We’re off to Europe! Our first stop was the somewhat unlikely destination of Munich. While Munich is an important commercial center in Germany, its most-visited attractions — things like BMW-Welt and a completely over-the-top Oktoberfest — are not exactly our jam. Add to that the fact that the majority of Munich was destroyed by bombs in World War II, including 90% of the Altstadt (old city), and it has never been near the top of our bucket list. But Munich is a major commercial and transportation hub — a feature it shares with Charlotte, NC, another place we have never visited for tourism purposes despite living only an hour away. And what Munich and Charlotte share, crucially, is direct flights to each other. So we started our European adventure in Munich, and despite my prejudices we found some pretty excellent things to do.
After an overnight flight, we made our way from the very distant airport into the city by train and dropped our bags at our hotel (Motel One Sendlinger Tor). We immediately set off for a self-guided tour of the reconstructed Altstadt. Highlights included various richly-decorated churches, easy-to-navigate pedestrian zones, busy plazas, and charming street views blending historic buildings with modern construction.
On day two, we once again took advantage of excellent public transportation to head to Nymphenburg Palace, a summer house of the Wittelsbach family (Dukes and Electors of Bavaria). Knowing that we have plenty of palaces on the menu in the weeks ahead, we elected just to visit the so-called Park Palaces (the Amalienburg, the Badenburg, the Pagodenburg, and the Magdalenenklause). These small structures — which are actually quite large and elaborate by the standards of non-royals — were built as destinations on the grounds for contemplation, for amusement, or for a “rustic” overnight visit. The Amalienburg “hunting lodge” located a few steps from the main palace is considered a masterpiece of rococo design, which is basically the opposite of our modern/minimalist/IKEA aesthetic. It’s a lot, but impressive in its own way. Also notable was the Badenburg, described by Wikipedia as “the first major building in Europe for centuries that was exclusively for the purpose of enjoying a comfortable bathroom.” Containing a huge pool-size bathing space with hot and cold running water — a real engineering accomplishment in the 18th century — this building nicely illustrates the idea that “it’s good to be the king.” The little park palaces gave us just enough exposure to architecture and design without overwhelming us with the rococo-ness of it all, and we truly loved strolling the extensive grounds with both formal gardens and a naturalistic forest environment.
We finished the day at the adjacent Botanical Garden Munich-Nymphenburg, which we mainly selected because we never go wrong with visits to botanical gardens. This thesis was once again proven to be accurate, and we were blown away by the scope of the collections and the unique ways the plants were presented. The conservatory structure was subdivided into a dozen separate halls with different climates, each absolutely packed with material, often showing off species we’ve never seen attempted at any other botanical garden. The Victoria Hall contains a huge pool of lily pads, including the massive Victoria amazonica species, but the walls and ceilings were just dripping with Nepenthes (tropical pitcher plants), gingers, and plenty of condensation. A completely separate hall features underwater aquatic plants presented in large fish tanks with mysteriously algae-free glass. The tree fern hall and cycad hall wowed us because we love those species, but the extraordinarily high central palm house (with a Washingtonia!!) truly puts this glass house complex in a class by itself.
The outdoor gardens were bursting with life, too. A garden devoted to “useful plants” (medicines, spices, food crops, dyes) demonstrated everything from grains from around the world (our first time seeing quinoa growing!) to poisonous plants like digitalis (I guess liability standards are a little different in Germany). The alpine garden and adjacent arboretum contained a huge variety of species from other continents and other climates. One of the more unique spots for us was a large “System” garden, featuring thousands of plants arranged according to family under the Linneaus taxonomy. This struck us as a very German way to organize a garden, but it turns out to be fairly common for gardens with a strong focus on research. Overall, the breadth of the offerings was almost too much to comprehend in a half-day visit. What a treasure!
Food and Drink
While in Munich we mostly ate street food, with several stops at the outdoor Viktualienmarkt right in the historic city center for beer and sausages. We also enjoyed excellent hand-pulled noodles at Max Beef Noodles, a hole-in-the-wall venue located around the corner from our hotel. Despite the name, no English was spoken here, but even my poor German skills can handle “nummer 20 und nummer 23.” Plus there’s always pointing at the menu.
Despite my initial lack of enthusiasm, we ended up enjoying Munich quite a bit. The rest of our time in Europe will be spent in the heart of the former Habsburg Empire. Next stop, Innsbruck!
