Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany.
We arrived at Munich, Germany around 6am on a Sunny Saturday morning on a Lufthansa flight. We rode a train to the hotel at Aschheim-Dornach, a small town east side of Munich city center.
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| the corridor between airport and train stations |
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| A statue in front of the conference center at the airport |
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| train is a main means of public transportation |
Mairenplatz
We dropped our luggage at the hotel and went to Mairenplatz, the city center square, historical old town. Rathaus-Glockenspiel, Town Hall clocktower with figurines, is imposing over the relative small square in front of it. One has to tilt his head backward to look up to see its top. Right next to the clock tower, is Neues Rathaus, i.e. new townhall. There are churches all around. Southwest to the square is a large marketplace with many small stores. Few people in the area in that early morning. When we returned for a late lunch, the area was bustling.
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| Rathaus-Glockenspiel |
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| Neues Rathaus |
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| Altes Rathaus |
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| side of St. Peter's Church |
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| The clock tower with green spiel is the St. Peter's Church |
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| The plaza was filled with people after noon. |
Residenz
Our next stop is Residenz, former royal palace of the Wittelsbach monarchs of Bavaria, which is a short walking distance from Mairenplatz. Residenz is now a museum. We did not go in, stayed outdoor to beat jet lag! Looked at Sculptures, and visited Hofgarten adjacent to it.
The Englischer Garten is one of the world's largest urban public parks, 3.7 square kilometers. For comparison, it is about 5 times the famous Singapore Botanic Garden, and slightly larger (1.1x) than Central Park in New York city. The name refers to its English garden form of informal landscape.
It is to the west of the Isar river, and has many streams, ponds in it. It is lush green, perfect place for relaxation, jogging, and running. It has quite a few historical landmarks.
In one of the artificial streams flowing through the Englischer Garten, there is a standing wave (a stationary hydraulic jump) in which there is a transition from laminar to turbulent flow. It leads to a famous entertainment at the garden, river surfing, E2 Kleine Eisbachwelle. Surfers line up on the bank taking turns entering the water with their boards.
With running streams, trees, the park is a place for water fowls, birds, and some small animals. Swans, Geese, ducks were all over the places by ponds, creeks. We also spotted great crested grebes, a squirrel. The birds there are typically very small, it was hard to take good pictures of then the dense trees.
We went to BMW welt after a late lunch at Mairenplatz, looking at the model cars and motorcycles. It was about 2:30pm then, we went back to the hotel to check-in, instead of visiting the BMW museum.
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| BMW Welt |
Late Sunset
The Sunset was 9:15pm. The day was very long during summer there.
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| a rustic Vietnamese restaurant |
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| evening glow |
