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26 Sep 2010
After a long flight on Emirates including a 4.5 hour transit at Dubai, I finally arrived in Munich, the capital of Bavaria, during Oktoberfest! Except for the long transit waiting time, the flight was nice with a good entertainment system and food. Upon arrival, everyone waited to cross the customs. They ask the usual, "What are you here for?". Tell them "Beer!" and get your stamp. Tell them "Work!" and you can be prepared to wait till they check all your papers. I waited another 2 hours for my partner to arrive before we went to find our hotel. So begins the first part of our trip that is a beer pilgrimage of sorts.
For today we will be taking it easy and visiting Schloss Nyphenburg (The Nymph's Castle). A Baroque palace built in 1675CE where the famous mad Bavarian King, Ludwig II, was born.
Walking from Terminal 1 to 2, inbetween is a large outdoor space. Here's an 'airplane' stall selling some grilled sausages and beer.
We took the nice and clean S-Bahn into the city after purchasing a 3-day City Card at €48.00 that is good for up to 5 people and covers a large part of the transport network till the airport.
Arrival at Motel One near the Ostbahnhof. It was €124 a night for a double room due to Oktoberfest.
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Location of the hotel
The rooms aren't big but they are new and clean, so is the bathroom.
From our hotel, we had to switch trams at Karlsplatz (Stachus). Here is a panorama of the square
The Justizpalast (Palace of Justice), a courthouse, built in 1897CE.
Arrival at Schloss Nyphenburg via tram 17, the front view of the palace and the waterways leading up to it.
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Aerial view of the palace, notice the large park behind it.
One of the palace wings
Close up of the main building
Panorama of the front of Schloss Nyphenburg and the side wings
The many swans and ducks in the pond in front as we walk up to the palace. The swan is associated with the line of King Ludwig II
Some of the garden flowers, we proceeded to walk to the large park at the rear
The gardens at the back of the palace
A golden lamp
More orange flowers
One of the many statues adorning the garden
Reflection of the rear view of Schloss Nyphenburg in the pond
Many come here for exercise, it feels really serene
We walked to a small wooden bridge across the canal (marked on the map) to take the rear of the castle as the setting sun is reflected on its windows.
Schloss Nyphenburg as the sun sets
On our way out, twin clock towers of a church nearby
A small car that is common throughout our Eurotrip. Next we caught the tram to Isartor and walked to our dinner place from there
The Isartor constructed in 1337CE at the Isartorplatz is the eastern city gate of the second, larger city wall of Munich. It was named after the nearby river Isar and Tor refers to gate.
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We were looking for Schneider Weisse's Weisses Bräuhaus established since 1540CE. It was a walk northwest up Tal from Isartor.
The Weisses Bräuhaus, every waitress is a mobile cash register. Inside there are large tables and sharing tables is the norm. The waitresses did not speak English but they did have an English menu (also in their website above).
Try the house wheat beer, the Schneider Weisse Beer. We also had the dunkel. For food we had the very delicious Tender boiled Ox breast (main picture) with horseradish, and the Peasant's Feast (bottom right) with Semmelknödel (white bread dumpling). Three half litres of beer and these cost €31.
The many beers on the tap.
After dinner we caught another tram back to our hotel. Being our first day here after a long flight we quickly drifted into sleep. Tomorrow we will be visiting the main city square, Marienplatz, the nearby market, Viktualienmarkt, and the seasonal highlight of Munich, Oktoberfest!!!
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