München, Cincinnati's Sister City

Our second stop in Germany is deep in the heart of Bavaria and home to Oktoberfest: Munich. We had an early flight from Berlin so we had a lot of time to see the city right from the first day. We arrived and took the S Bahn from the airport, switched to the U Bahn, and checked into our Airbnb. After unloading our bags we headed back to the city.

June 13

Our first stop was lunch. We found a nearby brewery and restaurant close to our apartment but a little ways outside the city. We got some delicious beer and German food, the first of many such meals. Not sure where to go next we took the train to Munich Hauptbahnhof, the central station, and refueled with some coffee. There was a nearby botanical garden we walked through before attempting to go to Spaten. We realized when we got there it was just their production brewery and left a little disappointed.

We next headed to the Marienplatz which is the central attraction point in the city. Most of Germany was rebuilt after World War II but you can hardly tell looking at the Marienplatz. We watched the clock tower show, similar to the one in Prague, and walked around the shopping center for a bit.

Marienplatz

In the evening we met up with my good friend from high school, John Burden. John is studying medieval history at Yale and is in Munich for about a month researching old texts for his program. Previously he spent a year in Munich and fell in love with the city. We met him at the Marienplatz and he showed us around to some of his favorite places. The first stop was just inside the Marienplatz where there is a stone plaque of all of Munich's sister cities throughout the world, including my hometown of Cincinnati!

Conveniently wearing my Cincinnati shirt

We then walked towards the Englischer Garten, a massive park in the city. Throughout the English Garden there are man made canals and dams among the green space. The canals are very fast moving and John explained that a fun activity on a hot day is to hop in the water and let the river carry you downstream. Under some of the bridges the water flows furiously enough to surf! we saw plenty of people in wetsuits and surfboards lined up for their turn.

Urban surfing

We walked up the park to an area where tons of people were out enjoying the sun and the river. This part of the park is near the university in Munich so there were a lot of students relaxing. The water stays pretty cold so you can grab a case of beer and keep it submerged in the river to keep them cold. Our final stop at the park was the Chinese Tower Biergarten where we could finally get the Maßkrug of German beer I had been longing for. After beer and food we made plans for the rest of the week with John and headed home.

June 14 - Hofbräuhaus and Paulaner

Our first stop after breakfast was the Church of St. Peter near the Marienplatz. The church has a bell tower we were able to climb to get a great view of the city. From up high we spotted a market we wanted to check out so we climbed down the stairs and headed a block over. We picked up some lunch from the market and decided it was about time for a beer. We made our way to the original Hofbräuhaus and grabbed a Maß of beer and a pretzel.

                 

Next was another famous brewery, Paulaner. We split a Maß as Paulaner before grabbing a quick dinner. After a long day of exploring (and beer drinking), we went to the English Garden to relax before turning in for the night.

June 15 - Kloster Andechs

Thursday was a holiday in Bavaria which made it a little difficult to get breakfast but we found a nice coffee and bagel shop next to Hauptbahnhof. We had some time to kill before meeting up with John so we briefly went up to the Olympic park from the 1972 Olympics.

Our main event for the day was to visit the Andechs monastery and brewery. We met up with John and Kevin, another medieval history junkie, and took the train outside the city. From there we hiked through a town and in the woods up the hill to the monastery. It wasn't too far but it was hot and humid enough to feel like we earned our beer that afternoon. This was easily the highlight of Munich for me. Hiking to a brewery that has been crafting beer for hundreds of years was an awesome feeling.

View from the monastery

After a few beers and food we hiked back down the hill and caught the train back to the city. We finished up the day at the Schneider Braühaus.

June 16

Our last full day in Munich was a pretty lazy one. We had to do some laundry in the morning so we hung around our Airbnb and got some breakfast and snacks at the grocery store. We finished laundry and got a head start on packing before getting lunch and going into the city. We walked around for a bit, we didn't visit any new places on our last day, before finding our way back to the English Garden to relax and enjoy our snacks. For dinner we returned to the Chinese Tower beer garden and had a beer while listening to the polka band.

Overall Munich is a very relaxing place. It was noticeable slower and quieter than Berlin and the culture of biergartens and food makes it feel like Oktoberfest all year long. I could see myself living here if the opportunity arose, and John and Kevin were both making their case for us to come back for an extended period of time. For now we are off to Switzerland!