Let’s be honest; traveling is amazing, but when you do it for work and it happens in January in the freezing and snowy Munich winter- it’s perceived to become a hard to survive three weeks!
But believe or not, I not only survived, but I thrived! Apart from vintage shopping, here are my tips to enjoy the beautiful Bavarian town, which has a lot more to offer than you think!
1. Be Bavarian! Bavarians are really proud people: they call themselves Bavarians and then Germans, but as it is hard for us foreigners to understand the story and the reasons, so for the most part, we settle for enjoying the fun and touristic part of it. First of all the food: a typical Bavarian dinner (and beer) in one of the many excellent restaurants in town (we had more than one… dinner and beer!) is a very good start! It’s better to pick the restaurants that locals advise (we loved Hofbräukeller) over those you’d find in guides: food is excellent and the ambiance less touristic. Speaking of food, don’t forget to order the famous Kaiserschmarrn (even better if you try it at Georgenhof) one of the best desserts I’ve ever tried! If you want to go further, head to the incredible shop Holareidulijö where you can try amazing handmade typical Bavarian costumes and understand how they look good on you and on your curves!
2. Be International (at least when you eat!): Surprisingly, Munich has a lot of international restaurants, definitely more than Milan! We ate Turkish, Persian, Thai, Israeli, Korean, Japanese, Indian and we could have done a lot more if we had the time! But the best surprise was the Afghan cuisine: Chopan was one of the best ethnic restaurants I’ve ever tried and really loved from the Afghan community in Munich- not to mention its very cool ambiance. We also tried the famous vegetarian restaurant, Prinz Myshkin, were you can eat a delicious Tofu à la Stroganoff!
3. Visit the Museums! During the freezing snowy days one of our best activities was visiting the museums: Munich offers a great art and cultural panorama and you will be surprised of the hidden treasures that you can find. The three Pinakothek (the old “Alte”, the New “Neue” and the Modern “Moderne”) not far from one another can be really surprising… and they are just 1 euro on Sundays. You can find Van Gogh (the famous “Sunflowers”) to Klimt, Gauguin and Picasso- plus a huge quantity of paintings from the XV century to modern art and great contemporary exhibitions to feel extremely satisfied!
4. Go the Opera! The Bayerische Staatsoper is one of the most famous and popular places in Munich. This beautiful place is, for sure, an unique experience that you must live. When we were there, we were invited by our colleagues to see the ballet Romeo and Juliet and we not only enjoyed the piece, but also the German experience. What I loved most was the long break where you could have drinks and sip your wine while admiring the incredible interior and the lovely women wearing their typical costumes in a very modern way (for example with a simple white shirt!). (I wore Marks and Spencer white shirt, Benetton white cardi, Imperial culottes, Tosca Blu ankle boots, Max&Co bag, Miu Miu frames and Rodedal earrings)
5. Leave it for a weekend! But this will be in my next post… stay tuned!
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