A month in Munich

I did something different this year. We stayed with the family (two kids and my wife) for almost a month in Munich. Luckily, I had a chance to stay at a friend's place. They went somewhere else for vacation, so we had the whole apartment for us. Having a kitchen and several independent rooms made the entire trip very comfortable for us.

It was fun to understand how it would be to live here for longer than a few days. Munich is one of my favorite cities in Germany, and I wanted the whole family to experience it. Second, even though I lived in Germany for 17 years, that wasn't the case with my kids and wife, so again, I wanted them to experience the urban lifestyle and German culture.

The post will include the places and events we visited, without any particular order. It's like a photo essay. These posts are also great because they create a history of my past. I like to go back and read and look at these posts.

(nit: except for a few, all photos were taken by me using my Leica M11. I brought all my lenses, which were the 21mm SEM, 35mm LUX and 50mm LUX)

Transportation

The first shock the kids had was not using a car anymore. Part of my goal was to use only bikes and subways for travel (we couldn't use the bikes, though, so often; more on this later). We lived near the U3 line, and it was great to easily visit some popular destinations (Münchner Freiheit, Marienplatz, etc..). We loved every bit of Munich's Transportation options. The subway was excellent and always on point.

Streets

Walkability is great in Munich. We only had some initial problems adjusting to the bike lanes, which usually followed the walking lanes. Our kids would walk randomly because we don't have this kind of bike lane in Ankara. Munich is a very sterile and clean city, except for one case, I never saw any litter.

Olympia Park

Olympia Park was near where we lived, so we visited it several times. We just walked around a few times, but there was also a Summerfest exhibition, and seeing it with the kids was great. It's cleaner than other parks, but also more crowded.

Coffee

I had coffee at several places, but my favorites were Man vs. Machine and Suuapinga. I tried quite a few shops, but these two were the best. Their coffees speak to me, and their pastries are above average.

Augsburg

I rented a car for a few days to visit some remote places. We had a day to kill, so we decided to visit Augsburg. It was a lovely, calm, great city to walk around. We visited the Fuggerei, the world's oldest public housing complex still in use (built-in 1516).

Deutsches Museum

The kids loved the Deutsches Museum. I once visited it ten years ago, and it was great to visit again with my two kids. The museum had several interactive exhibitions and even a place just for kids. Reservations are needed (via online), and I highly recommend it if you have kids.

Eibsee

Eibsee is a lake next to Austria's border and Germany's highest mountain, Zugspitze. I planned to visit the peak but later decided to wait until the kids were older. Eibsee was a great place to visit. We hiked around the lake and later rented a pedal boat. The kids loved it.

Neuschwanstein Castle

There's not much to say here other than that it's probably Germany's most famous tourist attraction. It was an hour's drive from Eibsee, so we also visited it. It was afternoon when we arrived, and the crowd had mainly left. We didn't see the castle's interior but hiked to the Marienbridge, allowing us to shoot the iconic castle in its glory.

Hannover

My brother lives in Hannover (near Hildesheim), so we took the ICE from Munich and visited them for a few days. Hannover is an underrated city. It's not sunny like Munich, but I love the greenery and amenities. Unfortunately, we had an accident there. My son broke his arm, and we had to spend a night in the hospital.

Englischer Garten

There is not much to say. It's one of the world's largest urban public parks and the biggest in Munich. We visited several parks in Munich, but this park is near the city, so we would grab some food and chill there. It's also a perfect place for the kids; they can run, shout, and leash out their energies.

Die Neue Sammlung - The Design Museum

The Neue Sammlung is one of my favorite museums in Munich. It's a modern museum with several small exhibitions. I wanted the kids to experience it as well. While there, I, of course, explained the furniture, designs, and pictures to them. German museums are also great because most museums always have interactive activities for kids.

Food

There are many things to eat here. Some of the food we had were Hendl (rotisserie chicken), Döner, Afghan cuisine, Korean (Bibimbap), Sushi, Ramen, Schnitzel, and Pizza (Neapolitan style). I also had the Spaghetti Eis quite a few times, as I would eat it when I was a kid in Germany. I also liked the sandwiches from Rischart.

Verdict

This is it. We enjoyed every bit of our vacation. It was also my most extended vacation (my longest vacation was in 2014).

With that, I also want to thank my kids, who were good citizens half the time, and my wife, who helped me immensely in organizing the trip. I love you all ❤️.

Here are a few other photos I couldn't fit in any of the above sections: