Wilkommen zurück! Today is my 7th day of the Plus3 Germany program, and we’re going back to visit somewhere we haven’t been since we arrived: Munich! We flew into the Munich airport on our first day, but were unable to see the actual city itself, due to the airport being located on the city’s outskirts. Munich is not only one of the largest cities in Germany (it’s the 3rd and is close to the size of Philly), but also is the capital of the Bundesland Bavaria (which Augsburg is also located in)! Needless to say, it is a very important city in Germany.
While I had been to Munich once before this trip, my ability to explore the city was greatly hindered by the poor weather. While today was still cloudy, and even drizzled a few times, it was nothing new on the trip. Leider the weather for us has been cloudy with varying amounts of rain every day. Maybe we’ve had one nice, sunny day so far.
Although the city is not too far from Augsburg (an hour and half away at most), today we opted to arrive via the ICE, a fast super-train. Germany, unlike the U.S., is full of these trains, so traveling this way is often quicker. With the ICE, the trip is only around 50ish minutes.
Once we got off at Munich’s Hauptbahnhof, our first stop was in Marienplatz to visit the city’s iconic Glockenspiel. There, we met our tour guide for our trip. She went over the history of the square and the chimes in great detail. While I have been to Marienplatz before, it was nice to hear the historical context of the area. When we left the square, she took us to the original Hofbrauhaus, an iconic brewery that originated in Munich. There’s even one in Pittsburgh! Once again, she went over the history of the brewery and how it used to be the royal family’s favorite. She even went over a few traditions unique to this brewery, namely how the locals have their own reserved section since the brewery is such a tourist attraction. Tables with the word “Stammtlich” are reserved for the locals.
Once we left Marienplatz, our tour guide took us to see a bunch of government buildings. Munich has many of them because it is the capital of Bavaria. Much like how Washington D.C. is set up, many of these buildings of within a short walking distance of each other. Along the way, we also got glimpses of a museum and some large parks.
After our tour was completed, we had free time for the rest of the day. On impulse, most of the girls and I visited a Thai place called Kaimug. There I got Lo Mein, which was absolutely amazing. After a bit of window shopping, we stopped at Hofbrauhaus to get some drinks. What started out as five of us ended up being the entire group! We almost ran out of space on the benches, which really says something! Shortly after this, we went to a burger chain called Hans im Glück, which had an interesting atheistic of birch trees. I was not very hungry at this point, so I only ordered Onion Rings, which were very good. Everyone else who had burgers said they were also very good. Too soon, we had to return to the Hauptbahnhof and ride the train back to Augsburg. We almost missed the train!
Overall, it was nice to revisit Munich. While I would have liked more to explore the city, it was nice to see more parts that I was unable to see before. Despite being one of Germany’s biggest cities, save for Marienplatz and Hofbrauhaus, the city did not seem too busy. Generally, the speed of life here in Europe is slower compared to the U.S. Still, the city felt humongous, and I do not think I could live in a city as large as Munich.
German Words Used:
Wilkommen zurück = Welcome back
Bundesland = State (in Germany/Austria)
Leider = Unfortunately
Hauptbahnhof = Main train station