Our Euro trip (1): Munich

This winter vacation my husband and I decided to visit a couple of European cities. Like many people, initially we thought of going to a warmer location compared to Uppsala, like Portugal. But eventually we settled down on Munich because a few of my husband's friends live there and Copenhagen because of our own personal romantic history. A fair amount of search was done to find the right places to stay and to decide the must-sees.


On 17th Dec sitting at the airport's gate for departure as an announcement of heavy snowfall at Munich was made, we began to worry. Thankfully, it led only to a two hour flight delay and not a cancellation. The Munich airport is more than 40 kms away from the city and so the best way of commuting is the S-Bahn train. We learnt that you could get the tickets from vending machines at the airport itself and that these must be validated with a stamp at another box at the platform station.


We managed to find our way around and got inside the train S8. But a few minutes into the ride and panic struck. None of the stations that were passing by were on the list we were expecting. The confusion was due to the reason that our list had only those stations where you could transfer onto another line. After 40 min we reached the last station: Pasing. Unfortunately we ran into a stroke of bad luck. A taxi driver refused to take us to our destination, Imperial Hotel, telling us that our hotel was just a few blocks away and that we could simply walk. It turned out that the blocks were quite a many and the road uphill and covered with snow. Huffing-puffing we finally found our hotel.


The location of Hotel Imperial was perfect. We found an Indian restuarant Akash just a few buildings away and it became our dinner jaunt. The food was yummy and the Punjabis running it very friendly. Close by to the hotel was the Am Knie tram stop from where you could take the Line 19 straight to the Hauptbahnhof Central Station. On getting off there you can see the Karstadt department store exactly in front from you. This is the spot from where all the Grayline Sightseeing Tours leave. On 18th Dec we took their Grand Circle Hop On-Hop Off tour. However, for most of the day we induldged ourselves at the Olympic Park and the BMW Welt and Museum.

At the Olympic Park we mainly saw the Olympic Tower, Olympic Stadium, Soccer Arcade, and the Sea Life Aquarium. We particularly enjoyed the last one where my husband got a splendid opppourtunity to take beautiful photos of sea creatures.












There is a bridge at the entrance of Olympic Park crossing which leads you to the BMW Welt and Museum. At the Welt were lined up all the latest models of BMW cars and motorcycles. They even had a small show in which a rider on a bike went effortlessly up and down the stairs, winning the crowd's applause. The best part of course was getting ourselves clicked with everything in sight. Ditto the BMW Museum where through the hundreds of displays you are left marveling at how the car design and engineering has changed over the years. I was particularly happy to find at the last leg the hydrogen powered BMW Clean Energy car as the topic of hydrogen storage materials still forms a big part of my current research.

19th Dec we spent taking the Grayline full day tour to the Royal Castles of Linderhof and Neuschwanstein. We had a very good guide on the bus who told us a lot about Bavaria's King Ludwig III who built these two castles. The scenery along the way was very beautiful. At one point we actually found ourselves on what is called the Romantic Road. Though I wasn't impressed with Linderhof, I loved Neuschwanstein. Reaching it required a long 40 minutes uphill walk. But when you have someone by your side such climbs become easy. The breathtaking views that we saw from the Castle also made those few kilometers distance worth it.

People say that European summer is beautiful. But to me the long stretch of white splendour that we saw from Neuschwanstein also had its own spellbinding charm. Interestingly this castle was designed not by an architect but by a stage designer, Christian Jank. Perhaps that is why it looks like it came out of a fairytale book. Its location amidst hills adds to the illusion. Understandably then that it is the inspiration behind the Disneyland Sleeping Beauty's castle.

Apparantly, Kind Ludwig III himself lived in Neuschwanstein Castle for eleven days only. He never married, preferring to live alone even at Linderhof. We were told that he did not like to entertain guests. He was so private that he would not even let the servants hover around him when he would be dining. When I first heard that I felt sad. Imagine being surrounded by loveliness but instead of sharing it with someone, you lock yourself in a room. On second thoughts it struck me that may be he just lived in a world of his own which he enjoyed. Afterall he did call himself the Fairytale King.

In all it was a 10-11 hours spent well. Away from work, it was bliss being with my husband. Tired, exhausted but still smiling we made our way back to our hotel. We had to pack our bags as the next day we were heading to Copenhagen.