Looking around the Bogenhausen district in Munich

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...

NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL A CHERRY!

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

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.

Straight to the Bräuhaus

So after almost a week cycling around Bavaria we left Füssen by train and headed back to Munich. It was an easy journey, but long and by the time we arrived the rain that had started as we left had caught us up. Having been cooped up for a good few hours I was keen to stretch my legs, so decided we would walk to our hotel. In the rain. With our luggage.  

We set off confidently, as you do.  And some way down the street found a doorway to shelter and check the map. Whoops. It wasn't the best time to admit we'd walked ten minutes or so in the wrong direction. I wasn't too popular... 

So with a new plan to zig zag our way back towards the centre of town we set off again, this time in the right direction. With a few more stops than before to check the map it wasn't that long before we were making progress. Tired and hungry, and just a little bit damp we arrived at our hotel just a short walk from plenty of Bräuhaus.  

And so there really was only one thing for it. Dry clothes and out for a beer! This was one part of our trip that MOH had researched in advance (code for he read the guide book on the train) and so had a list of options to hand. 

It turned out that we were staying within staggering distance of the Weisses Bräuhaus, which MOH assured me was one of the oldest in Munich and on his list. So that's where we went. 

With beer and a pretzel ordered we took more time understanding the menu. We had one in English and one in German, I find that helps with being able to order something I know I can eat and with immersing ourselves in the culture of where we are. I can read English menus any day at home and comparing and contrasting it to the German version helped build my (limited) language skills further.  

In the end though we opted for a mixed plate of wurst, or sausages. Another beer and another pretzel, because both are pretty moreish. And then I could admire our surroundings. And people watch.  

There were rumours that the rain had stopped, so we settled our bill and headed out. Otherwise we might easily have stayed put for the rest of the evening and put our "find the hotel" navigation skills to the test, for a second time that day.  

We wandered around the streets, finding some shops with pretty window displays. One it seemed was intent on reminding me of my bike at home. In others stacks upon stacks of bright kitchenware, another wooden boards, another pretty boxes of herb teas.

I had a feeling that I was going to like it here.

I was looking forward to visiting these shops again when they were open. But somehow that didn't happen. I'm not sure whether that was because we never found them again as our wanders took us in different directions, or through some careful and skilful guiding from MOH. He'll claim the latter no doubt, forgetting I know just how bad his sense of direction can be! 

Running out of shops we decided to take a wander around some of Munich's streets before heading back to the hotel. We didn't want to do the big sights but more to have a wander and get our bearings and to see what we could see.

Soon enough we saw some interesting architecture. Buildings continued to be painted, but often in bolder colours and some with additional decorations.

The roof of this building I thought was particularly stunning, helped I think by the shimmering of the wet tiles from the rain!

We found ourselves at this modern building, which turned out to be the Jewish Museum. I liked the contrast of materials used, the textures and of course the bike parked outside. It was another place we didn't make it back to, although we walked close by the next day.

And so now it was time to find our hotel again. And prepare for more food and the odd beer or two!