Waking Up
I got up later than I would have liked, around 10:30am. I took a quick shower and got my bags ready to go. Checking out of the hotel was quick and I was on my way to find a coffee shop to start off the day.
Bike Ride
On the way to the hotel from dinner the night before, I passed a couple of bike rental places. I figured renting a bike for a couple of hours would be a great way to star the day. I stopped at a bike rental place called Mike's Bike Tours. A friend tipped me off about this firm sometime ago, he used them when visiting Amsterdam. For a very reasonable 7 euro (9 USD) I had a bike and a map of the city. The guys in the office were extremely cool and offered good advice on what to see in the limited amount of time I had to bike around. I ended up covering a good portion of the city in an hour. I also got to cycle through Englischer Gartern, which is one of the largest urban parks in the world (bigger than New York's central park). I had mixed feelings about Munich. There didn't appear to be much nightlife near the town square and everything appeared to shut down early. Being on the bike though my opinion quickly started to change. The city is very bicycle friendly and there is a lot to see while bicycling.
BMW Welt
While I had been outside BMW Welt the night before, I had hoped to tour inside the structure and either tour the BMW museum and/or take a factory tour. My first preference would be the factory tour. As I was told though, those openings are few and far between. The slots are reserved for people taking delivery of their car. I'm not sure if that's entirely true though, I think it is possible to get tickets months in advance. In any case, there were only 2 English tour options and they both were filled for the day. I inquired about doing a German tour just to see inside the plant, but was refused. I inquired about joining the next day, considering spending an extra day in Munich, but that day was booked as well. The lady explained I could arrive the next day at a specific time with a 50/50 chance of entering. As I talked to other employees, they seriously doubted those odds. I'd also learn the BMW museum was closed on Mondays! D'oh! I guess if I ever come back to Munich there are a couple of things I still have yet to do. Walking around the BMW Welt facility was pretty cool. The inside is very modern and there is a lot to see. The building opens up to a park that connects over to Olympia Park.
Olympia Park
I had stopped by the Olympic Village the night before, just to get an idea of what the area looked like. Today I would walk around the park in general. The structure covering the former Olympic buildings is very distinct. Some of the Olympic structures look like metallic circus tents. The tower, Olympiaturm, is reminiscent of Seattle's Space Needle but larger by about 80 feet. I took a trip up to the top to view the city from up high. At the top is a restaurant and a Rock and Roll museum - I passed on visiting both. Much like the Space Needle and the Burj Khalifa, the observation deck opens to the outside.
Getting to Nuremberg, Checking In
The drive to Nuremberg was right under 2 hours and fairly uneventful. I had wanted to get a feel for the town before booking lodging, so my first stop was a coffee shop. I found a Starbucks and started evaluating my options for lodging. Most of the hotels around the town center were around $120 USD. However, there was one option called Hotel Continental that was right around $40. The hotel offered a private room (sometimes hostels get mixed into the results) but had a communal toilet and shower. Breakfast was included, and some of the reviews actually said it was pretty good. Since I was only planning on spending a night in Nuremberg and was going to be up early, this seemed like a good option. The only possible negative was the noise from the clubs and casinos below. Since this was a Monday I was willing to take a gamble that the nightclubs wouldn't be very active. The gamble paid off, because the street was fairly quiet the entire night.
It took me a bit of time to find parking. The parking sign was a bit confusing. Either street parking as permissible without permit between 10pm until 2pm, or a permit was required during this time frame. Since there weren't any other obvious parking options I figured I could take the chance. I was fairly certain the permit was only required during the day. I didn't wake up to a ticket, so I imagine I was compliant.
The hotel room wasn't bad. Since the room had a sink I really wasn't inconvenienced much by the shared bathroom. The room was small, but not any smaller than the room I had in Austria.
Walking Around Town
Before calling it a night I decided to walk around town. Since I was only going to be in Nuremberg one night this would be my only chance to see the city at night. Although it didn't rain, there was cloud cover that provided a very distinct blue color to the sky. The town was very pretty. There are a couple of main long streets with many shops on both sides. There's a huge Cathedral in the middle of one. There are a number of streets that connect the two main long streets, which also have shops and hotels. The street my hotel was off of would be the sketchiest one, but it was a short street surrounded by upscale shops. Before turning in I stopped to get some dinner at a hamburger specialty restaurant. The food was okay, but the mojito I got was fantastic. I chatted with the staff a bit about what to do - the manager suggested since it was a Monday the town was dead. He pointed me to a place that was supposed to have live Jazz music and the closest thing to a crowd I'd find in town, but I never did find the place. Eventually I settled up at an Irish pub, had a single beer, and went back to the hotel. Before turning into the hotel I stopped by one of the Casinos on the street. Much to my chagrin, the tiny Casino only offered electronic games such as slots. I didn't hang around the Casino very long before heading back to the hotel.
Tomorrow
I had a lot to do in Nuremberg, so I had to be up early. Breakfast cut off time was 9:30, so I expected to be up by 8:45 or so to start the day and enjoy breakfast.
I got up later than I would have liked, around 10:30am. I took a quick shower and got my bags ready to go. Checking out of the hotel was quick and I was on my way to find a coffee shop to start off the day.
Bike Ride
On the way to the hotel from dinner the night before, I passed a couple of bike rental places. I figured renting a bike for a couple of hours would be a great way to star the day. I stopped at a bike rental place called Mike's Bike Tours. A friend tipped me off about this firm sometime ago, he used them when visiting Amsterdam. For a very reasonable 7 euro (9 USD) I had a bike and a map of the city. The guys in the office were extremely cool and offered good advice on what to see in the limited amount of time I had to bike around. I ended up covering a good portion of the city in an hour. I also got to cycle through Englischer Gartern, which is one of the largest urban parks in the world (bigger than New York's central park). I had mixed feelings about Munich. There didn't appear to be much nightlife near the town square and everything appeared to shut down early. Being on the bike though my opinion quickly started to change. The city is very bicycle friendly and there is a lot to see while bicycling.
Tunnel under roads
While I had been outside BMW Welt the night before, I had hoped to tour inside the structure and either tour the BMW museum and/or take a factory tour. My first preference would be the factory tour. As I was told though, those openings are few and far between. The slots are reserved for people taking delivery of their car. I'm not sure if that's entirely true though, I think it is possible to get tickets months in advance. In any case, there were only 2 English tour options and they both were filled for the day. I inquired about doing a German tour just to see inside the plant, but was refused. I inquired about joining the next day, considering spending an extra day in Munich, but that day was booked as well. The lady explained I could arrive the next day at a specific time with a 50/50 chance of entering. As I talked to other employees, they seriously doubted those odds. I'd also learn the BMW museum was closed on Mondays! D'oh! I guess if I ever come back to Munich there are a couple of things I still have yet to do. Walking around the BMW Welt facility was pretty cool. The inside is very modern and there is a lot to see. The building opens up to a park that connects over to Olympia Park.
Outside BMW Welt the night before
Me on the BMW Welt walkway
Inside BMW Welt
BMW Campus. Bowl is the BMW Museum
I had stopped by the Olympic Village the night before, just to get an idea of what the area looked like. Today I would walk around the park in general. The structure covering the former Olympic buildings is very distinct. Some of the Olympic structures look like metallic circus tents. The tower, Olympiaturm, is reminiscent of Seattle's Space Needle but larger by about 80 feet. I took a trip up to the top to view the city from up high. At the top is a restaurant and a Rock and Roll museum - I passed on visiting both. Much like the Space Needle and the Burj Khalifa, the observation deck opens to the outside.
Olympia Park
Olympic Village viewed from Olympiaturm
Expansive parks cover the area - note this is not a golf course
At the top of Olympiaturm
The drive to Nuremberg was right under 2 hours and fairly uneventful. I had wanted to get a feel for the town before booking lodging, so my first stop was a coffee shop. I found a Starbucks and started evaluating my options for lodging. Most of the hotels around the town center were around $120 USD. However, there was one option called Hotel Continental that was right around $40. The hotel offered a private room (sometimes hostels get mixed into the results) but had a communal toilet and shower. Breakfast was included, and some of the reviews actually said it was pretty good. Since I was only planning on spending a night in Nuremberg and was going to be up early, this seemed like a good option. The only possible negative was the noise from the clubs and casinos below. Since this was a Monday I was willing to take a gamble that the nightclubs wouldn't be very active. The gamble paid off, because the street was fairly quiet the entire night.
It took me a bit of time to find parking. The parking sign was a bit confusing. Either street parking as permissible without permit between 10pm until 2pm, or a permit was required during this time frame. Since there weren't any other obvious parking options I figured I could take the chance. I was fairly certain the permit was only required during the day. I didn't wake up to a ticket, so I imagine I was compliant.
The hotel room wasn't bad. Since the room had a sink I really wasn't inconvenienced much by the shared bathroom. The room was small, but not any smaller than the room I had in Austria.
Hotel from outside, simple room inside
Before calling it a night I decided to walk around town. Since I was only going to be in Nuremberg one night this would be my only chance to see the city at night. Although it didn't rain, there was cloud cover that provided a very distinct blue color to the sky. The town was very pretty. There are a couple of main long streets with many shops on both sides. There's a huge Cathedral in the middle of one. There are a number of streets that connect the two main long streets, which also have shops and hotels. The street my hotel was off of would be the sketchiest one, but it was a short street surrounded by upscale shops. Before turning in I stopped to get some dinner at a hamburger specialty restaurant. The food was okay, but the mojito I got was fantastic. I chatted with the staff a bit about what to do - the manager suggested since it was a Monday the town was dead. He pointed me to a place that was supposed to have live Jazz music and the closest thing to a crowd I'd find in town, but I never did find the place. Eventually I settled up at an Irish pub, had a single beer, and went back to the hotel. Before turning into the hotel I stopped by one of the Casinos on the street. Much to my chagrin, the tiny Casino only offered electronic games such as slots. I didn't hang around the Casino very long before heading back to the hotel.
Outside a restaurant
Restaurant
Train Station
Downtown
Tomorrow
I had a lot to do in Nuremberg, so I had to be up early. Breakfast cut off time was 9:30, so I expected to be up by 8:45 or so to start the day and enjoy breakfast.
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