Munich: The English Garden & the Hirschau
Munich has got no sea access and no direct lake access, so what else can be done if not swimming? Well I have had my thoughts that life in Munich can be boring sometimes, but this is definitely not the case. After partying the whole night in the different nightclubs of Munich, we were of course still tired and looking forward to relax. So what to do in such case: Grab your Ray Ban sun glasses, get on a light, comfortable and most important casual look (you never know who you will meet in Munich) and get on the city bike – preferable with a bottle of Ruinart in the back… No it would be better to skip the last part unless you want to end up like a few hours ago.
Driving along wonderful lanes under old trees passing by sunbathing citizens we drove through the first part of the English Garden until we took a bridge to get to the other, much bigger part of this vast city oasis. From there we could spot even more people enjoying the beautiful hot weather lying on the grass and just relaxing. Oh… there are worse ways to celebrate such day. After nearly 20 minutes on the bike (our starting point was the quarter Haidhausen) we reached the restaurant Hirschau. I don’t know any other huge city where people head to a beer garden to meet and cool down. It seems to be the most normal thing here in Bavaria. People use the good weather and hide under high trees and sun umbrellas to escape the hot temperatures – of course a cold beer is something not to be missed.
At the Hirschau there are two types to choose from: either having seat in the restaurant area with service or in the real original beer garden, where you can choose between self-service from the buffet or you also have the possibility to bring your own products from home and take a seat in the beer garden as well – I was first sceptic about this as the owners of the beer garden don’t profit from this. After driving with the bike (it was already exhausting enough ;-) ), we chose to sit in the restaurant area with service, situated one meter above the vast beer garden and therefore offering a view over the relaxed hustle and bustle.
The menu is excellent, they have everything the Bavarian cuisine has to offer and in addition they also have the best steaks – from my point of view the best by taste. There is nothing better than a white beer with lemonade – called “Russe” meaning Russian, a “Brezen” with typical cheese-mix spread (called “Obazter”) and afterwards a fish from the fish stand or a “Schweinsbraten” with dumplings à la Hirschau. You might believe that this day was not the worst in my life… honestly it was one of the most wonderful days I have spent. Overwhelmed by the warm and personal service and the excellent quality of the food, we were just sitting for 1 hour for people spotting. My colleague and good friend Lukas informed me about the very different types of people going to a beer garden – men with suits, families just for visiting the children playground, as well as people in a very homey outfit – looking like just stepped out of bed.
Before we returned to our accommodation, the Hotel The Charles, we visited the Eiskanal – the place where the people surf on a small and narrow river. It was a wonderful day in a wonderful city. A very special thanks!
