Touched by Munich
Monday I went to Munich for some business appointments. In the mean time there was a big conference going on, A4Uexpo, so there where more familiar ‘Dutchies’ to hang out with. Besides Berlin and some smaller towns, I’ve never really visited another big German city. Fail on me. Munich is a very classic old city with impressive historical buildings, lots of parcs and the famous Biergartens for the brilliant Oktoberfests and Brauerei houses.
Modern history downtown
After meeting with the girls of Nectar & Pulse who revealed their favorite spots in Munich, a photoshoot with the bartender telling how to pose and where the light was best, I strolled around the city center. Impressed by the historical buildings, the relaxed atmosphere the huge amount of parks and the great weather. I actually added Munich on my ‘I could live here’-list, after being there just for one day! Walking from Elisenstrasse to Marienplatz I sat down in the parc for a while, bought some cherry’s at the market and was stunned by the Neues Rathaus, the big building on this square. In it where lots of restaurants and biergartens, but also second world war memories. From there, I walked to Maximilianstrasse, the most expensive shops and boutiques can be find here. My mission at Mont Blanc failed, both Chanel and Dior didn’t have a make-up section so no new nailpolishes and Hermes was pretty small with nothing special. Still I love to visit these boutiques in every city, it gives me a very luxurious feeling.
Bohemian chic
Through Maximilianstrasse I crossed the Hofbrauerei (a huge beer brewery with a biergarten), had lunch at Conviva im Blauenhaus and walked further to Viktualienmarkt. This area is where you can find the ‘bohemian chic’ of Munich. Nice small boutiques, people enjoying small terraces on the streets and everybody looking very sophisticated hippy chic. Because I didn’t have a lot of time, I told myself not to go inside every cool shop, I could resist the pretty Chocolat store/bar and finally I arrived at Gartnerplatz. A stylish square in the shape of a circle, with lots of nice shops (Strenesse for example; wow) and cafes. I even saw a Le Pain Quotidien, which made me feel at home right away, as there’s one around the corner where I life in Amsterdam. Finally I was at the street where it was all about: the Reichenbachstrasse. Here you find the unique boutiques, the Munich fashion designers and the shops I always love to visit. Lovely contemporary store I did visit: Shu Su Japanese design. If you like reindeer’s and Austria, there’s this great shop called Servus Heimat you must visit.
Rocket Grey Edelschmiede
I love window shopping and that was also the only thing I got to do at the Ruby Store, a famous store with local designers and a great photographer using the designs for her photos. The shop was closed when I walked by, but a complete post about this shop will come soon! After the little disappointment, this store made up a lot! Rocket sells famous brands like Levi’s, Vans and Adidas, but also more unknown (Scandinavian and German) brands. The owner of the Rocket shop also has another shop in the same street called Grey (with a little bit red), both shops are so called concept stores. The shop has unique jewelry, bags, glasses, shoes and great fashion brands. They also sell the Nectar & Pulse travelguides. Other shops called ‘Kauf dich Glucklich’ (buy yourself happy) and ‘Kleider machen Leute’ (clothing makes people), the best optical shop I’ve ever seen Edelschmiede and I fell in love with the designer Hannes Roether. Simple designs, luxurious materials and great bags and shoes.
I couldn’t resist to have a look at the Paul Frank optical shop (only glasses), walked into a shop that sells vintage luxurious goods (they asked me if I would sell my Hermes bracelet I just got!) and bought a ‘Berliner’ on the street.
Schnitzels in the Englischer Garten
During my sightseeing I felt so energetic and full of inspiration. I’d love to do ‘something’ with a concept store as well and my mind kept thinking about the lovely spots in Barcelona I would write about as a local soulmate. But it was time to go. One last ‘kaffee und kuchen’ at the Hilton Tivoli hotel after a lovely cab drive (the best way to discover a new city if you have little time to walk; take the cab! You see all the great places you would have missed if you took the metro and you can ask the driver for the things you should have seen anyway), a walk through Tivoli park to the Englischer Garten and have a schnitzel (I always act like a local) before heading back to the airport.
Munich is in my heart after just one day. The kind people, the relaxed atmosphere, the green parcs and the historical buildings makes it a city very much worth visiting. Also without the Oktoberfest going on!
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