My Europe trip - The 13-hour layover in Munich.

       When we were booking the tickets, we had an option to either take a stopover in the Gulf city of Doha or Munich. The former was a short stopover of a few hours but I would not have been able to get out of the airport. I chose Munich. What with my Schengen visa, I could easily roam the streets of Munich the whole day. Me being me, I got down to immaculately planning every hour of the 13-hour layover. I knew I could not leave decisions to my brief stay there and had to know everything about the city - right from the roads, metro routes, places of interest, restaurants, what to eat, shopping and my way back - in advance. Munich airport even had a 25 or so page Pdf guide for people with long layovers! At one point in time, I had a schedule for the entire day ready, with what to eat where at what time included. That I didn't end up following it, is another story.

       The flight duration was around 8 hours though the best part was I was reaching in 4.5 hours. How? That's what happens when you fly west. You gain time! I have flown internally in India but never over a vast expanse of water. In the middle of my sleep in the flight, I woke up to see literally thousands of stars, sparkling brightly alongside me, from up close. Never before had I seen these celestial bodies from so close and so many. The moonless night and the pitch dark sky, aided by the dark expanse of the Indian Ocean, left only those twinkling little beauties to shine.

       The flight landed at 5.45am at Munich airport. As I stepped out on foreign soil (the airport building to be precise), the cold air hit me in the face. I hurried to wear my overcoat. It was around 1 degree Celcius! The sun was yet to rise as I completed my immigration formalities and bought the day-card of the Munich public transport system. 

       My first stop was Starnberg See, a quite, serene lake to the south west of the city, with the majestic Alps as a picturesque backdrop. Since it was only 6.30am, I knew the city would be asleep and there was no point in heading to the city centre. so I chose Starnberg See. The feeling of riding in a metro in Germany was great. These are things you have learnt about while growing up, but to experience them first hand is an experience. The metro even had facilities for cyclists to ride them. People would wait for you to alight and only then step in. the platforms would be clean and the air fresh. The lake had some early morning visitors. I ambled down the road along the lake's periphery. The place was heavenly!

Starnberg See. The Alps in the background.

Trees at Starnberg See.

Starnberg See.

       By the time I had deeply captured the See in my heart and camera my tummy had begun to growl in hunger so I decided to head back to the city centre. Marienplatz is where most of the tourist attractions are. The famous Frauenkirche, the Glockenspiel, the Petrikirche, etc. The Petrikirche is a nice place to get a bird's eye view of the city. The only drawback is the huge climb. the stairs are old-world, steep and numerous! My knees began to ache and I wasn't even there yet. Students get a discount so carry your student ID cards. It's a cramped, square-ish viewing gallery with breathtaking views. Apparently when it's not foggy, one can get to see the distant Alps. Sadly, it was foggy. On my way down the never-ending stairs, in my front was a tour guide. It really made me wonder how she climbed the stairs every single day. The thought made my knees tremble. 

Munich from Pertikirche.

       There are a few famous streets. Maximilianstraße is where you find all the high end fashion boutiques. Kaufingerstraße was the shopping street. I ended up checking a few stores. The whole street was busy with people shopping and eating. I was one of them. In all this I realised I had to pee. I found a public toilet, but walked out when  realised I had to pay 2 euros just to pee! My Indian mind couldn't digest paying Rs.170 for something I can do for free back home. Thankfully there was a mall where I found a washroom. I was again up fora  surprise when I saw an old man collecting tips for cleaning the toilet. Such is the height of taking citizens for granted, that the authorities know people would pay and urinate but not pee in the open. In India, it's the other way round.

Fountain at Maximilianstrasse.

       Before hitting the streets I had to get a local number so I could co-ordinate with my friend who was in London and was to fly in later that day. The Hauptbahnhof or the main station was a bustling junction of people. And there were so many food stalls. I was lost in amidst all the tasty looking food. I finally settled on a Rotwurst and Brot (Sausage and beard) for breakfast. The most amazing situation of at the station was the phone shop. It was run by a man who looked South-Asian. Till a lady came and spoke to him in Hindi, he didn't show any sign of his roots or that he knew Hindi, all this while he knew I was from India. On enquiry, he said he was from Delhi. that explained a lot! I was shocked to see him sell an 8Gb memory card for 16 euros when I had bought the very same one in India 3 days back for 3.5 euros! But then as he said this is Germany. 

       The fascinating part about Germany was the discipline. Even the pedestrians waited till their signal turned green. The cars stopped to let you pass if you were at a zebra crossing. Cyclists followed traffic rules and had separate tracks and signals for them. I was told that this is the case across Europe. If it really is, that's simply outstanding. I was in awe of the city. Especially the trams. And the S-bahn. And the U-bahn. Actually, everything!

       I didn't have lunch where I had planned to neither did I have breakfast where I was to. But the food that I had was fun. And the shopkeepers always seemed to have change, even if you paid with a 50 euro note for a 1.5 euro bill. Having gorged down my lunch from a streetside cafe, I decided to relax my aching feet in the Englisch Garten (English gardens). This expanse of green is the city's main park. You can ind people idling around, sunbathing, flying kites, playing frisbee with their dogs or just having a gala time. The park is huge and has a river running right through it! 

The river through Englisch Gartens.

       On my way out I stumbled upon the place where experienced surfers surf on the river. yes you heard it right. Surf on the river. There are some rocks and man-made structures which obstruct the flow of the river to enable a nice surf. That was something! In the meanwhile, my friend had landed in Munich and was waiting at the airport. As I headed back I took a tram to Marienplatz for an onward metro ride to the Airport which was around 40 minutes away. As I alighted at my destination I realised there was something wrong. After walking around in circles for over half and hour I realised I was at Marien'en'platz. I hadn't noticed the extra 'en'. Lost, I fervently asked for directions in my broken German. I had a 7pm flight and it was already 5.15pm. 

Surfing in the Englisch Gartens.

       After a while I got really tensed. Nowhere could I see the Frauenkirche which are tall enough landmarks for Marienplatz. I kept walking in the direction of my destination. My legs were hurting badly. And I was worried. But getting lost had its advantages. I passed by the Rathaus or the assembly, the beautiful Isar river, Maximilain statue and the Maximilianstraße . These were places I had ended up giving a miss - well almost. And finally I spotted the church towers. I rushed towards the metro station and caught the next available metro. I reached by 6.20pm, heaving sighs of relief and boarded the connecting flight to Hamburg in time but not without a few tense moments of being lost in a foreign city!

Munich.