Munich (The World Cup!)

A few months ago Jules, Peter and myself entered the lottery for world cup tickets. We chose Australia's three group matches and then a couple of other matches to fill the days in between.

We ended up getting none of the Australian matches and just one of our other choices. So I just got back from a couple of days in Munich where we saw Saudi Arabia v Tunisia!

We started yesterday with a look around the city. All the locals seemed to be excited that the world cup was in Germany. We got stopped by so many people who could hardly speak English trying to point out where all the sites were!

So we started in the main drag (Marienplatz) which was a funky square surrounded by old buildings. The Tunisians were out in force, playing music and dancing around. They seemed so happy that their team was playing that afternoon. There were heaps of Aussies about as well. I guess it is because they are playing Brazil in Munich this sunday.

We slowly made out way through the streets to the Residenz, the palace where the rulers of Bavaria lived until the first world war. It was absolutely huge and we spent ages walking around. It was a little disappointing however. Apart from big empty rooms, there was not a great deal to see. Not much information about the various rooms or anything like that.

We then headed over to the English Garden - a huge park in central Munich. It was pretty warm and the park was a nice place to walk around it to try and escape the heat. One interesting thing was the number of naked people around. It turns out that people come into the park during their lunch break, strip off and lay in the sun! There were thousands of people doing it. Perhaps it is something people could start in Hyde Park?

Anyway, we made our way to the Seehaus, a beer garden in the park, for some lunch. There were heaps of people around, so we joined them with our wieners and steins and watched the footy!

We then headed back to the Hauptbahnhof to get our train to the stadium. It was packed. Very much like Sydney was during the Olympics. Security was a lot more visible though. Everyone going in had to go through metal detectors and be patted down.

The stadium was awesome. Apparently there are two local teams that use it as their home ground and the exterior changes colour depending on which of them is playing there!

It was absolutely packed as well. The organisers had sold spare tickets cheaply to locals to ensure full houses. The whole crowd were getting into the game. It was awesome to be there which was a big surprise. In the end the result was a tie, but football was the winner (I had to get that in somewhere!!).

We headed back into the city and went to the Hofbrauhaus for dinner and drinks. I could get use to drinking steins!

Today we decided to head out to the Schloss Nymphenburg. The guide book said it was one of the highlights of Munich. While we were waiting at the tram station to head out there this drunk or high British bloke came up to talk to us. He was absolutely rotten. Anyway Peter and Jules both reckon he was hitting on me - apparently because I looked shiny (whatever that means). I was completely oblivious to it all!

The Schloss was very impressive. It was absolutely huge. But like the Residenz, it was empty. So again, it was a little disappointing. We walked around the gardens and then went to one of the cafes for lunch. We then jumped on a tram again to head back into the city.

At one of the stops about 100 Australian's piled on. It was standing room only (and then there was not much). They were all singing songs ("Stand up if you're the top of the group" and "Super Timmy Cahill") and were having a great time. They even tried to tell me that I lived in a beautiful city in German, but soon stopped when they found out I was Australian. It was a great example of the atmosphere in the city.

We picked our bags up at the train station and headed back out to the airport. Unfortunately it was time to head home. It was a great couple of days. I definitely need to get back to Munich.


Views from Marienplatz.


Views from Marienplatz.


Views from Marienplatz.


The Residenz.


Inside the Residenz.


The English Garden.


The funky stadium.


The match!


At the Hofbrauhaus.


Blogger is playing silly buggers, so you will have to wait for the rest of the photos.