After months of build-up, the Munich trip finally arrived last Friday morning. With only slight issues, we arrived at Heathrow promptly and had plenty of time to chill in what must be by far Heathrow's smallest terminal. Our flight ended up being about an hour late. It wasn't that impressive. Alas, we finally arrived in Munich, where after deplaning we got on articulated buses that took us to the terminal. It was a bit strange. Then came the difficult part: getting into town.
Being two well-educated transport professionals who of course had researched how to get to our hotel from the airport in advance, you'd think we would have little issue actually getting there. This prooved to be not so true. Despite having an urban rail map looking like a plate of spaghetti noodles, with sleek trains taking you anywhere you could want to go, the people of Munich manage to separate the men from the boys by having created the most complex ticketing system ever seen. I had less trouble figuring out how to get around Tokyo. After attempting the ticket machine, we gave up and went to speak to someone at the information desk. We were sold a ticket to get into town (4 sort of zones, but for some reason they took this to be 16 zones), then a 3-day zone 1-4 pass (which was just the central zone) with a one way zones 5-16 ticket to get back to the airport. We were like, uhhhh, okay. So you stick the tickets in a little machine before descending into the bowels of the earth, and it gets stamped. There are no barriers so it's basically on the honor sytem. We did not encounter one of the theoretically frequent checks.
Finally in the city itself, we checked into our hotel that was conveniently about 100 yards from the main train station. It was very nice, but the bathroom was strange! Like you could slide open the mirror behind the sink to face the rest of the room! And there wasn't a door door to get in either, just another sliding situation. It wasn't what you would term a sound-proof situation. There was also an open shower thing and heated floors.
After getting ourselves situated (it was by this time around 4:30), we headed out, keen for exploration. We were about a 15 minute walk from the Marienplatz, the main square in the city center. En route to said Marienplatz, we came across an Augustiner Bierhalle, and therefore felt obliged to pop in for a pretzel and beers. We then headed through the Marienplatz, past what might be the most impressively ornate building I've ever seen (termed the new town hall), to find the Haufbrauhaus, the most infamous beer hall in Munich. We were very confused when we walked in, there was one main room with painted ceilings and a bunch of big tables full of people and a traditional band playing traditional music. Not seeing any spaces we walked through the rest of the labryinth of rooms with big tables, including one area consisting of only Japanese tourists. Luckily we didn't sit with them, we went back to the main room right as a table was emptying. Being only the two of us, we didn't qualify for a full table of our own. So a few other people sat down at the same table. We ordered steins and sausages with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes for dinner. Enjoying the vibe of the place, we stayed on as the other people at our table moved on, initially replaced by a dull Japanese couple that came in, ordered food they quickly ate and didn't even order any beer. That's no way to enjoy the Haufbrauhaus! They left quickly and were then replaced by a bunch of Germans around our own age. We chatted to some of them, they were from near Frankfurt and were in the midst of a road-trip to the Alps to go skiing. So we chatted with them, had lots of stein klinks, there was even some linked-arm swaying to the music and the locals same along to some of the songs. Basically, it was very awesome. While the place could have easily been completely over-run with tourists, we were pleased to find it full of locals of all ages (easily discernable by the large number of older men wearing traditional little Bavarian outfits with the hats, some with really, really big plumes).
Anyways, a good first day in Munich! This photo shows me enjoying my sausages and beer. My large quantity of photos will surely make their way onto the internet this evening, but for now this is all you're getting! Tomorrow I shall reveal how I spent my Saturday...
6 comments:
also to add to the transport situation it took us a good five minutes of serious thinking to work out how to get out at the main train underground station still makes me laugh!
that place was simply awesome!
(not the train station the hofbrauhaus!)
I'm assuming the men's room at the hofbrauhaus still has the 'chunder bin'? A waist-high extra-large urinal like thing with handles on either side? Many years ago I was compelled to go into the mens room to get a look at it. Not use it... just look.
-Google hates me today, it's making me be anonymous.
Sara
That's an impressive beer stein in your picture!
Thank you. It's a 'mass', aka 1 liter (as opposed to the half-liter). It has extra space at the top (where the texture changes to smooth) reserved for the head. There is like a standard head on all the beers you get in those parts.
A one litre stein is the ONLY kind of stein. Technically, at least.
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