Munich To My Ears
Munich: the capital of Bavaria, the home to Oktoberfest, and the first place to cure my homesickness since arriving in Europe. I visited this city to see one of my best friends who is doing her exchange year in Augsburg, about one hour outside of Munich! Over four days we toured Munich & Augsburg including an afternoon in Dachau.
Here were my favourite things each day :)
Day 1 - Viktualien Market
Getting to Munich from Spain was a full morning's work, making lunch the first thing on my to-do list when I got to Germany! Before catching my train to Augsburg to see my friend (obviously the real highlight of the day), I strolled around the city centre of Munich. After many missed turns and running in circles, I found the Viktualien Market! This place is a great market open every day, all year round which offers everything from warm homemade German food, to coffee, to spices from around the world, to fresh cheese (my favourite part). This market is filled with food stalls more than anything else, and even has a little picnic table area, making it the quintessential lunch spot. My schnitzel and warm potato cakes made for a great welcome to Germany. :)
Day 2 - Augsburg & English Garden
This day was my first full day! I spent the morning touring Augsburg while my friend had her classes at her university, so I wandered around to find the main street. My favourite part of the city was seeing the canals randomly pop up along my walk. It's very hard to explain as I don't fully understand how it works, but (I think) essentially, parts of the city were built over a canal & so little areas along sidewalks and rows of (adorably cute, pastel-coloured) houses open up to show the water flowing along. It's really neat to
see in person - watching the water seemingly come out from the cobblestones and rush back in further downstream was so intriguing for me. Again, I realize I can talk a lot about something without even explaining it well, so here is a picture to do the explaining for me:
After her class finished, my friend and I caught an express train back to Munich, where we met our old roommate from Canada. Our roommate was visiting Germany for the week, so it was very sweet that our plans aligned so well! In the afternoon, the three of us made the mission to the English Gardens - easily one of my favourite places in Munich! I think the falling, warm-coloured leaves surrounding the park made it even more beautiful, though I can imagine it would be just as stunning in any other season. Hidden in the very back of the park is a beer garden. With currywurst on our plates and German-sized beers in our hands, we were happy to spend our afternoon in the English Garden.
Side note: another really neat thing to see here is the surfing area where surfers would take turns jumping into the canal on their boards and riding the waves. It has a bridge over top, making a good viewpoint to hang out and watch for a while! I'm not sure exactly where in the park we found it, so I'll leave this one to you and Google to sort out.
Day 3 - Dachau
Our roommate from Canada was headed back home in the afternoon, so the other two of us decided to spend our afternoon visiting the memorial site in Dachau. During the Second World War, Dachau was home to one of the first and largest concentration camps built and operated by the Nazi Party. Originally intended to be used as a site for political prisoners, the site was expanded during the war, making it a working camp for over 188,000 people throughout its operational period. The camp was liberated by U.S. Forces on April 29th, 1945, and was finally closed in 1960. Today, almost all of the buildings used as residences have been destroyed and several religious memorials have been established in honour of the thousands of lives lost, or forever impacted.
Of course, I don't choose to highlight the memorial site as the part of my day which brought the most joy to me as I have with the other highlighted locations. However, I choose to recognize it because I know the significance that this piece of history has on our world today. My visit to Dachau encouraged deep thought into our world's history and brought a very sobering feeling which I truly have no way to express in words. I have always been intrigued to learn about the Second World War, especially in regards to the developments in the political systems, so this visit was very meaningful for me.
Day 4 - A Canadian Breakfast!
So, at the beginning of this post I know I mentioned that this trip was one of the first times I didn't feel so homesick, though I haven't had a chance to explain why yet. Throughout the first three days of the trip, having warm drinks, hearty, home-cooked meals and cold weather (call me crazy) made for a sincerely missed feeling of being in Canada again.
Before my train took off to the airport on my last day in Munich, my friend and I found an American (really, Canadian) breakfast place! The little restaurant, Mr. Pancake, was one of the most adorable breakfast places I've found in Europe, and reminded me so much of one of our favourite Ottawa brunch spots, Wilf & Ada's. Be aware though, it gets BUSY! There was a lineup out the door as only about 12-15 people can fit in at once. Though the wait is worth it! Having maple syrup AND bacon? Who would've thought I would see that before coming home in June??
Certainly not me. The surprise and comfort of something so little as this breakfast was enough to make me content with my trip to Germany and ready to return home to Pamplona.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my latest adventure :)
Until the next post,
Al
Here were my favourite things each day :)
Day 1 - Viktualien Market
Day 2 - Augsburg & English Garden
see in person - watching the water seemingly come out from the cobblestones and rush back in further downstream was so intriguing for me. Again, I realize I can talk a lot about something without even explaining it well, so here is a picture to do the explaining for me:After her class finished, my friend and I caught an express train back to Munich, where we met our old roommate from Canada. Our roommate was visiting Germany for the week, so it was very sweet that our plans aligned so well! In the afternoon, the three of us made the mission to the English Gardens - easily one of my favourite places in Munich! I think the falling, warm-coloured leaves surrounding the park made it even more beautiful, though I can imagine it would be just as stunning in any other season. Hidden in the very back of the park is a beer garden. With currywurst on our plates and German-sized beers in our hands, we were happy to spend our afternoon in the English Garden.
Side note: another really neat thing to see here is the surfing area where surfers would take turns jumping into the canal on their boards and riding the waves. It has a bridge over top, making a good viewpoint to hang out and watch for a while! I'm not sure exactly where in the park we found it, so I'll leave this one to you and Google to sort out.
Day 3 - Dachau
Our roommate from Canada was headed back home in the afternoon, so the other two of us decided to spend our afternoon visiting the memorial site in Dachau. During the Second World War, Dachau was home to one of the first and largest concentration camps built and operated by the Nazi Party. Originally intended to be used as a site for political prisoners, the site was expanded during the war, making it a working camp for over 188,000 people throughout its operational period. The camp was liberated by U.S. Forces on April 29th, 1945, and was finally closed in 1960. Today, almost all of the buildings used as residences have been destroyed and several religious memorials have been established in honour of the thousands of lives lost, or forever impacted.
Of course, I don't choose to highlight the memorial site as the part of my day which brought the most joy to me as I have with the other highlighted locations. However, I choose to recognize it because I know the significance that this piece of history has on our world today. My visit to Dachau encouraged deep thought into our world's history and brought a very sobering feeling which I truly have no way to express in words. I have always been intrigued to learn about the Second World War, especially in regards to the developments in the political systems, so this visit was very meaningful for me.
Day 4 - A Canadian Breakfast!
So, at the beginning of this post I know I mentioned that this trip was one of the first times I didn't feel so homesick, though I haven't had a chance to explain why yet. Throughout the first three days of the trip, having warm drinks, hearty, home-cooked meals and cold weather (call me crazy) made for a sincerely missed feeling of being in Canada again.
Before my train took off to the airport on my last day in Munich, my friend and I found an American (really, Canadian) breakfast place! The little restaurant, Mr. Pancake, was one of the most adorable breakfast places I've found in Europe, and reminded me so much of one of our favourite Ottawa brunch spots, Wilf & Ada's. Be aware though, it gets BUSY! There was a lineup out the door as only about 12-15 people can fit in at once. Though the wait is worth it! Having maple syrup AND bacon? Who would've thought I would see that before coming home in June??
Certainly not me. The surprise and comfort of something so little as this breakfast was enough to make me content with my trip to Germany and ready to return home to Pamplona.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my latest adventure :)
Until the next post,
Al
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