I’m trying to see more of Munich! I’ve lived here now for 2 years and realised that I often head out of the city to see new things rather than enjoy what’s on offer on my doorstep. So one weekend, a friend and I decided to climb the roof of the Olympic Stadium. Yes - that’s a real thing! Check out this website offering the tours. The Olympic Stadium is in the middle of Munich’s “Olympic Park” and was built as the main location for the Summer Olympics in 1972, holding 80,000 people. Nowadays the capacity has been reduced to 69,000 due to security concerns.
The stadium used to be home to the FC Bayern Munich football team until the Allianz Area was build for the 2006 World Cup. We started our tour with an education film (clearly from the 1980s!) where we learnt about the engineer (Frei Otto) and the architect (Gunther Behnisch) who designed and built this revolutionary tent-style stadium.
Before heading onto the roof, we had to ‘suit up’ in safety harnesses!
Then you climb up a steep track following the arch - pulling your ‘Wally’ (cable and roller) along with you.
This lightweight design is made from acrylic glass and steel cables and meant to echo the style of the Alps - the mountains which you can even see in the distance on a clear day.
Also designed in the same theme is the Olympic Hall (sports and recreational facility), the Olympic Swim Hall, the Olympic Tennis Facility, the Olympic Cycle Centre and the Olympic Tower (“Olympiaturm”).
We were so lucky that it was the only sunny and clear day all week so we could really enjoy the gorgeous views from the top.
The stadium was built in a pit made by the WWII bombings in the city,
Nowadays it mostly hosts open-air concerts, including Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones, Coldplay, Metallica and Tina Turner.
After completing the full arch we decided to head into the Olympic Park for a little wander in the sunshine. The Park was built in an area known as “Oberwiesenfeld” (upper meadow field) and is still used for lots of social and cultural events. This 300-hectare sized park is now a popular work out spot - everywhere there are joggers, cyclists, walkers and boot camps! The Olympic Area of the Park is where the stadium is located, along with the Hall, Hill, Tower and Lake.
The tower is 291m high and weighs 52,500 tonnes. At 190m there is an observation platform and just below a revolving restaurant. I’ll put this on the future list.
We climbed up the Olympic Hill. At 50 metres you get a good view over the park grounds and beyond to the city’s buildings and the Alps in the distance.
Whilst living in Germany, I’m trying to see more of the country. So when a long bank holiday weekend loomed I booked train tickets to Düsseldorf and Cologne. Up first was Düsseldorf. This is the 7th most populated city in Germany and is an international business / financial centre as well as being known for it’s fine arts.
From the main train station it was easy to walk to the ‘Altstadt’ (Old Town). The city is pretty compact and easy to explore by foot. Main tourist highlights… The River Rhine
Walking along the river promenade, is a great way to see Düsseldorf’s skyline
Burgplatz - the central square which was formerly home to a baroque palace which burned down in 1872, all that is left is the tower
Königsalle (the famous shopping street) is often compared to NYC’s 5th avenue and is home to all the major designers and Kö-Brücke
St. Lambertus Basilica on Stiftsplatz - Düsseldorf’s largest church, built in 1206 and famous for it’s twisted spire
Market Square, in front of the City Hall - featuring the status of Elector Jan Welles
Bolkerstrasse, in the heart of the Old Town, is also known as the longer bar in the world - the pedestrian street is lined on both sides with bars and restaurants
Typical souvenirs include mustard, for example from this old fashioned Gewuerzhaus (spice house) where they have the local mustard (ABB) in hand-decorated ceramic jars
“Rheinturm” (Rhine Tower) - get the lift up to the viewing platform for great views over the city.
State Parliament
“Medien Hafen” (media harbour) is an interesting mix of old harbour warehouses and modern architecture
Schloss Jägerhof/Rochuskirche
Carlsplatz - great for their open air farmer’s market (Monday - Saturday)
I love a good market - so wandered here for a while, working up my hunger for breakfast!
I grabbed a fruit pot for later on in the day.
I parked myself outside on the edge of the square at Otto Bittner for a delicious meal.
Heinrich Heine’s house (the German writer and poet born in the city
Glockenspiel (bells)
The city has lots of gorgeous cobble-stoned streets like Hohe Strasse and Bilkstrasse, full of lots of speciality shops, bookstores, galleries and local designers.
I also jumped on a bus to head over to to the other side of the river
Tonhalle (concert hall)
Düsseldorf has a large Japanese community and pays tribute to this with a beautiful Japanese garden and the EKO House - the only Buddhist Temple in Europe.
Of course I needed to sample some ‘local’ food. As it was a sunny day I headed to “yomaro” - drawn by the many (happy) people surrounding it, and treated myself to a deliciously fruit fro-yo
Germans take their beer seriously and so i decided to try the local “Altbier” (old style beer) - Uerige
Unfortunately I wasn’t a fan! But I did like the city overall...wandering around finding different (and occasionally random) things to look at...
After a whirlwind couple of days, I headed onto Düsseldorf’s rival city, Cologne.
