But back to Munich.
On Friday, I left early in the morning for the main train station, the Hauptbahnhof. I arrived at the station at 8 am, even though my train wasn't until 10 am; I'm just neurotic like that, especially when it comes to travel. Basically, I listened to podcasts and twiddled my thumbs.
My first train was a short ride to Mannheim, then I switched to a larger train direct to Munich. The second train was very very nice; it felt like an airplane, but with much more leg room. After some work finding my seat, I settled in for a two-hour ride to Munich. Barring one minor moment that could have been disastrous if I had been stupid enough to get off the train (München Pasing is definitely NOT München Hbf.), the ride was uneventful.
I arrived in Munich's massive train station around 1:30 pm and headed straight to the hostel to drop off my bag. It was a short 10 minute walk from the station, so I didn't bother with the tram system, the S-bahn. I checked in and left by bag at the hostel, then headed out into the city.
The first order of business was transportation. I bought a three-day MVV (Munich's public tranport system) pass for 12 Euro, which was surprisingly cheap compared to the individual fares (2 Euro per ride). It turned out to be a real money saver.
Following the advice of my invaluable Frommers guidebook to Germany (which pretty much made the trip ~732 times more enjoyable), I first headed to Marienplatz, the city's center (pedestrian-only!). There I saw the Karlstor ("Karl's gate" for you non-German folks), the Neues Rathaus ("New Town Hall," "new" being a relative term) with its famous Glockenspiel, Frauenkirche, Peterskirche, and Michaelskirche (churches). I climbed every tower I could find, and took a bunch of pictures.
That night, I met my roommates for the evening at the hostel: a Chinese couple in their mid-forties and their ten-year-old son, who all live in Austria; a young Spanish couple from Madrid (I think the girl was 17); and another Spaniard in his mid-twenties. I spent the evening translating from Spanish to English and back again so that the Spanish and Austro-Chinese halves of the room could communicate. I talked a bit with the Madridians (mostly in Spanish, since my Spanish is better than their English), and it was a pretty cool evening.
The next day I left early in the morning for Schloss Nymphenburg (Nymphenburg Castle), which was the summer retreat for the German Electors, and later the Holy Roman Emperor (?). It's built in an Italian villa style, and it is SO pretty. I took an audiotour of the interior, which is done in a ludicrously ornate style. I then walked around the 500-acre (!) gardens, and looked inside some of the other mansions hidden on the grounds. Most had plain exteriors that belied their awesomely-ornate rococo interiors. This visit was probably my favorite part of the trip.
Next, I toured the Residenz, which was the daily residence for Germany's kings over the years. This one was truly massive, and all of the rooms eventually started to blend together. Highlights: the collection of holy relics, including John the Baptist's skull; the Antiquarium, a gorgeous banquet hall; and the Ancestral Gallery, a gilded hall of portraits (think Hall of Mirrors, with paintings instead of mirrors).
On the same ticket as the Residenz, I also had access to the royal treasury and the Cuvillies theater, so I decided to check them out. The treasury had, well, treasure. My favorite part? The solid gold statue of St. George on horseback that was literally covered in diamonds and rubys. The Cuvillies theater was also neat; it's a rococo theater from the time of the electors.
Next, I decided to head a few minutes out of town to see the concentration camp at Dachau. The visit went about as you would expect: terribly cheery, and loaded with museums and documentaries. It started to rain as I was walking around the grounds, but it felt appropriate. Somehow, Dachau wouldn't have seemed right in the sun. I didn't have time to take a guided tour, but it was depressing enough even without a guide.
After an hour wait for a bus back to the S-bahn that took me back to Munich, I went to the Hofbräuhaus for dinner. This is Munich's famous beer hall where Hitler jumped up on a table to outline his ideas, but it's also simply a gathering spot for locals and tourists alike. They sell their classic beer in one size and one size only -- a massive barrel-like mug that only a Münchener could consider to be a sane unit of volume for beer. I had Weiβwürste, a traditional white Bavarian sausage, and it was fantastic.
After dinner, I walked around the Englischer Garten for a bit, which is Munich's massive park. It turns out it was a good thing that I only had time to go at dusk; that way I did not accidentally stumble into the part of the park where Germans of the FKK persuasion sunbathe on warm afternoons. (FKK stands for Freikörperkultur, which roughly means "Free body culture." And they are very "free." With their bodies. In public.) It would have certainly been a sight to behold, but I had little desire to see old sweaty Germans as nature intended. I then took the U-bahn (subway) to Olympic Park, saw the stadium from the '72 games, and went back to the hostel.
On Sunday, I toured the Deutsches Museum and the Alte Pinakothek (Old Art Museum). The Deutsches Museum is one of Germany's largest science and technology museums. I saw the original V2 rocket, the bench on which the first atom was split, and original Leeuwenhoek microscopes. Pretty cool. After I finished there, I swung by the Alte Pinakothek until I had to catch the train home. The museum had works by Rafael, Da Vinci, Rembrandt, and it was incredibly well put together. I was very impressed, and I spent probably four hours just wandering around in there.
So, in short, I had a great trip. Traveling alone definitely let me see much much more and be more flexible than I could have possibly been in a group, so that was nice. I probably saw a week's work of stuff in 48 hours, which was pretty impressive.
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