After arriving in Munchen and depositing my luggage, this picture was taken opposite the Arabella Sheraton, on the first day of landing there. Me and Stefan (More about Stefan later..) went around Munchen in his dingy Ford Escort***, during the day. Stefan was as much new to Munchen as me (except ofcourse for the language, Danke Herr Stefan!).
Germany is famous for its auto-bahns. These are roadways, in which you can generally ride at a high speed. Speed limits are around 120 Km/h in the areas around Munchen, and increase as you go out. Stefan sets his own limit at 160, at which speed you suddenly get an inspiration to pray to god :)) This is a picture of an autobahn leading to Stuttgart, Austria.
This is a picture of Herr Stefan driving with a vengeance! Stefan had come down to India for his apprenticeship, and I had guided him for the term. We became pals outright, both of us with travel bugs. Stefan loves dancing, travelling to exotic places, making friends, and beer. He tries to stop his growing tummy (Big Fat German Boy) but is not succeeding much ;)!. He plays the guitar and the organ in a music band in Bavaria too.
Munchen has a lot of streets named after famous scientists of yester years. This is a sign leading to Max-Planck Strasse.
This picture shows the Walking man, in all his splendour. The walking man was made by an American architect, and is in front of an insurance company in Leopold Strasse. It is quite tall (17 m), and white. As you move along the trees before the building, you can see several views of the sculpture.
This was taken somewhere close to the Residenz Palace where we got lost. This was the residence of former Bavarian aristocrats. It has a good museum, and a LOT of sculptures. From what I have seen around, Munchen is full of really great sculptures.
With Stefan, again somewhere close to the Residenz Palace in Maximilian street. Later we went walking around the English Garden, which is a big green garden, full of fairy-tale streams, swans, fields, tall trees, a Japanese tea house, a Chinese tower, and a big beer-garden, where people drink beer sitting in the sun, and listening to an orchestra playing inside the Chinese tower. Bavarians drink a lot of beer!
Talking of beer, Stefan shows off his skills in drinking! Compare the size of the beer mug with what usually people have..Stefan can drink two or even three of this! This was taken at the beer garden. And Bavaria is famous for its sweet mustard, taken along with white sausage..
Update:
This is a later pic of Stefan, enjoying life in a sunday afternoon music party. With cute dog. [Stefan wishes all Indian girls will like this pic :D]..
This is the Nymphenburg palace, which was the home for King Ludwig and his family. What most impressed me was ofcourse the Gallery of paintings of the most beautiful women of King Ludwig's time. Impressive! Also had a look at the size of the bed in King Ferdinand's room, after which I came to know how a "king-size bed" came into being!
Munchen is a rich city. And costly too. With the headquarters of BMW here, what else can you expect? The BMW Museum as its headquarters is called, would look like four ovals from the top, which is marvellous, but (some people) dont like it...Munchen is full of Mercs and BMWs. Here is the picture of a Merc at an unusual angle, which is because I took it from inside Stefan's car at a signal!
Ok, onto some serious stuff. At the AES conference, I also met Juergen Herre, who is well known in the audio compression field. He was the chairman of one of the sessions. Here he could be seen getting down the Podium. Unfortunately the camera shook, so it turned out to be a picture of what I call "Herre in motion"!
I also met David Zaucha, one of my colleagues from Dallas. He had come with his wife. This picture was taken at the "China Restaurant" behind the Arabella Sheraton. We had Peking Duck with chop-sticks, and mango salad for dessert. Mouth watering dishes!
With that, I said Auf wiedersehen (spelt approximately as "au veedhaa seen") to Munchen! There are atleast 3 palaces which I missed, along with the snow. Well, there's always a next time!
*** Ford Escort Update
The registration number of Stefan's car is WUG H272. Stefan claims that WUG stands for Wild Und Genius. And I can believe him :)
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