Munich, Deutschland. Friday, 13th May, 2022
Friday the 13th! For the believers! The day dawned cloudy and ominous! The sun tried to peep in through the clouds from time to time. The clouds won the battle, when it started drizzling at 06:00. However, the sky cleared a bit around 07:30 and a weak sun made its appearance, finally; as we were eating breakfast in the cozy restaurant on the ground floor of Leonardo Hotel Munich City Olympiapark, on Dachauer strasse. I love these restaurants, where one is at street level and can enjoy watching people and traffic from the warm comfort of the chair, munching on frankfurters or brown bread lavishly buttered, sipping orange juice in between!
We had arrived here yesterday afternoon from Stuttgart. Had felt wonderful on alighting at Muenchen Hauptbahnhof, as it had revived fond memories of the city, pertaining to our stay of 2019, on the Black Forest tour. Now renewing our acquaintance with the city, on a four-day visit!
Purchased a group day ticket for Munich transport zones that included the city centre plus Zone 1 (17 Euros). The agenda for the day was to visit Olympia Park, then move to the city centre to English Gardens and the Nymphenburg palace. Breakfast done, we set off along Dachauer Strasse. A lovely walk along a clean pavement canopied by trees, till the bus stop of bus no. 144, at Olympiapark West, approximately 600 metres from the hotel. Rain-kissed pavements; broad, tree-lined roads; housing colonies with neat, uniform constructions; meticulously parked vehicles; a huge green area to our right, hugging the opposite side of Dachauer Strasse; etc! A perfect setting!
Waited for no. 144 for almost ten minutes, before it arrived; a bright blue. Rode till the fourth stop of Spiridon-Louis-Ring, in the huge Olympia Park area. The bus had passed along a white, clean road that meandered through the massive, sprawling greenery on either side, sometimes bordered by the serene waters of an inviting lake! Such vast, green areas in a huge city! Too good to be true! So clean, so beautiful, so well-maintained!
From the stop of Spiridon, we were on foot, moving in the direction of the Olympia lake, along narrow, white, cobbled paths, sometimes cutting across the verdant, undulating meadows, the Olympic tower looming in the background, ascending all the time, guided by Google. The ambience was mind-blowing ! We finally reached a spot from where we could see the curvaceous Olympic lake down below, seducing the Olympic stadium that stood, transfixed, on its opposite shore. The scene was beautiful!
Retraced our steps and turned right, in the direction of Olympiaberg, a hill that would afford us a 360 degrees view of this wonderful Bavarian capital. The ascent was along one of those narrow white paths mentioned earlier, through the meadow. Once at the top, we were amply rewarded with a spectacular view of the well-spread out city! Took our time clicking away and shooting videos. A group of school kids was there, with its teachers. We were highly amused to find the teachers trying to round up the kids in their stern voices, the way we do back home! Kids are the same, everywhere!
In the meanwhile, the sky had darkened! We decided to descend. Hardly had we descended half-way when a couple of cold drops alighted on my head. This was followed by a rumbling and a flash in the sky! A pitter-patter commenced, even as we were descending! We were perhaps a couple of hundred metres from the bus stop of Spiridon-Louis-Ring when the floodgates of heaven opened! We scurried to the nearest tree but it offered us little protection. In seconds, we were drenched! Urmila promptly started blaming my 'over-enthusiasm' and a tirade followed! I was annoyed and snapped back that we need not come on any more trips, the next summer onwards! After a while, the rain slackened a bit and we grabbed the opportunity to move away from the tree, towards the bus stop. We were hardly 50 metres away from the bus stop when the rain increased in intensity, matched only by Urmila's mouthful! Waited in the pouring rain for ten more minutes before the bus arrived and we most thankfully boarded it!
Rode it (standing; though there were enough vacant seats) till the stop where we had boarded this morning - Olympiapark West. Took shelter under a flyover. From here, our hotel was a ten-minute walk away. After having waited (Urmila even tried to thumb a lift!) for five minutes, we decided to walk, drenched as we already were. Within three minutes of our having commenced the walk, the rain gods relented. Wet and cold, we entered the sanctuary of our hotel. To our rooms. Washed, changed and hung the wet clothes to dry. The jackets are pretty wet and will take very long to dry, it seems. 'Lunched' on Haldiram's and other snacks purchased near the area of Isartor, yesterday; to the accompaniment of Whiskey-Cola and Gin-tonic!
Waiting for the weather to improve! It is 15:45 now and is bright and sunny outside! Keeping fingers crossed!
After being in two minds about whether to venture out or not , the weather finally decided that for us and we did step out at 17:00 or so, minus our jackets which were left hanging in the 'open' closet. Urmila wanted to eat at 'Little London', an attractive restaurant seen at Marienplatz last evening. We boarded tram 21 under a bright blue sky and a strong, evening sun (thankfully!) Enjoyed the ride to Marienplatz. The place was swarming with Friday evening (weekend!) crowds! Every restaurant - and there were quite a few - was choc-a-bloc with the weekend revellers. A tall glass of beer was spotted on every table. People were talking, smiling, laughing, eating, sipping, slurping! It was a wonderful sight! Walked towards 'Little London' amidst now familiar landmarks. Were disappointed to find that the restaurant served only beef! Urmila's next preference was Thai cuisine. Located one named 'Yum Thai', approximately half a kilometre away. The route took us through more crowds, beside more stately buildings and along more cobbled streets and wider avenues! This city is superb! We had hardly seen Munich on our previous visit here three years ago and it seemed that the city was making up for it now; slowly revealing its hidden delights!
The Thai restaurant was superbly located - at the end of a quiet street that branched diagonally off the busy main street. The dimly lit place had a cosy feel to it and we were directed to a table for two, at a corner. Savoured hot and sour soup, chicken strips and chicken 'medallions'. Dinner done, we made our way to the nearest tram stop - beautiful location, near a crossroads and beside old world buildings glittering in the evening sun - and travelled to Hauptbahnhof. Changed trams for our destination, Leonrodplatz. Thank God the rain had stayed away!
To Innsbruck in Austria, tomorrow!
