Munich in the summer - Oktoberfest, Starnberg See and a random day in Munich

I haven't travelled much in Germany, only to Blackforest, Frankfurt and Cologne for a day. But somehow I end up going to Munich so much more, I have been there at least 20 times! Sometimes for work, sometimes vacation and sometimes even weddings. In fact I think half of all my European trips have been to Munich. Between this and last year, I made 3 (more) trips and not on work, so I got to see at least some of the sights this time. Am writing down about my experiences on these trips...

Oktoberfest again

In Sep 2016, I was in Munich for a weekend during Oktoberfest. This time at least the weather was better - sunny and warm, so I got to see the city too. We landed from London in the morning and took the public transport to our hotel. First we took a metro train, then we had to get off at a random stop in between and take a bus from the middle of nowhere to our hotel. I have always taken a cab or driven in Munich, so this was a different experience altogether. We saw some of the suburban houses and they all seemed very warm and convenient to live in.

We were staying at the Westinn, and after checking in, we wore our dirndls and were off to the greatest fairs of our times 😜. The fair grounds were about 20-30 mins walking from the hotel, so we decided to walk there. As expected, there were huge crowds and queues at the grounds. The recent attacks in Germany had just occurred and there was massive security all around. The police was not allowing anyone to carry big bags, even women’s purses were being asked to be deposited outside! So I just hid my purse inside my big coat and walked in.

Our tent in Oktoberfest

We first walked around a bit in the fair, around all the rides and shops. It was so sunny and hot that day that it felt lovely. Very different from the Munich that I know otherwise. And then we went into our tents where our table mates were already there. This was a trip with work colleagues where they had already booked a table in the tents for both the days. Once inside, we spent most of the day in the Armbrustschützen-Festhalle tent. The first half we had seats and the second we moved into the neighbouring tent (maybe it was Schützen-Festzelt but I am not sure), where we found some places due to friendly waitresses.

The whole day was so much fun, enjoying with friends, chatting, dancing to the German music and generally having fun. I would say though, that the food was still the same as my last visit - quite average. This time I tried the chicken and salad which was definitely better than the cheese and macaroni I had tried earlier. The salted schnitzels were worth snacking on too.

A place for tea

The ambience in the tents

The ambience in the tents

The ambience in the tents

The ambience in the tents

The ambience in the tents

In between, we also walked through to some of the other tents and saw all the different music, ambience and decor. It was quite interesting to see how each of the tent had a different ambience and feel to it. The artworks and colour schemes were different, the music was different, the age group and type of people were different and so on. I can imagine people coming here regularly and having a different experience based on the tent they are in. Anyways, after a long day at the fair, we called it a night quite early and walked back to our hotel.

View on Munich roads

The whole ambience of Munich changes during this weekend. There were so many people on the roads, dressed up and walking around having fun. It felt like a whole big party! Like the view on the right where people were partying on a huge cycle.

Monument in English Garden

The second day we thought we would explore Munich a bit and walked from our hotels to the tents. On the way we explored the town - it being a sunny and warm day helped too. We walked past huge buildings and gardens that I had not yet seen in my 20 visits to Munich before!

View of English Garden

And then I finally went to the English Garden. I had heard about it for ages but never managed to visit it. It was a huge garden with lot of stuff to do and different landscaping at different places. There were green grass parks, streams, woods, cafes, small monuments atop hills, rock landscapes and so on. It was a nice walk around and we just walked under the trees for long.

A picturesque stream in the Garden

There was a Chinese Garden where we had lunch and it reiterated the fact that getting good vegetarian food in Germany is still a faraway dream 😏.

Surfing in the English Garden

At the end of our walk, we came to a stream which has waves at one location and this is used to practice surfing. Imagine being able to practice surfing in the middle of the city, without any sea in sight! I had heard about this place years ago but only now got to see it. It was fun to see people go one after another on this short stretch of water and practise their skills.

Then we walked by the Marienplatz area which was full of tourists and very lively. Anyways we went back to the tents for some more time. It was very quiet on a Sunday. And we stayed there only a few hours and got out to explore the rest of the fair. There were loads of rides like any other fair and we did a few rides in the evening. By then everyone left to go back to London. I didn’t realise how much tired I was till I came back and crashed completely. It was a nice weekend and I was happy to have finally got to see Munich in the summer.

A day in Munich at the Bayern Munich stadium

I was in Munich for a day in Nov 2016 and got to visit the Bayern Munich stadium (also known as Allianz arena) for the first time, after having seen it every time to and from the airport. I learnt a lot about the stadium which was a first for me for any football stadium. And I was intrigued by how much details and pride goes into all of it. It was an interesting trip and I learnt a lot of trivia about the stadium, most of which I don’t even remember.

Allianz stadium

The Allianz arena was built relatively recently and with a huge capacity of 75 thousand spectators. The previous Bayern Munich stadium was never sold out, so they had forecasted a lower capacity for the stadium. However, now even with 75 thousand, it was always fully sold out and they have to sell standing tickets for some of the games to accomodate more fans. The stadium has two huge monitors, of 100 metre square size. They are bigger than most of the two bedroom flats in London 😜.

Solarium in the stadium

One of the most interesting part of this trip was to see how they made the grass grow. Given the shape of the stadium, there is limited light that comes inside the stadium So there were solariums used all the time to give artificial light to the grass so that it grows. Another interesting fact was that the Bayern Munich boss was currently in jai, but he used to get out during the day, visit the stadium sometimes but went back to sleep in the prison every time. It felt so much like people in India would do!

There are many types of seats in the stadium - sponsor booths, business seats, cheaper seats for people in wheelchair and so on. We tried out the seats in the 'well' of the grouns where the players sit during the match. And realised that the seats were heated! I think its a good thing for Munich winters. And the acoustics inside the stadium are great. You can hear small sounds from the ground, all the way back in the seats on top.

We also went to the locker rooms and apparently the entire gear of the players is decided and cannot be chosen. It has to be what the team management picks up, except the shoes which the players can choose themselves. We went into one of the kicking practice room to try some of our football kicks too

Apparently, the same stadium is used for games by two teams - the Bayern Munich and TSV - and TSV pays rental for its game at the stadium. There is a full well oiled machinery to ensure the whole decor of the stadium is changed every time there is a game by the other team. So all the posters, pictures and logos are replaced regularly based on who is playing.

While going back to the airport, it was so foggy and cold all the way. Not at all like the summer visit earlier in the year. I also noticed that Munich airport was already changing. There was more checking and security at the airport, both while coming in and while leaving. I spent much more longer at the immigration than ever before, sign of changing times?

A wedding near Starnberg See

I visited Munich again in the summer of 2017 to attend one of my colleagues’s wedding. The venue was near Munich, in a resort called La Villa, near the village of Pocking. The venue overlooked a huge lake called Starnberg See and is one of the most picturesque locations I have been to.

The venue was about 200 kms away from the airport, all the way across Munich. So I took the train there, first S8 to the middle of Munich and then changed at Pasing for another train, S6 going to Feldafing. During the trip, I realised how efficient the whole Munich local train system was (I hadn't used it much before and so was pleasantly surprised). I also again realised how much our life has been made easy with smartphones and Google. You can easily land up in a new place and take the public transport to go from one place to another.

The second train very quickly reached the Starnberg area which was a suburb of Munich but very close to nature with a huge lake and view of the Alps across the lake. The train ran through green woods, small villages and people walking their dogs on the side. It was so green everywhere, it felt like spring was already here. Also luckily, it was supposed to be a rainy day but all I saw was sunshine everywhere which made it look even more beautiful.

View of Starnberg lake

The first view of the Starnberg See lake was at the town of Starnberg and it was majestic. Crystal blue waters lined with green trees; wooden houses dotting the edges and snow covered white peaks at a distance, all under the sky blue skies laced with dark clouds. What a view that was, and then the train ran next to this view all the way till Feldafing, giving short glimpses time and again of the lake and its surroundings.

I was staying at a small boutique hotel called Kaiserin Elisabeth, in the village of Feldafing. Once I got down from the train, I walked to the hotel from the station. And the views of the lake and beyond were breathtaking. Blue waters with the snow covered mountains behind, and a clouded sky providing texture to the painting... There were also lots of alpine houses overlooking the lake. And right in front of my hotel and between the lake, there was a golf course. It was such an impressive walk, and I was already loving the weekend 😊.

View from my hotel room

The hotel was small and average but its location was amazing. Also apparently the German queen had once stayed there and hence the name. I initially got a lake view room on the second floor where you could see both the lake and the Alps beyond. But it wasn’t ready in the morning, so I got a room with a different view, which wasn't too bad either. Surprisingly, they did not ask for any ID for the room, just gave me the key. Thats something I haven’t experienced for a long time. The hotel felt a bit rusty and old. But it had nice rooms and very comfortable eating and sitting places. I wish I had got some time to spend in and around the hotel too.

Starnberg See

Very quickly, we got ready for the wedding and left for La Villa. I wore a sari and was surprised by the number of Germans in the hotel who knew what a sari was and complimented it on 😊. As expected, there were no Ubers here and I had to call a cab. The drive along the lake to the wedding venue was lovely, and I spotted lot of luxurious holiday homes on the water. And the wedding was of course spectacular.

Wedding venue

It was at a wedding venue called La Villa in the village of Pocking, located right on the lake. It had a nice villa, a beautiful boathouse on the water, an outdoor place for the wedding ceremony and an indoor area - the Orangerie - for dinner.

Wedding venue

The wedding ceremony next to the lake was very romantic and the fact it did not rain at all was very lucky! The wind, the sun and the clouds were playing games all through the ceremony. And the background was charming, with green in all shades, the crystal blue of the lake, the snow covered mountains beyond and people sailing in the middle 😊.

Wedding setting

The evening dinner was heavenly especially when at night, the full moon came out which was reflecting on the lake. There were also fireworks from a boat on the lake which was very enchanting. The wedding was very enjoyable but don’t think we need the details for this travel blog:). All in all, it was a day spent at a beautiful location, and being part of a special day for a friend.

Golf course next to the lake and Alps

I spent the next day exploring the area around the lake. I walked from La Villa all the way till the village I was staying in, Feldafing. The whole path was next to the lake and full of people down there enjoying a nice day out in the sun. Some were fishing, some boating, some diving, some sailing in the lake and some just picnicking on the shore. It didn’t feel touristy at all, I think it was a place where locals came from Munich just to spend their weekends and not many tourists would know about this place.

View on the walk

The walk was beautiful too, walking through tree covered pathways with majestic views across the lake. It was all full of striking green everywhere - bright fluorescent green for the new leaves, dark green for the old and dark red for some! There were a couple of villages I passed through as well as a local palace. The whole walk was about 5 kms along the lake and very peaceful.

View on the walk

While on the trail, I realised I did not have enough cash on me, and decided to go and find an ATM. I asked a few people on the way but they did not know English well. So I just thought of walking to the next village station looking for cash but that turned out to be the wrong call. There were so few ATMs around that it ended up being a very long route just to get some money 😏.

Pier on the lake

I took a turn to go to the station in Possenhofen village but there was no ATM at the station, the nearest ATM was a further 15 mins ahead. So I stopped for lunch in the Museum Kaiserin Elisabeth cafe at the station. And then it started raining a bit. Anyways I walked in the rain through the random village to get the to ATM and this village did not feel picturesque at all. So all of Europe is not a picture perfect postcard it turns out 😜. But thankfully I got to the ATM and some cash to pay for the taxi to the station. But my adventure wasn't finished yet. While walking back to the wedding venue, I got stuck in pouring rain, and a very bad rainfall at that! Anyways I took shelter under some trees but finally had to walk back in the rain to the venue.

View of the lake at Starnberg

I took a cab from there to the Starnberg train station, to then take a train to Munich and the airport. The view at Starnberg station was so captivating that I decided to let the next train go and just spend time there next to the lake. Right next to the station was the lake and the place for ferry launches. It was looking so enchanting, especially right after the rains when the sunlight was coming out and the dark clouds added a lot of colour to the picture perfect view. I just sat there enjoying the beauty and calm of the place for some time. It was a view I could have stayed with for some time.

Anyways thanks to a great train system, I was still in time to make it to the Munich airport on time. On the train, I was in hearing distance of some American ladies who had travelled to Germany and were raving about how pretty the place was. It made for some interesting observations to listen to.

And again it turns out that the Munich airport is constantly undergoing change. The checkin time is now 45 mins before the flight rather than 20 mins that was the norm earlier. I was so worried I would miss my flight but somehow made it in time. And I was back in London soon.

The weekend was so short but felt so very refreshing, it was wonderful. And it was also one of those trips which make me feel that I should once stay in mainland Europe for a couple of years. Being so close to the Alps, skiing and trekking would definitely be a different experience.

Weekend of relaxing in Sun City

My first weekend in South Africa was spent in the resort town of Sun City with a wildlife safari added to it in the neighbouring Pilanesberg Game Reserve. It was a nice relaxing weekend, involving chilling in the pool, exploring the Sun City activities, enjoying the spa plus an early morning safari to give it the 'nature' touch. It wasn't anything extraordinary but a fun and convenient weekend getaway close to Johannesburg, definitely a great option if you have a weekend free when you don't want to stretch yourself too much.


I had heard about Sun City even during my last trip to SA in 2013, but hadn't managed to go there then. But this time it finally happened😃. What helped a lot was that it was an easy trip to plan - all you need to do is book the hotel and there is nothing else left to do. There are enough activities to do once you are there, that you do not need to worry about pre-booking or researching anything beforehand.

We left for Sun City lazily around 10 am, and were there within two hours. The drive was mostly on a highway, with only the last 30 or so kms requiring you to get off the main highway. We crossed Pretoria in the beginning and there were no other towns or cities on the way. It was overall quite a boring drive, with nothing interesting to see on the sides.

Most of the area was bare, or just full of vegetation in all hues of yellow (given the ongoing drought in South Africa). Also, unlike some other parts of Africa I have driven in (Kenya and Tanzania), there is no likelihood of spotting wild animals in South Africa anymore. I was almost expecting to see a few zebras and giraffes roaming around freely but saw nothing at all.

I was impressed with the whole transport infrastructure though. Everywhere we encountered good quality well maintained roads, perfect signage and an enjoyable driving experience. It did not feel like I was in Africa (or at least like the perception we all have of Africa!). Also another amazing thing I had never experienced till now was that on single lane roads, the cars ahead of you would always give way when they saw a fast approaching car from behind. The drivers do it themselves, without you honking the horn, even when you are far. It was such a weird thing for me to see, given I have mostly driven in India. I cannot tell you how excited I was when I got to drive like this!

Along the highway, there wasn't much habitation around. Except just outside Johannesburg, where we passed a couple of not-so-rich neighbourhoods and it struck me again what a mirage of development, the cities of South Africa are. Also, once we got off the highway, for the last 30 kms or so, we did see some settlements or townships on the road which made us aware again, that South Africa is a country of many poor, even if the cities and the infrastructure do not portray that truth. All these settlements had lots of small huts close to each other, all covered with tin sheets. And seeing the quality of these accommodation, one can clearly sense that this is where all the poor (and always black) people would be staying. Later I realised, a lot of the workers in Sun City also stay in these townships near the Resort.

And then you reach Sun City, a different world altogether. Sun City is a completely artificially built resort town located in a beautiful green valley, with its own lake and other amenities. It is literally a city by itself - with its own entrance gate, local metro and bus system, and so on. There are many different entertainment and residential options here to keep people entertained for long.

Palace of the Lost City

There are 4 main hotels in the City - Palace of the Lost City (built in the form of a palace), Cascades Hotel, Sun City Hotel & Casino (the first of the Sun hotels), and The Cabanas (in order of decreasing luxuriousness). Other than these four, there are a couple of residential complexes called Cabanas Club and Vacation Club, where locals have bought holiday homes. All these hotels are purely for relaxation and entertainment. And there is a feeling of luxury and opulence, which is difficult to describe - its all in the air when you enter them. They all have the typical shopping options, spas, golf courses, casinos, restaurants and pool complexes to keep guests busy and entertained, as well as other physical activities like a walk in the bird aviary in the Cascades hotel, tropical forest walk, zip lining, water activities in the local lake (Water World) and so on.

Additional to these, there is the Maze and the Valley of Waves which are pretty popular. And of course, if you love nature, you can go for a safari to the neighbouring Pilanesberg Game Reserve. The focus of Sun City is to provide you a variety of activities to keep you entertained, and it does that pretty well.

View from Cascades Hotel

We stayed at the Cascades Hotel, which was a typical hotel with a panoramic view of the valley and lake behind. It was so pretty that you could sit there for hours, just admiring the greenery all around. We decided not to do that though😉. The first day, we focused on enjoying the activities in the resort and the second day was spent on safari. And I can't overstress the conveniences of the resort at all - it was so easy to book everything, and it was all within 10 mins walking from each other😃.

View from the Raj, Sun City

Once we checked into our hotel, after admiring the view, the next thing we did was go looking for food. There were many options nearby, but since I hadn't had Indian for quite some time, we went to an Indian Restaurant call Raj in the neighbouring Sun hotel. We had a yum heavy and lazy lunch in the shadow of red and white flowers. And the sun felt soooo good, we could have stayed there for hours. Also, discovering Raj was a boon for my stay in SA - it turned out to be a chain restaurant and I ate in 2 others during my stay there - in Sandton and then in Cape Town. And my parents also ate in the Raj in MonteCasino and Gold Reef City near Apartheid Museum, both in Johannesburg. So it very soon became our local hangout across the country 😃.

By this time, we were already in the idyllic mood of the resort, which continued for the rest of the day also. After lunch, we first went to the Maze. It was an artificial maze created for tourists to get lost and then figure the way out. And at the end of the Maze, you reach a pub with a view of the Maze from the top. It was a lot of effort to get through it in the heat (it was 30+ degrees), and it turned out to be not that great or tough an activity either. Definitely a miss.

Valley of Waves

After the Maze, we went to the Valley of Waves. The walk up was grand, with animals sculpted on both sides and a impressive walkway built all the way. And the activity looked like a fun thing to do too except there were just TOO many people! It looked like half the city was there, so we decided to give it a miss and just thought of going to the Cabanas pool as our Cascades Hotel pool was being renovated.

Even though it was a 10-15 mins walk to cabanas, it did not turn out to be as easy. We got onto the wrong bus and then another wrong one, so we got a free half an hour drive around the whole resort😃. We did realise though how huge the whole complex was, and spotted a couple of peacocks around the Vacation Club area.

First view of wildlife in Cabanas Pool

Anyways in the end, we reached the Cabanas pool and chilled there for some time. And then went for a walk in the "tropical forest walk" behind our Cascades hotel. We also saw some baboons randomly walking around the hotel but smartly stayed away from them. And then we reached the aviary which turned out be actually very good - there were loads of birds of different varieties kept inside, and you can walk in and see them up close. We were too late by then though, and just observed some of them from the outside.

Since we had to go for a safari early in the morning at 5 am, we called it a day soon after, had a quick buffet dinner at the Peninsula restaurant in Cascades and slept off early.

Pilanesberg Game Reserve

Pilanesberg is the neighbouring Game Reserve to Sun City. It shares its boundary with the resort and hence provides another convenient option for entertainment. You can easily drive your car and do a self-drive safari if you want. We however took the official morning safari, which runs for about 3 hours and the guide drives you in a huge open safari vehicle, helping you spot animals more easily. Booking the safari is also easy - you just need to turn up at the entertainment centre and they take care of the rest.

This Game Reserve is built around an old crater. And the whole area is quite hilly and yellow, with dried out vegetation everywhere. There are a couple of water bodies also but we did not see many animals near them.

Pilanesberg Game Reserve

Our safari started at 5am and we had a well informed guide who shared a lot of information with us about the animals and Pilanesberg. She started the day with a gem which I loved - "All big animals eat grass and are vegetarians except cats and dogs". I found it quite insightful and wondered why I had never thought of it till now😄.

Warthog

I would rate our safari as an ok one, nothing extraordinary but nothing boring either. We saw lots of rhinos, one lone elephant eating leaves, standing on top of a hill, a hippo out of water, a giraffe, two warthogs, few zebras, wildebeests, a couple of baboons, langurs, some kudus, many herds of impalas, two red hartebeests running away from us and a Tsessebe. Actually now it doesn't seem as less as I felt on the safari. I was so excited seeing the animals and observing them, it was if I was on a safari for the first time😃. And I learnt something more about all the animals too from our guide.

Baboons: We started our safari with seeing a group of baboons sitting on a dam wall. Apparently they sleep there everyday as its easier to jump into the water and run away from leopards if they attack the baboons when they are sleeping. It is interesting to see how man-made things can modify animal behaviour!!

Black rhino

Rhinos: We saw loads of rhinos in our 3 hours, at least 10-15 of them in about 6-7 spottings. To the point, that by the end, we even stopped stopping to observe them even!! (While in my last Africa trip to Kenya and Tanzania, we had spent 5 days of safaris, and not seen a single rhino).

Two white rhinos

Most of the rhinos we saw were white rhinos hanging out together in groups of twos, and only one black rhino walking around alone. Apparently you can distinguish black and white rhinos from afar as you will be able to see the black rhino's face as they eat leaves from the top of bushes. And white rhinos, eat grass from the ground and you rarely see their face. The rhinos can't see well at all, only their hearing is good. That is why when they get upset and try to run away from humans and predators, they end up running directly into them, as if charging at them. And also, sometimes the black rhinos end up chasing the white rhinos (or vice versa) even though they cannot mate with each other 😀. (You learn so much more about the animals every time you go on safaris)

Male rhinos generally stay solitary, while the mother and child stay together for a couple of years. Most of the rhinos we spotted in twos were a mother with her calf, except the first one who were of the same age. So it could have been that their mothers were poached, and they joined forces and started hanging out together. Apparently, one rhino is killed every 8 mins in the world. And if it continues like this, they will be finished within 8 years. The situation seems very critical now, and when I asked our guide how many rhinos there were in the park, she said they are not allowed to say that for the same reason.

Elephant: Our Big Five sighting in this safari was quite sad. Other than tons of rhinos, all we saw was one lone male elephant eating leaves from a tree up on a hill. It was a male who had left the herd and was roaming around alone. Apparently, elephants cannot climb mountains except in Pilanesberg where they have learnt to, for food and because it is 3 degrees warmer up the crater rather than inside! Ongoing and continuous animal evolution, eh?

Hippos in water

Hippo: We saw a Hippo outside water - he must have got out during the night to eat and was just now getting back into the water as the sun was about to come out soon and their sensitive skin gets spoilt in the sun😀 . Apparently hippos can walk underwater too.

A dazzle of zebra

Zebras: A group of Zebras is called dazzle - as they dazzle their predators who cannot make out the individual zebras when the herd runs together. This can confuse the zebras' predators when they try to hunt them.

Blue wildebeest

Blue Wildebeest: Wildebeests and zebras are the animals who are famous for their migration, but the wildebeests in Pilanesberg have stopped migrating as they can get enough food here even in the low season😃.

Tsessebe

Tsessebe: They are the fastest antelopes in the world and can run up to a speed of 80 kmph. Apparently none of the other predators can catch it, and only lions are able to hunt it.

Langurs on guard

Langurs: We saw a couple of Langurs sitting on top of a tree and keeping guard while their friends were eating on the ground. And then soon they would have swapped, the ones whose breakfast was done would get onto the top of trees to keep a watch around and the rest would eat.

At the end of the safari, we stopped at a water body where we saw nothing and then it was time to go back. We also saw some people take a balloon ride within the park. Am not sure if you see more animals that way, but who knows?

Balloon ride

After we were back from the safari, the sun was up again, and we did not have any energy left to do anything else. So we went into the spa and spent a couple of hours there, relaxing and getting all kinds of stuff done at rates half of what it is in London. We had yummy lunch again at the Raj and then it was time to drive back.

It took us the same two hours to drive back and the drive was non-eventful. We saw a couple of beautiful views of the sunset while driving back which made the drive more enjoyable than when we were driving there. And this was the start of my African travels😃.

I would rate Sun City as a must-do if you are in Joburg and not doing anything. Its definitely a great place to spend a weekend, if nothing else, then getting a lot of sun and Vitamin D😀.