München mag dich

After a few days at Grandma’s house in Czechia, I’m off on my big solo trip of the summer! I started my day being dropped off at the Pardubice train station by my brother in law, Martin.

Today I’m taking RegioJet to Prague, which is one of the private railway companies in the Czech Republic. Normally I take the state railway operator (České dráhy) because they have a lot more trains to pick from, but this one worked well with my schedule and it was very comfortable.

I had some time before needing to be at the airport so I walked through central Prague for a bit instead of hopping directly on the metro. One place that I’ve walked past many many times but have yet to go inside is the Jerusalem Synagogue. One of these days!

And of course, I walk through the Old Town Square which is full of tourists waiting for the clock to strike 11:30. Here’s the Old Town Hall.

Time to head to the airport now.

Today was something new – out of all of the years of flying out of Prague I’ve never been in this lounge before and never even seen anyone in it. They must have re-opened it recently since the airport is so busy these days.

It had the same food and drink as the regular lounge, Erste Premier Lounge. It must just be an overflow space or something.

It was pretty much empty, which was nice.

Up and away we go towards the southwest from Prague Airport.

It’s a very short flight to Munich, normally 35 minutes, but this time we had to do a goaround so it ended up taking us 50 minutes after doing a big loop around the airport and back into the downwind. Munich airport is visible in the back, which we’ve already flown past.

We arrive at a remote stand which is a hallmark of busy European airports. Can be very annoying with extra luggage, but the bus trip gives great views of aircraft on the apron – like this Airbus A350.

It’s a quick exit from the terminal to the S-bahn train station which I’ll take to the city center.

Exiting the rail line at Karlsplatz, I pop out right in front of a multilingual McDonald’s.

After dropping my stuff of at my hotel room for tonight, I do some walking. First stop is Marienplatz to check out the Rathaus, and as luck would have it, I arrived at 4:55 PM, just in time for the last Glockenspiel “show” of the day to play at 5! It was a very elaborate display and definitely worth seeing.

At the other end of the square, is an old town hall and clock tower that now houses the Munich Toy Museum.

Walking down one of the many pedestrian zones in the city center.

Over at the Frauenkirche cathedral.

I pop inside for a look.

And next, I’ll visit this very local and classic Bavarian beer hall for dinner on the other side of the square.

This place was recommended by my friend Andi who lives in Bavaria and works in Munich!

It didn’t disappoint. Wienerschnitzel and kartoffelsalat.

More walking to burn off the dinner.

This the Bavarian State Opera House.

And on the other side of the square, some expensive shops and restaurants.

This is the Theatine Church at Odeonsplatz.

Inside the Munich Residenz (castle), a wine festival is going on with some live music.

This statue of Maximilian von Montgelas is in the treed center of the Promenadeplatz.

The Wittelsbacher Brunnen – a beautiful fountain.

The Munich Courthouse.

Across from the courthouse there’s a typical European urban park. Plenty of greenery to enjoy, and there were people playing table tennis, just hanging out having a beer, and a laugh.

Back towards the hotel again I check out the Frauenkirche from a different angle one more time.

And the Rathaus.

There was another music festival of some sort going on at a different square that I stumbled across.

Another pedestrian zone – Sendlingerstrasse – at the end of which is my hotel.

After all that walking, I chill out on the balcony with this view to rest up for a busy day tomorrow !