FOCUS WEEK 0CT 2009: MUNICH TRIP

I took a five day trip to Munich in the south of Germany. I had never been to Germany before and had a great sense of anticipation as I arrived at Munich airport. It was also exciting to be to a country with such a strong sense of identity.

Munich is in the heart of Bavaria which is the traditional part of Germany. In many ways a conservative region but not in a negative way. I found the people there to be kind and they seemed like they could be the most loyal friends. Germany tends to be fairly rigid in some ways, ie everyone sticks to the rules while on the other hand people will drink huge amounts of beer late into the night and smoke cigerettes in bars despite a smoking ban!

Munich is a relatively small city in comparison to London and has a great, if not dated underground system called the U-Bahn. The interesting thing is that you can buy your tickets and have to stamp them in an automated machine. There are no barriers to pass through, you just walk straight onto your train. It seems there are rarely inspectors about but because Germans stick to the rules everyone tends to buy a ticket so there is no issue. I wonder if such a sytem could ever work in London?

Munich is an old city and was once surrounded by walls and castle like gates. The city has since expanded. The city centre is called Marienplatz with most the architecture twee and strangely fantastical. I have never seen such a mix of old styles from the Roman clasical to the Gothic right through to the Byzantine.

If you cross Sonnenstraat you encounter a whole different Munich. The area around the Hauptbanhof Train Station is very much 60's style architecture which houses flats, small cafes, a Turkish area and red light district. I noticed that many people live right in the centre of Munich. In comparison to London prices in Zone 1 here are reasonable. In general the standard of living is better in Muich.

Overall I enjoyed the trip and totally changed my opinion on Germany. I managed a few basic phrases and made some new friends there. I take this as a compliment as I was told that Germans are straightforward, if they like you they talk to you if they don't they walk away. I look forward to my next trip there, more likely to be in the Summer when the weather is better. I am also curious to see other parts of Germany, in particular Berlin.