Olympic Park Munich and other attractions

Day Two in Munich was a planned trip to the Olympic Park followed by an unplanned exploration of other semi-random parts of Munich.

The Olympic Park won me over instantly and completely. The park is very parky with lots of greenery and water, and the Olympic bit is very Olympic.

I recalled the futuristic roof of the main stadium but did not realise that the metal structure wormed its way across the park covering other buildings as it did so.

The construction is fascinating and I just wanted to follow it as it swirled along. I took a photograph almost every step. It's just mesmerising.

I had a beer outdoors near the main entrance and just sat and looked at it all.

The building on the left is the swimming pool and I've no idea what the one on the right is but its the building that contains the bar, it's on the far side as we look.

There is a hill in the park, movingly constructed from rubble cleared from the city after the war.

I climbed it to get views of the park and the city. Several other people had the same idea while others were just using the park for jogging, cycling or walking.

There was also a surprising amount of wildlife including a red squirrel and a weasley thing taking a lot of interest in a rabbit much bigger than itself.

From the hill the sweep of the roof become more apparent and even more beautiful.The layout of the park is also revealed and that is beautiful too. It is not unlike Kew Gardens where the large greenhouses provide a similar contrast to the gardens around them.

The speck of lighter blue on the pond is a Mini that looks as though it is skimming across the water. The large BMW building is just off to the right of this picture. Munich is very flat and the few large buildings, such as the BMW one, stand out. The other notable building is the Allianz Arena which stand out despite being some distance away, just like Wembley Stadium does in London.

Climbing down the hill again I went to a restaurant at the base of the tower for a lunchtime snack, and another beer. I thought about going up the tower but 5 euro seemed a lot to see views of a flat city with the interesting buildings far away in the city centre.

After a lunch I walked out of the other side of the park and found a tram to take me back to the centre.

This time I took a more leisurely look at Karlsplatz‎ with its magnificent fountains.

For some reason there is a bank of temporary seating there that faces the main road rather than the gate and the fountain. Looking backwards from there you can see the size of the fountains.

The Government Buildings opposite are attractive but not that attractive and certainly not worth putting seating up for, especially with a busy road in the way.

I walked a little way to the next tram stop, just looking at the buildings along the way, and there I found another pretty fountain.

It was also time to refer to the map to find one last place to see that day. Several trams were available and I took one to Königsplat, not far beyond the railway station.

As with the schloss the day before, the sun was really trying to hide by the time that I got there leaving some buildings in the brightness and others in the dusk that would soon become dark.

The large square has a few grand buildings in the classic style around the edges.

These were surprisingly popular too and there were lots of people sitting on the steps making the most of the fading sun.

They were also watching a tour group on Segways. There were about twenty of them all busying themselves like a pack of rats. There is something so unnatural about the way that a Segway moves that it is compelling watching.

From there it was another tram back to the centre and the accidental discovery of an excellent Vegan restaurant, Max Pett. It was the perfect end to another brilliant day.