Ever since I can remember, I’ve wanted to visit München, the capital of Bavaria, in Germany.
Maybe it’s because my parents met in Germany and had their first date in Munich. Or maybe because I lived in Munich in one of my past lives? Or because I have strong memories of dad talking about Munich, and I miss my dad so bad. I think the reason behind this wish of mine has probably changed throughout the years – nonetheless, the wish stayed.
Anyway.
I just had this feeling in my heart that I wanted to visit Munich.
So, on a Friday night, after an intense week of finals last spring, my friend and I hopped on a train from The Hague to Munich.
Or should I say 5 trains? One from The Hague to Amsterdam, then one to Arhem, one to Duisburg, another one to Köln, and, finally, one to Munich, hehe. We arrived on Saturday at around 10am, and, luckily, were staying at a place two blocks away from the Hauptbanhof (Central Station), so we dropped off our things, rested a little and already went exploring.
And so began our spring break.
My favourite thing about the places I’ve been to in Europe is the walking-everywhere thing.
Also, the cute little streets. And the architecture.
My God, how I love the cute little streets and the cute little buildings! We went to the Marienplatz and, from there, just randomly explored Munich’s little streets. Here’s how we decided where to go:
- Oh, look at that building over there! It seems really beautiful, let’s go check it out.
- LOOK AT THAT CUTE LITTLE STREET DOWN THERE, LET’S GO SEE IT
- Wonder what those towers over there are..? Shall we go see them?
- What’s that statute down the street? Lets go check it!
- etc
We walked over 18 thousand steps (according to my phone’s Health app, not sure how accurate it is?) on our first day in Munich. NOT JOKING. Look!
We’d get to a place, find it beautiful and check on Google Maps where we were, and go OOOOOH, SO THIS IS THE FAMOUS (name of famous place here)!!
Since we were kind of exhausted due to a night of switching trains, on our first day we just walked around aimlessly and admired the random buildings.
We also had lunch at a very typical Bavarian restaurant called Augustiner Am Dom. We ordered a selection of random würste (sausages), sauerkraut and some potato thing (I don’t remember the name). The price was quite fair and it tasted alright (I’m not a big fan of oily meaty and heavy dishes, soooooooooo).
Anyways.
Come take a stroll with me through the cute little streets in Munich, starting at the infamous Marienplatz,
which has been the city’s main square since 1158. The first tourist attract we see there is the Rathaus-Glockenspiel. It is a part of Munich’s New Town Hall, and everyday at 11am and 5pm it re-enacts two little stories from the 16th century.
Note: we saw the re-enactment and, oh, boy, everyone says they’re boring but I found them quite amusing. The first one is about the marriage of Duke Wilhem V to Renata of Lorraine. The second one is the Schäfflertanz, aka coopers dance – apparently they went dancing in town to bring vitality to a city taken by the plague.
Rathaus-Glockenspiel.
Munich’s New Town Hall
Walking out of Marienplatz, there are A TON of little streets filled with beautiful buildings. From there, we just randomly walked, passed through the Old Town Hall, walked by the Hofbräuhaus (we only went inside it on our second day there), saw a building with some plants growing on its walls near Vital Lounge (or was it the Vital Lounge building???? keine Ahnung aka no idea), then walked to Platzl, some other streets whose names I don’t know… Long story short, we walked a ton on that day.
SPRING IN GERMANY!!! A thing that has not happened this year, lol.
Old Town Hall.
Le building w/ le cool green/plant wall – IDK WHAT THIS IS CALLED????????
Right after walking past the Hofbräuhaus…
Justizpalast (Palace of Justice) @ Karlsplatz (picture is kinda crappy coz was taken from my phone while my fingers were freezing, lol).
At the end of our stroll, we went to Café Am Glockenspiel, a very nice café right by the Glockenspiel (thus the name, duh).
T’was rainy and chilly, and a warm cup of cappuccino was very much welcome.
If you go there, try to sit near the window!
This way, you can enjoy your coffee with a nice view of the New Town Hall and the Glockenspiel.
If you arrive before 5pm, you can even catch the 5pm lil’ show from a privileged seat! ^.^~
I took about 300 photos in this trip to Munich, so please bear with me as I figure out a way to divide my posts and properly spread/publish those pictures.
Have you ever been to Munich? Or to Germany? Would you like to go there someday? What do you think of the architecture of the buildings in these pictures?
Lemme know what you what you think in the comments below or by tweeting me @tweetsbysofi.
xoxo