Munchen ( Munich )

Munich! Got a bunch of mixed reviews about it from people. Some said that if you were to see one city in Germany, Munich should be it. Others didn't really understand what the big deal was. I have "seen and done" Munich and formed my own opinion, It was without a doubt the best city I have been to so far. There was sooo much to do and see, It was actually more than I expected. In the background of this picture you can see Frauencirche (sp.), which is the stereotypical image of Munich with its double Domes. Frauencirche is also where the Josephe Ratzinger was Cardinal before he became Pope.

Munich was completely reduced to rubble in WW2, apart from these two Domes because they acted as perfect landmarks for bombing the rest of the city. Munich chose to rebuild the city after WW2 with the same street footprint. The restorations were not entirely completed until recently. Most of the restorations were made possible by Nazi Photographs that were taken before the war.

I was in Munich for two days and estimate that I walked about 35-40km. I saw ......................
The Glockenspiel (Large ChoCho Clock type thing)
The Hofbrauhaus (most famous beer hall in the world)
The Corner where the Beer-Hall Putsch occurred in 1923 (Hitler almost Died)
The Munich Equivalent of Rodeo Drive. (saw 17 Porsches in about 10 minutes)
The Bavarian Provincial Parliament (during a coincidental free open house)
The German Museum ( Kinda like the Smithsonian )

One of the Two Best things about Munich is the Huge Park that is located near the city center. The English Garden is like a garden of Eden in the middle of Munich. This standing wave is on the river that flows under the city and emerges at the east end of the English Garden. I now think that the inventor of Waverider owes his millions to Municipal engineers from Munich, because this was clearly his inspiration. The English Garden also has huge open areas where people play Football and Frisbee when they're not laying around with no clothes on. I also visited the Chinese Tower and sampled a litre of Munich's Finest.

The 2nd of Munich's greatest attractions was the 1972 Olympic Park. Architecturally Amazing and packed with people because of two events that were happening on the grounds. Toolfest Outdoor festival was going on in one of the open fields near the park. I could only describe it as a Beerfestival where they sell clothes and jewelry as well, I really didn't understand what the occasion was.

The 2nd event that was going on at the Olympic Park was the European Cup of Track and Field. I arrived at the stadium with about 30mins left and wasn't about to pay 9 euro to get in. I asked someone on the way out for their ticket and snuck into the stadium.

Olympic park in Munich is actually a beautiful space, which somehow surprised me. Maybe I've been jaded by Montreal's useless venues and huge debt. Munich has really made use of its facilities. The Olympic pool is used for public swimming and the other buildings were converted to aquariums, indoor soccer fields, and auditoriums. Also, The tower apparently has the best view of munich, although I didn't go up it. The Spider-Web suspension roof stuctures were definitely my favorite.

As a sidenote, I would like to thank Mrs. Pryma from grade ten CommTech class who taught me how to take decent pictures. I promise that If you are a tourist and give me your Camera I will take a better picture than this one.