#2 - A trademark poor start
I'm sitting in my Munich hotel room right now as content as I could possibly be. An indecipherable German morning television show is on in the background, and the sun is streaming straight through the window and into my tiny room, providing some rare warmth. I'm still on a food high after gorging myself on a traditional Bavarian breakfast full of ham, cheese, potato salad, mustards and an array of the best fresh bread I've ever tasted… Oh the bread. Be still my beating heart.
You couldn't wipe the smile off my face, but this current mood certainly is a tad different to how I was feeling 36 hours ago. So, let me take you back. Impressively, I didn't miss my flight and scored a window seat for the 14-hour first leg between Brisbane and Abu Dhabi. Things were looking up! Yet in true form, something had to go wrong, and it certainly did about 7 hours into the flight. In possibly the worst possible location to have a health meltdown, the effects of extreme tiredness, an inability to sleep, mild claustrophobia and a throat infection all culminated in the mother of all fevers. I'll spare you the details, but basically the next three hours consisted of me being cloaked in wet towels by slightly panicky flight attendants, being pumped full of orange juice and paracetamol and cursing myself for not activating my travel insurance yet. If this was an omen for the trip, Allianz Insurance was about to cop a flogging. Thankfully, the fever seemed to pass and the rest of the first leg and all of the second leg passed without incident. Oh, except being charged AUD$15 for a pack of fucking Strepsils at Abu Dhabi airport. Bastards.
Munich’s town square, beneath the hulking spire of the famous Glockenspiel.
I touched down in Munich and was filled with excitement as the train from the airport trundled through lush green countryside filled with cute white Bavarian houses with those iconic pointed roofs. In a euphoric moment, the escalator out of the train station delivers you to ground level directly in front of the iconic Rathaus-Glockenspiel. It's a moment I'll never forget. This wondrous neo-gothic building was built in 1908 and dominates the Munich skyline. Yet just as exciting were the hundreds of little Christmas market stalls dotted around the main city square. For anyone that loves the magic of Christmas, you would be in heaven here. Each stall contains some of the most exquisitely handcrafted Christmas ornaments you'll find, while others serve up traditional winter fare including gingerbread, cakes, bratwurst, soup, pretzels, and fruit punch. The magic of Christmas filled the air and it made me smile inside and out.
The famous Glockenspiel. Every so often, the clock tower comes alive with an extremely cute mannequin skit and everyone stands around with their cups of steaming Gluhwein and watch the fun unfold.
After a trek on foot through town, I found my hotel, dumped my stuff, got my camera ready, momentarily laid down for just a moment to relax... and woke up 14 hours later just in time for the free hotel breakfast. Perfect.
My first full day in Munich was all about exploring the beautiful city on foot. But before I hit the sights, I had a few errands to run. Mysteriously, my toiletry bag seemed to have spontaneously combusted somewhere between Brisbane and Munich, so I spent a good hour traversing Munich's city centre in search of the essentials. Also on the list was a new universal travel adaptor, as the one I had brought along with me did not live up to its name. The manufacturer of my "universal" travel adaptor mustn't have cared much for Eastern Europe, because it didn't work in Germany. Ah well, it gave me a chance to familiarise myself with the intricacies of the inner city and gave me my first experience of Lidl, a rival to Aldi.
The Feldherrnhalle. Impressive. This square was was the scene of a confrontation in 1923 between the Bavarian State Police and the followers of Adolf Hitler in which the Nazi party attempted to storm the Bavarian Defense Ministry. Known as the Beer Hall Putsch, four policeman and 14 of Hitler’s supporters were killed. Hitler’s men were defeated, but when Hitler took over Germany in 1933, he turned the Feldherrnhalle into a memorial to the Nazis killed during the failed putsch.
A busker takes a break as the sun shines near the entrance to the Englischer Garten, in inner city Munich.
Finally, it was time for sightseeing, so I loaded up on pretzels and headed towards the sprawling Englischer Gartens, which are considered a must-see. These particular gardens are bigger than even Central Park, surprisingly, and in my opinion, far more beautiful. They are modelled on a traditional English garden and are dominated by beautiful trees, rollings hills, monuments, a flowing stream, and a host of entertaining side attractions including a surfing simulator. Helping the experience is that sunset in Munich seems to start at about 2pm and last for ages, which means the afternoons are often picturesque as the sun slowly drifts beyond the horizon. As I trekked through the gardens, the landscape was bathed in the most exquisite golden light for several hours. Just before I was about to turn for home, I stumbled across a traditional Christmas market village!
It was aimed at both children and adults and consisted of dozens of wooden huts decked out in lights each selling different Christmas-themed knick-knacks or food. In the middle were a giant Christmas tree and a 6-story high hut with a live acoustic band playing from the top. I was in love. I grabbed a mug of warm fruit punch, sat down on a chair carved from wood and soaked it all up as children ran past squealing with happiness or munched on gingerbread. Magic. I clocked up 14 kilometres and saw things that truly awed me. What a start to my little European adventure!
