Yeah, if only. Unfortunately for us, we’re gonna be stuck, baking in Dubai, for this entire summer. So here’s something from our holidays last year – a hot summer’s day in Europe, the day we arrived in Munich, Germany from Dubai.
Kids frolicking in the fountain at Frauenplatz, Munich, Germany
Street café, Frauenplatz – no, I’m not posting pictures of Munich’s famous twin tower church, Frauenkirche which overlooks this square. What, with all that scaffolding covering one of the towers?!?
The fountain at Karlsplatz, Munich
The Neues Rathaus (New City Hall) at Munich’s main square, Marienplatz – the green balconies in the middle of the tower is the famous Glockenspiel, something like a musical clock with animated figurines that played at certain hours – no, didn’t watch it, don’t even know when it’ll play…
Café inside the Neues Rathaus, München
Views of Marienplatz, Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Munich (or München in German) is quite a nice city. I remember it from my backpacking trip in 1994 in my student days. (It was like my second favourite city of our 1 month long Europe trip then, after Prague). And I remember how spell-bound I was with Neuschwanstein Castle in nearby Füssen. So, here I come again, Bavaria, with the wife and kids in tow this time.
I was pretty sure it’d be nice, IF …the darn European weather was kind to us. No, don’t get me wrong. The day we arrived in Munich, the weather was beautiful. It was hot and sunny, and our hotel room which was right on the top floor, had no air-con, nor fans (air-cons and fans don’t exist in this part of Europe, they’re for the people in the tropics, OK?) The hotel manager said that Munich gets only about a week of hot summer weather in a year, (…maybe she hadn’t heard of global warming), and asked us to open the windows to sleep. (Imagine going to Germany to experience Malaysia!)
So there we were, in the room with this amazing window. After twisting and turning it a bit, we managed to open it, …one corner of it anyway (and I thought I friggin broke it! What lousy windows they make in Europe I was wondering then, and I thought the Germans were technologically superior… This one must be made in China). One corner was better than nothing anyway, and we slept in our sweat, listening to a group of drunk boys outside, in the park beside our hotel, challenging each other to fights, in English of various European accents, till the friggin sun rose! I made sure we closed the window nicely before leaving the room (hell, made in China or not, this is Germany, …how much do you think they’d charge us if they found out that we’d broken their lousy window??) I found out not too long after that (in another hotel) that windows like these are the norm in Europe (the German parts which we visited anyway), and they’re not friggin broken. They’re made to open horizontally, like a door, and also if you choose, to open vertically, like an air vent - what a marvel! Don’t remember coming across these in 1994! (They’re called Tilt & Turn Windows by the way). …This brush with technology early in our trip was a blessing looking back, because all the other places we visited later had the same window or glass balcony door design like this, and by then it was a piece of cake for yours truly, ahem.
We left Munich after one day. Why? Because when I planned the hotel bookings, the weather forecast said that Germany and the entire friggin area around this part of the world would be blanketed with clouds and thunderstorms. That was to include the first day of our arrival in Munich, which turned out to be quite the opposite. The last day of our trip which we would also be spending in Munich, was forecasted to be beautiful, and it turned out to be a brilliant day, of heavy rain and clouds! See what we did then here.
Anyway, we spent about 5 days of our trip in Germany and we had ONE beautiful hot summer’s day, and FOUR miserable wet and gloomy days! So, thank you very much, oh great weather of Europe, for making our trip such a memorable affair. I officially hate you now. I hope you’ll be better the next time we visit… Can’t wait for that to happen actually.
Here’re more photos of Munich till that happens.
Munich International Airport
A street musician playing a beautiful tune on a cimbalom (I googled it, OK? Thought it was a harpsichord, but harpsichords have keyboards, this one doesn’t)
The streets of Munich – Sendlinger Strasse (Street)
Anu at the Sendlinger Tor, Munich
Asamkirche (Asam Church) – no it’s got nothing to do with the Assam State of India, Asam is actually the family name of the owners / builders of this private church. It’s small, but the details are simply astounding
The exterior of the Asamkirche, on Sendlinger Street
The Neues Rathaus at dusk, with the Frauenkirche (the twin-towered church) in the background, Munich
The Hofbräuhaus – How can a visit to Munich not include a beer hall? The Hofbräuhaus is I think, the most famous of the lot, but nope, we didn’t try the beer here (too darn crowded). We skipped over to the place below to try out Bavaria’s famous beer and pork knuckle, hehe
Pork knuckle (Schweinshaxn) at Haxnbauer, Munich – eating with the kids was near impossible. First, there was the jet lag, and Justin and Jayden were both sleepy. Second, the place was crowded and service wasn’t what you’d get in Asia (this is Europe, OK? Live with it). Third, the place was stifling hot and stuffy – these Germans, despite being so technologically advanced, dunno nuts about the trusty air-con and the humble fan. Pity them. And us. Gotta take turns carrying the little one, so that we could eat. And Justin ended up eating only a few mouthfuls before he fell sound asleep in the noisy, stuffy restaurant. Well done, Justin!
And here’re more pork knuckle adventures in Munich, if you’ve not had enough.
Kids frolicking in the fountain at Frauenplatz, Munich, Germany
Street café, Frauenplatz – no, I’m not posting pictures of Munich’s famous twin tower church, Frauenkirche which overlooks this square. What, with all that scaffolding covering one of the towers?!?
The fountain at Karlsplatz, Munich
The Neues Rathaus (New City Hall) at Munich’s main square, Marienplatz – the green balconies in the middle of the tower is the famous Glockenspiel, something like a musical clock with animated figurines that played at certain hours – no, didn’t watch it, don’t even know when it’ll play…
Café inside the Neues Rathaus, München
Views of Marienplatz, Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Munich (or München in German) is quite a nice city. I remember it from my backpacking trip in 1994 in my student days. (It was like my second favourite city of our 1 month long Europe trip then, after Prague). And I remember how spell-bound I was with Neuschwanstein Castle in nearby Füssen. So, here I come again, Bavaria, with the wife and kids in tow this time.
I was pretty sure it’d be nice, IF …the darn European weather was kind to us. No, don’t get me wrong. The day we arrived in Munich, the weather was beautiful. It was hot and sunny, and our hotel room which was right on the top floor, had no air-con, nor fans (air-cons and fans don’t exist in this part of Europe, they’re for the people in the tropics, OK?) The hotel manager said that Munich gets only about a week of hot summer weather in a year, (…maybe she hadn’t heard of global warming), and asked us to open the windows to sleep. (Imagine going to Germany to experience Malaysia!)
So there we were, in the room with this amazing window. After twisting and turning it a bit, we managed to open it, …one corner of it anyway (and I thought I friggin broke it! What lousy windows they make in Europe I was wondering then, and I thought the Germans were technologically superior… This one must be made in China). One corner was better than nothing anyway, and we slept in our sweat, listening to a group of drunk boys outside, in the park beside our hotel, challenging each other to fights, in English of various European accents, till the friggin sun rose! I made sure we closed the window nicely before leaving the room (hell, made in China or not, this is Germany, …how much do you think they’d charge us if they found out that we’d broken their lousy window??) I found out not too long after that (in another hotel) that windows like these are the norm in Europe (the German parts which we visited anyway), and they’re not friggin broken. They’re made to open horizontally, like a door, and also if you choose, to open vertically, like an air vent - what a marvel! Don’t remember coming across these in 1994! (They’re called Tilt & Turn Windows by the way). …This brush with technology early in our trip was a blessing looking back, because all the other places we visited later had the same window or glass balcony door design like this, and by then it was a piece of cake for yours truly, ahem.
We left Munich after one day. Why? Because when I planned the hotel bookings, the weather forecast said that Germany and the entire friggin area around this part of the world would be blanketed with clouds and thunderstorms. That was to include the first day of our arrival in Munich, which turned out to be quite the opposite. The last day of our trip which we would also be spending in Munich, was forecasted to be beautiful, and it turned out to be a brilliant day, of heavy rain and clouds! See what we did then here.
Anyway, we spent about 5 days of our trip in Germany and we had ONE beautiful hot summer’s day, and FOUR miserable wet and gloomy days! So, thank you very much, oh great weather of Europe, for making our trip such a memorable affair. I officially hate you now. I hope you’ll be better the next time we visit… Can’t wait for that to happen actually.
Here’re more photos of Munich till that happens.
Munich International Airport
A street musician playing a beautiful tune on a cimbalom (I googled it, OK? Thought it was a harpsichord, but harpsichords have keyboards, this one doesn’t)
The streets of Munich – Sendlinger Strasse (Street)
Anu at the Sendlinger Tor, Munich
Asamkirche (Asam Church) – no it’s got nothing to do with the Assam State of India, Asam is actually the family name of the owners / builders of this private church. It’s small, but the details are simply astounding
The exterior of the Asamkirche, on Sendlinger Street
The Neues Rathaus at dusk, with the Frauenkirche (the twin-towered church) in the background, Munich
The Hofbräuhaus – How can a visit to Munich not include a beer hall? The Hofbräuhaus is I think, the most famous of the lot, but nope, we didn’t try the beer here (too darn crowded). We skipped over to the place below to try out Bavaria’s famous beer and pork knuckle, hehe
Pork knuckle (Schweinshaxn) at Haxnbauer, Munich – eating with the kids was near impossible. First, there was the jet lag, and Justin and Jayden were both sleepy. Second, the place was crowded and service wasn’t what you’d get in Asia (this is Europe, OK? Live with it). Third, the place was stifling hot and stuffy – these Germans, despite being so technologically advanced, dunno nuts about the trusty air-con and the humble fan. Pity them. And us. Gotta take turns carrying the little one, so that we could eat. And Justin ended up eating only a few mouthfuls before he fell sound asleep in the noisy, stuffy restaurant. Well done, Justin!
And here’re more pork knuckle adventures in Munich, if you’ve not had enough.
