Walking down Munich's lanes

MunichBest time to visit All year roundYou need 4 daysKitschy fan art mushy messages rubyred lamps colourful pictures handwritten notes and gaudy ornaments lie beneath the statue of Renaissance composer Orlande de Lassus Candles flicker and the fragrant smell of fresh flowers lingers in the air This is a makeshift shrine to Michael Jackson the King of PopAn offbeat attraction in Munich Birgit the guide tells me how Michael Jackson was a frequent visitor to Munich in the rsquo90s and always stayed at his favourite place mdash the Hotel Bayerisher HofShrine of Michael Jackson outside Hotel Bayerisher Hof where the King of Pop usually put up during his visits to MunichWhen MJ passed away in 2009 his fans converted the space in front of a statue near the hotel into an impromptu shrine I watch a young fan cleaning the space diligently and arranging fresh flowers in vases ldquoOur fan club takes turnsrdquo he tells meWinter time I am in Munich again the last time I was here was in the summer and my afternoons were spent in openair beer gardens strolling about in large public squares and watching passersby while I sipped a cup of coffeeThe public square MarienplatzThis time I am here in the winter when the freezing temperatures and the Christmas markets give the largest city of Bavaria a totally different look The heart of the city is the public square Marienplatz with the ornate Old Town Hall The area used to be called Shannon but was renamed St Maryrsquos Square as a religious gesture to ask the Virgin Mary to protect the town from a cholera epidemic I sit at a cafeacute and watch a parade of street musicians and mimes In the backdrop is a 100yearold clock whose top half depicts the marriage of a Bavarian duke with a French Princess from the 16th century and the bottom half recreates a dance scene to celebrate the end of the Black PlagueA top view of Munich the largest city of German stateMunich has miles of dedicated cycle tracks with their own traffic signals which run parallel to the sidewalks History is etched in every corner of the city Itrsquos only when I pass the three ancient gates mdash Karlstor Sendlinger Tor and Isartor mdash that I realise this city was built inside medieval walls We go to the White Rose Movement a memorial for the Munich University students who resisted the Nazi rule during the war They actively opposed Hitler until the Gestapo infiltrated their operation and executed everyoneHitlerrsquos office We drive past the Munich Conservatoire which rings with the sound of piano music today however it was once Hitlerrsquos office with marble floors stone staircases and heavy wooden doors Birgit points to a small balcony where Hitler would emerge to greet the masses gathered in the square below Munichrsquos regal Maximilianstrasse was designed by Friedrich Buumlrklein and has striking Art Nouveau buildings mdash itrsquos one of Munichrsquos four royal avenues named after a king mdash Maximilian II of Bavaria We have dinner at the Lowenbraukeller Beer hall a Munich institution with its green tower and openair beer garden I love the cosy atmosphere with painted ceilings and enjoy our meal of pretzels with a cheese spread glasses of dark beer braised red cabbage and bread dumplingsHere Hitler used to give his annual Beer Hall memorial speeches during World War II after the original beer hall Buumlrgerbraumlukeller was badly damaged by a bombing that was meant to kill him Today the wooden benches are packed with people as dirndlclad waitresses balance steins of beer mugs on a trayI walk through the Englischer Garten one of the worldrsquos largest urban parks in the cityrsquos Central park with a lake beer gardens and even a Chinese pagoda Locals cycle and lounge around the lawns ldquoThis is the place for nude sunbathing in the summerrdquo says my guide At the Eisbach a twokilometrelong channel branching off the Isar River I stand on a bridge and watch surfers with sunkissed tans Tall and lithe men in wetsuits line the banks waiting for their turn to ride the wavesA surfer glides on the waters of Eisbach a twokilometrelong manmade channel branching off the Isar River PicsKalpana SunderAs the gushing water plumes out of two arches of the bridge I watch fascinated as adrenalinseeking surfers valiantly attempt to cling on to their long boards Sign boards inexperienced river surfers not to attempt the sport mdash rocks and strong currents together make it a very perilous activitySurfers have been coming here since the 1970s when they used to attach ropes to the bridge and use huge planks for boards Often they would be chased by the police as until the year 2010 surfing in the Eisbach was illegalGradually the surfers garnered enough publicity via the Internet and the sport was legalised In August 2012 Munich even hosted the second European River Surfing Championships on an artificial waveModern marvels Munichrsquos architecture is not just time warp It has its share of modern marvels I am impressed by the striking faccedilade of the Brandhorst Museum which is made from 36000coloured ceramic rods fixed vertically and houses more than hundred works of famous pop artist Andy Warhol I visit the swish BMW Museum and the new Welt situated in a sea of green of the Olympia Park built for the Olympics At the spanking new BMW Welt therersquos a huge restaurant a shop selling BMW merchandise and you can even book your car here and drive it outCars on display at the BMW MuseumOver an area of 5000 square metres vehicles themes architecture design and media concepts combine to provide a stellar brand experience I stroll through the museumrsquos lsquoroadsrsquo taking in 25 different topics from the history of the company and aerodynamics to design icons and motorcycle racing I love the Kinetic Sculpture that features 714 aluminum balls hung with almostinvisible fine steel wires each moved by individually computercontrolled motorsI enter the Munich transit system called the Ubahn which has architectural panache Blue pillars peagreen walls and orange signs electrify the mirrored ceilings with fluorescent lighting Koumlnigsplatz station which is in the heart of the Museum quarter displays murals and artworks from the nearby museums and art collections At the U3 Thalkirchen station colourful lifesize murals of giraffes elephants and lions line a ramp that leads to the nearby zoo A fitting tribute to the city that even its stations are temples of artI head back to Marienplatz and watch a brilliant violinist play his heart out to a large crowd When Birgit tells me that most of what I see has been reconstructed after the WWII and that the medieval facades and towers were meticulously recreated I mutter with admiration ldquoOh these Germansrdquo