Anticipating Spring in a snowy Munich

January 25, 2017

On Friday I spent an hour in Munich, which all sounds rather decadent doesn't it? And in some ways it was, I had an hour to myself to do with what I wanted and so after checking out a snowy Hofgarten - more on that another day - I headed towards the shops.

I was in Munich, and Kufstein in Austria the day before, as part of the Viking and Stihl UK press trip, their first, so that was a real honour and a pleasure too. We were treated to great hospitality at the Viking factory in Kufstein, which I'll share more of later, but first back to that hour in Munich.

My plan was to buy some chocolates to bring home, because well, chocolates it's the rules right. But somehow I found myself wandering around Depot in one of the smaller arcades. It was their window displays which drew me in, full of Spring colours and flowers and well, I couldn't help myself.

Magnolias, ranunculus, apple blossom and tulips. All realistic, apart from one thing - their scent. But a real treat to see on a snowy day, maybe a little early, but maybe when the temperature is -10 and lower, you need that hope earlier than we would in the UK. And those temperatures, strangely the cold wasn't unbearable. It's true I had two scarves on, the extra one a big wooly one over my coat, but the air was dry and I think that helped. I wouldn't have given up either scarf though...

These fleecy throws were a nod to the weather outside. The colour was bright and the blanket stitch detail made me smile. It was lucky that my hand luggage was already filling up, otherwise this shop would have sorely tempted my resolve.

It's amazing isn't it, how Spring-like this display is. But I think we're at least a month away from the real thing

But I did notice there were plenty of butterflies about. In all kinds of colours. Ceramic butterflies, butterfly garlands and butterfly motifs. I've not noticed that here, but then again I've not had a mooch around the shops here either. Are butterflies a trend for this Spring? Have you seen the decorative sort?

These budgie-like birds - I think it's the yellow, green and blue that prompted that memory - made me smile. These were a strong contender for coming home with me, maybe one or three, but I resisted. Mainly because there was a chocolate box shaped space in my bag, and that's all.

THESE REMINDED ME OF BUDGERIGARS, THE COLOURS I THINK

And these butterfly motif tea lighters were gorgeous too, maybe I'll look out for something similar here. Or plan another flying trip, this time for shopping!

Yes, it's definitely the kind of place where you can make your house a home, and their bags, have I think got it spot on.

Oh, and if you're wondering, of course I bought some chocolates. They were well received but apparently I should have left a larger space in my luggage for a bigger box. Something else to remember on my next trip then!

* While this post isn't in collaboration with Viking or Stihl, it was only possible because of the UK press trip arranged by them.

Looking around the Bogenhausen district in Munich

February 9, 2016

Apart from sightseeing and people-watching, one of my favourite past times is to wander around the non-tourist trail parts of a city. And when we were in Munich last year, it was no different. We spent one morning at BMW World, which is way more interesting than it sounds (and I'll share more from there in a future post) and wanted to spend the afternoon outside, so we took the train from the Olympiapark towards Bogenhausen which our guidebook told us was "a charming place full of lovely mansions of the wealthy."

Well if you're going to look around part of the city that's off the beaten track, it might as well be one of the fancier parts. As we emerged from the station, it was already looking promising...

As much as I would have liked to stop, I was also keen to see more of Bogenhausen. As i looked up, I knew it was the right decision, just look:

How could you not want to explore an area with statues like this on the roof. I love how they look to be surveying the area, and watching what's going on below them.

We peeked through iron railings at the large houses behind them, marvelling at the arches, the lamps and the ironwork at the windows and the balconies.

There were gates and wide leafy avenues.

There were smaller details too, the iron rose among the lusciously coloured rosebush, and mosaic pillars.

And everywhere, there were bikes.

There really was something for everyone.

As we wandered some more, aimlessly it must be said and soon found ourselves in this square. Using it to get our bearings we turned right and headed back towards the river and our hotel.

So quite a wander, with lots to see. Do you head off to other parts of cities when you visit them, or is it just me?

In the Hofgarten

January 28, 2016

For this week's "green" fix we're popping back to Munich, and for some reason I appear to be fixated by children's television programmes at the start of this post, so let's head through the arched window... No, it's just an arch, a beautiful one at that...

The garden is in the centre of Munich and was built between 1613-1617 by Maximilian I as an Italian style Renaissance garden. It's a popular spot and it's easy to see why, this avenue of trees greeted us as we went through the arch. And like everywhere else in Munich there were plenty of places to park a bike.

We meandered around the paths working our way towards the centre of the garden and the pavilion, which is for the goddess Diana and is just beautiful. A path leads from each of its eight arches into the garden, but the inside is ornately decorated. The statue on the top is a replica of a sculpture of Bavaria by Hubert Gerhard and is just stunning against the sky.

At the far end of the garden is the Bavarian state chancellery, which since 1993 has glass wings added to each side of the building, which I liked but I can imagine could split opinions. And it was from here that we headed off towards the Englischer Garden in search of those surfers.

On the west and the north sides of the garden - and I can't remember which this was - were some fabulous arcades with wall paintings depicting the history of Bavaria. I can imagine that on a warm day, these would provide some much welcomed shade.

And now a treat for you. I wasn't going to include this photo but as I looked back over our time in the Hofgarten I couldn't help but smile and remember how much we were amused by the scene outside of the arch. The chap with the accordion in traditional Bavarian dress playing tunes to amuse the crowds, clearly playing to the tourist trade.

And with the backdrop was quite a typical photo, but then he was joined by the other man who was clearly enjoying the music and was quite literally skipping around entertaining the crowds in his own individual way. It was one of the most joyous things I've seen for a while, and still brings a smile to my face. So many memories from just one snap!

So a beautiful garden and one you wouldn't know was destroyed during World War II. It was rebuilt with a partial redesign adopting characteristics from the nineteenth century as well as its original design.