EVEN A GREENHOUSE. Germany, you crazy.
Possibly the most attractive church I’ve ever seen.
Hard to believe that the Asamkirche was a private church for two brothers.
Those boys spent some serious dollar dollar bills, y’all, on their church is what I’m saying.
Tired, and with sore feet, we returned to the hostel. We didn’t have dinner that night, really. Some snacks we’d bought the previous day from a store. We did try the bar in the hostel, where we were the only customers, and I unfortunately let my brother order for me. A rum and coke I asked for, and the barman asked if I wanted it strong. My brother figured I would, so I ended up getting a quadruple shot of rum which was much, much more than I anticipated. Good value, though.
Ruairidh decided to go out for a walk that evening, while I stayed in and chatted to my lady love on the computer. For more of his adventure, and his journey home the following day, read his trip report. For more of my journey, the beyond in To Munich and Beyond, stay tuned.
A trip report documenting visiting Katie in early 2011 Purpose and Planning Away We Go British to Germany Einer kalten Tag in München Naturwissenschaft und Technik Munich, Y U No...
