German autobahn, Christmas and BMWs everywhere! These are some of the things that made up my trip to Munich. Munich is the capital of Bavaria and is one of the largest cities in Germany. This was the first time I visited Germany, and I expected it to be tremendously cold. But I was surprised to find that Munich was warmer than Madrid.
First highlight of my trip to Munich was when my friend was driving me out of the airport and said, “Welcome to the German autobahn.” German autobahns are the motorways where there are no speed limits. However, that was not the day when I got to enjoy the limitlessness of a German autobahn. It was the last day of my stay in Munich. But more on that later.
My first day in Munich was Christmas with my friend’s family. If you read the last instalment of “Hungry Traveller”, you know how awesome that was. I had a wonderful Christmas Eve. And on Christmas, my friend and I went out to walk around the city and just explore. Almost everything was closed, including restaurants. However, we were surprised to find a nice little restaurant in the middle of Munich. The entire menu of the restaurant was filled with dishes that contained pork. But then, I came across the last item on the menu, Bavarian filet of ox with risotto and balsamic juice. It sounded absolutely unlike anything I have had before. I just went ahead and ordered it!
When my dish arrived, I received a pleasant surprise. It looked colourful and appetising. I love beef, and an ox-meat dish was just perfect. The flavours were not too strong, but just right. The next day for lunch, my friend and I ordered it again! However, at night, we were craving junk food, so we ended up at the KFC and bought a whole bucket of chicken wings.
On my last day in Munich, my friend drove me to the BMW Museum. That was magical, but both my camera batteries died. The museum contains BMW engines, cars, motorcycles and a Rolls-Royce car exhibition as well. I have admired BMWs since childhood. I remember, there was a BMW showroom in Dhaka between my home and school. Staring at that showroom would be the highlight of my journey to and from school. Being in the BMW Museum felt like being in car heaven! There were old models and futuristic concept models. I guess the highlight of the museum for me was the BMW i8 Concept Vision. This car was used in “Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol”. It was a piece of art and an absolute treat for the eyes.
At the same day as my BMW Museum visit, I came upon another amazing opportunity, thanks to my friend. There is a programme by BMW in Germany, where you can rent and share a car. They are usually parked at public parking spaces and one can rent them through a card with a chip. This card has the information of the driver and allows someone to rent the car for a very small fee per minute. My friend found a BMW parked in the parking lot of his university and we decided to take it for a ride. We became very adventurous with that on the German autobahn. My friend did not drive that BMW, but rather flew it! Now that I am back in Madrid, everything seems unfairly slow. So… take the word of the hungry traveller, add flying on the German autobahn to your bucket-list.
Shariqa Habib is a student of Political Science and Communication at Saint Louis University Madrid. When she is not studying or sleeping, she likes to travel and eat anything and everything! She can be reached at habibshariqa@gmail.com