Munich trip: some comments and observations
 

I was in Munich for a few days recently and thought I'd share some observations I made. Maybe it is helpful to someone here.

Hotel:

Derag Max Emanuel www.deraghotels.de/en/ME.htm
I chose it for location and price. I booked through a German travel agency (DERTOUR) and got a 56 € rate per night for a single room, breakfast included. Also, the special deal was to stay 4 nights and pay only 3. It is located in the district Haidhausen, a very nice neighbourhood with plenty of cafes, restaurants, shops etc.; a 4 minutes walk to S-Bahn stop Rosenheimer Platz and only two stops from Marienplatz (or a 15 minutes walk to Marienplatz). Very quiet location. The room was surprisingly large (23 m2) with balcony and a kitchenette (yay!). I saw some stains on the carpet, otherwise it was very clean. Breakfast buffet was excellent. I would stay there again.

Restaurants:

Tambosi (Odeonsplatz) - Italian food mostly. You can choose between sitting inside, outside on a terrace with view of Odeonsplatz or outside under trees in the Hofgarten. We decided for the latter. Augustiner beer was fabulous :-) lamb was fantastic, ditto the spaghetti. Creme caramel was awful <shudder> I'd always go back. Great for people watching; also, it's a green oasis in the bustling city.

Il Cigno (Bordeauxplatz in Haidhausen) - a typical neighbourhood Italian restaurant. Recommended in the "Stadtbuch München". I sat outside (tables on the sidewalk). Had Quadroni filled with tomato, mozzarella, ruccola, served with basil pesto. Pretty good. Main course was grilled loup de mer with broccoli, carrots etc. - fantastic. A bottle San Pellegrino and a glass of Nero d'Avola (red wine). The bill came to 32.40 €. The service was slow and inattentive. I had planned to have dessert, too, but since the waiter was so slow I decided against it. Besides, the glass of red wine was by far not filled up to the 0.2 l mark. Also, when I got the fish I ordered a glass of white wine but it never arrived until I was done with the fish.

Spatenhaus an der Oper - vis-a-vis the Nationaltheater, a good place for people watching :-) Had Rostbratwurst with Sauerkraut and a Weizen beer there - very good, price was ok for the location and quality - 20.60 €.

Sights:

It wasn't my first visit to Munich, thus I could see some less popular places. Enjoyed strolling through Haidhausen; from Rosenheimer Platz via Weißenburger Platz to Bordeauxplatz, to Johannisplatz and Wiener Platz - the centre of the district with an abundance of restaurants, cafes and bars and one of my favourite beer gardens in Munich: Hofbräukeller. Also liked the churches in Haidhausen (St. Nikolai, St. Johannis). A true gem is "Müller'sches Volksbad", an Art Nouveau public indoor pool/sauna etc. right by the Isar river. Unfortunately closed for cleaning the week I was there. Everyone seems to visit the Deutsches Museum, but nobody ever goes to Müller'sches Volksbad though they're only a stone throw apart.

I visited Neue Pinakothek which I thought is amazing. Attended two operas - LOHENGRIN (a huge disappointment, production awful and musically also slightly disappointing - why the hype about Jonas Kaufmann?) and NORMA (superb, Gruberova and Scandiuzzi spectacular, production very good). It was quite an experience to see how much people dressed up for opera - granted, it was Musikfestspiele (Festival) season, sort of warm-up for Bayreuth.

I also visited Schloss Schleissheim - beautiful gardens, magnificent palace. Easily to get to by S-Bahn, only a 10-minutes walk from the station to the Palace. I highly recommend this one, prefer it over Schloss Nymphenburg and definitely over Neuschwanstein.

Oh, and not to forget - did an excursion to the Alps - Garmisch-Partenkirchen (only 1.30 h by regional train) with a hike. Didn't take into consideration that the weather forecast predicted thunderstorms. And yes, got soaking wet like never before in my life. LOL

That's it for now. It's even longer than I intended. Feel free to ask questions.

Ingo,

You forgot the horseflies and the mosquetoes . . .!

s

Did you wade through the Hofbrauhaus on this trip?

S, nope, didn't *forget* them. Can still feel the bites. Ouch. Just didn't want to scare travellers ;-)

schuler, not this time. And to be honest, I don't think it would rank in the top 5 of my favourite beer halls.

Good report! Thanks for sharing!

Good trip report, Ingo, I hope to be able to use some of your experiences in August.

"Had Rostbratwurst with Sauerkraut and a Weizen beer there - very good, price was ok for the location and quality - 20.60€."

Remind me not to go to this restaurant! 20€ for brats and kraut and a beer? You have got to be kidding if you think this is ok at all. Prices like this are a complete rip-off.

It was for two beers. LOL The meal was in fact eight small Bratwursts with Sauerkraut + two Weizen beers. The beers were 4.50 € each. Do the math yourself. It was not a street vendor; it was the terrace of a fine restaurant right vis-a-vis the Nationaltheater.

Thanks Ingo, very informative!

Lavandula

Ingo - good report as usual. The Spatenhaus is a favorite of mine. Too bad about Lohengrin. I don't understand most of this modern Wagner.

Thanks Ingo,looked up Schloss Schleissheim. Did you walk the grounds and gardens also?