Munich Day 1 - Nymphenburg Palace

10/23/2012

We got up early in Salzburg to catch the 7:14AM train to Munich. It’s a 3 hour train ride with very picturesque scenery… a rolling countryside with cows and horses and charming German-esque cottages. We bought the Bayern ticket, which is 34 euros for 4 people. It is only valid Mon-Friday 9am to 3am the next day, and the whole day Saturday and Sunday. But it was a Tuesday, so we could only use it till 3am the next day. 

After we got into Munich, to the huge, massive Munchen train station, we walked to Hotel Andra, which is a couple blocks away in the Turkish immigrant area of Munich. Our mouths were salivating with all the durum/donor shops on the block. We checked in, and went out immediately as Nymphenburg palace closes at 4pm. We hopped on the tram (the on-the-ground transportation system—because we had the Bayern ticket, the tram ride was included… otherwise, it would have been 2 euros per person for the tram ride! And only one-way! In Munich, the whole transportation system uses one ticketing system, which means if you buy an all-encompassing pass, it includes every type of transportation Munich has to offer). Tram 17 goes directly from the train station to the palace. Got there around half an hour later, and bought the Bavarian palace partner ticket, which is 40 euros for 2 adults and 2 children under 17. I kept on repeating to the lady that I wanted to buy TWO partner tickets, as we had 4 adults, but she insisted we needed to buy only one.

It finally dawned on me that she thought Angel and I were under 17.

Wow. Quite flattered, I must say.

Angel hissed at me later that I should’ve just shut up, but I was trying to be honest! 

Here's Angel acting like a two-year-old... Mom's tying her shoe laces! Really?!

The Bavarian ticket allows you entrance to 40 different palaces in Bavaria, so you can think of the massive savings you’d get if you visit all 40... especially if you only paid for one pass instead of two. Unfortunately, only two palaces are in Munich proper. All the others are waaaaay outside of Munich, so you either have to rent a car or spend a whole lotta time on the train. You’d probably need a good month to see them all! But the pass is really cheap... I mean, if you go to at least 3 palaces, then you’ve already made back your money.

Nymphenburg started as a summer retreat for the royal family, and my God, it is massive. Kind of like Versailles, with 4 different petit palaces dotting the park. The main palace is gorgeous. Well, the inside anyway. The outside is a very big, grand building, and looks like an entire village. But the architectural style is more cottage-cute than grandiose. The second floor foyer had gilded ceilings and bright, elaborately painted frescoes. But because this is a summer retreat, there is not a lot of history or furnishings you can take in here, as most European royalties traveled with their furniture from place to place.

To the right of the palace when you exit the palace is the Marstallmuseum. The attendant here was skeptical that we were under 17, but let us pass after one of her coworkers said to let us through. The coaches and carriages on display are absolutely exquisite. Gilded coaches, tassels, velvet covered seats… many that belonged to King Ludwig II. 

There were gilded wooden sleighs as well, intricately carved from the time of King Ludwig’s father, who was an avid sleigh-rider and demanded his whole court to go out with him in the freezing night for a jolly sleigh ride. His sleighs were gorgeous, and I marvel at how skilled the craftsmen were back then.

After we left the carriage museum, we went to the park. The original intention was to go to all four of the petit palaces, but Angel was raising such a fuss… I admit, it was really cold. And I mean really, really cold. Munich in late October is freezing!!!! But we came all the way here so I thought we might as well visit all the petit palaces, but Angel was miserable and when she’s miserable, she becomes really difficult.

Mein face ist burnt. ß Angel's contribution

So we saw only one building, the Marsturnburg. It was deliberately built to look like church ruins, and the chapel with stained glass was where the king went in his dotage to pray. He indulged a lot in his youth, like sleigh rides, demanding all his court to go with him in the middle of the night. So the older he grew, the more devout he became, determined to rectify his ways before God.

After we left Nymphenburg, we went to Karlsplatz, the start of old Munich. The tram fare, as well as all Munich transportation (except fast ICE trains), like their S-Bahn and U-Bahn systems are all included in the Bayern fare ticket. A one-way tram fare for one person is 2 euros. So we saved a lot with the Bayern pass today.

Viktualienmarkt closes at 6pm so we rushed there first, bypassing all the shopping and goodies on Kaufingerstrasse. Viktualienmarkt is a large farmer’s market-type place, with lots of quaint stalls selling wine, bratwursts, fruit (soooo expensive! Glad to be a Californian! Grapes are 3 euros/kg). We wandered through the aisles but didn’t see anything so went back to Kaufingerstrasse. It is the equivalent of Vienna’s Kartnerstrasse, or Paris’ Champs Elysees. There is a medieval church and several other historical churches dotting the square. It seems that most European cities are centered around churches. There were three H&Ms along this street, as well as multiple department stores. 

We went into Galeria Kaufinger, where there is a Jason-like supermarket on the basement floor. As Oktoberfest has just ended, they had several brands of beers on sale for 0.89 euros per bottle. Among them was the Hofbrau, which was the royal brewer for the German royal family for the past few centuries, established in 1589. We asked the cashier which brand tasted better and she said to get the Hofbrau because it is good and famous. Mom bought 2 different brands and when drinking them, said the Hofbrau tasted better because it was more wheat-y. Angel bought a Lindt dark chocolate bar with pistachio mousse, which she really enjoyed. They also had samples of some really good cheese (kase) there.

We rode the tram back to the train station (even though it was only a two-block walk, but hey, if you have the Bayern pass for only a day, better damn well milk it for all its worth) and stopped by a bustling doner restaurant to buy dinner. However, the cashier didn’t speak English; he couldn’t understand what “to-go” meant or my sign language. The nice guy behind me helped me translate my order to the cashier. What a savior. Otherwise, I’d still be there now trying to get my order taken!

We went back to our hotel room to eat our dinner. Everything was delicious! The doner durum (wrap) tasted different from Vienna’s. The wrap is like a burrito wrap, the spices were different… more spicy, I guess? But just as juicy and just as savory. Dad got the doner kebab (sandwich) and Angel really liked the bread—she kept stealing bites of Dad’s dinner. What a little rat. Mom got a lamb entrée which she said tasted really goaty.

Jen was a big pig and ate almost half of Mom’s rice; she wasn’t even offered any…how pushy. Fat. ßAgain, Angel’s contribution to this blog. How very enlightening, no? 

The rice was very good. Very moist and had chickpeas in them. Angel said it tasted like it was cooked in chicken soup.