Munich Reunion '17

Yuksek lisansim bittiginden beri her sene Ocak ayinin ucuncu haftasonu orada tanistigim cok yakin 2 arkadasimla Avrupa'nin bir sehrinde bir araya geliyoruz. Bu seneki bulusma noktamiz Munih'ti ve 3 senedir oldugu gibi inanilmaz eglenceli bir long weekend oldu!

Munih Almanya'nin en buyuk 3. sehri, Bavyera eyaletinin ise baskenti. Ocak ayindaki seyahatim icin ben biletimi Pegasus Havayollarindan Kasim basinda yaklasik 140 Euro' ya almistim. THY'de ise biletler 200 Euro civari ama 2.5 saatlik bir yolculuk oldugu icin 60 Euro fazla odemek istememistim acikcasi.

Since I graduated from my Master's Degree, each year we've been arranging a reunion with two of my closest friends in a European city on the third weekend of January. This year our destination was Munich and it was a great long weekend with lots of fun as usual!

Munich is the third biggest city of Germany and the capital of Bavaria State. I booked my ticket from Pegasus Airlines in last November for almost 140 Euros from Istanbul but I guess you can find pretty cheaper tickets from other European cities.

Almanya'ya vardiginizda pasaport kontrolu sirasinda tum evraklarinizi yaninizda tutmanizi oneririm. Benim gittigim gun ayni zamanda Turkiye'de somestre tatilinin basladigi gun oldugu icin cok sayida Turk aile Almanya ve Avusturya'ya kaymaya gidiyorlardi. Sirada beklerken herkese tek tek gelis nedeni, baska bir sehre/ulkeye gidip gitmeyecegi, ne kadar kalacagi, kimlerle seyahat ettigi gibi milyonlarca soru soruldu. Donus biletlerimizi ve nerede kalacagimizi gostermemizi istediler, hatta bu yuzden pasaport kontrolunde en az bir 45 dk bekledim.

Pasaport sirasindan ciktigimda benden 2 saat once havaalanina varan Luksemburglu arkadasimla bulusup birlikte sehir merkezine gectik. Havaalaninin hemen alt katindan sehir merkezine giden tren icin bilet alip yine bir alt kattan trene binebiliyorsunuz. Biz 13 duraklik mesafe icin 11.20 Euro odedik biletlere.

30-35 dakikalik bir tren yolculugundan sonra kalacagimiz Airbnb'yi bulduk ve yerlesip diger arkadasimizi beklemeye basladik. 3 gece icin Airbnb'ye kisi basi 130 Euro odedik (toplamda 390-400 Euro'ya denk geliyor). Bu arada ev bir Turk ailesine aitti ve benim kaldigim odanin duvarinda kocaman bir Galatasaray stickeri vardi. Bir de kalkmis Kibris'a yavru vatan diyoruz, Almanya dururken.

For non-EU passport holders I'd suggest to bring all their documents (like the return ticket itinerary or hotel reservation) to the passport control line as the officers ask for them. So, I should warn you that a pretty long queue is waiting for you. After spending 45 minutes in the line, I met my Luxembourgish friend in the airport who had arrived 2 hours earlier than me and we went downstairs to buy our train tickets to city center. The ticket costs 11.20 Euros for 13 stops and the ride takes about 30- 35 minutes. We did a little walk from train station in the city center to our Airbnb and started to unpack while waiting for our third friend. Our Airbnb belonged to a Turkish family and it was a funny surprise for me to see a huge sticker of Galatasaray Football Team on my room's wall. Anyhow, in case you wonder we paid around 390-400 Euros to our house in total for 3 nights (so it was like 130 per person).

1-2 saat evde dinlendikten sonra otur otur nereye kadar deyip biraz alisveris yapmaya karar verdik. Almanya'da bizim Tekel bayiileri tadinda sadece alkol satan dukkanlar varmis, birine girip yerel biralardan bir selection yapalim dedik ama bu gorev tahminimizden zor cikti. Asagidaki resimde de gorebileceginiz gibi o kadar cok cesit ve marka vardi ki, sonunda saticinin yardimini istedik ve Bavyera'nin en iyi bira evlerinin urunu oldugunu soyledigi 7-8 cesit biramizi alip eve donduk.

After a few hours we decided to go out to do some shopping and found a nice little shop that sells local beers from Bavaria. There were so many different brands and beers as you can see from the below picture that it was quite hard to make a fine selection. However, with the help of our friendly store owner we picked 7-8 different beers from the best breweries of Bavaria and headed back home.

Zurih'ten arabayla gelecek olan ucuncu arkadasimizda aramiza katilinca aksam yemegi icin disari cikmaya hazirdik. Gelmeden 1-2 gun once rezervasyon yaptirmis oldugumuz Spezl Wirtschaft'na gittik. Ben klasik bir Bavyera yemegi oldugunu ogrendigim Kasspatzen yedim (uzerinde citir sogan parcalari olan peynirli makarna/eriste diyebiliriz) ve baya begendim. Yemekten sonra Lehnbachs & Sohne'de birseyler icip evimize donduk.

A little later our other friend who was driving from Zurich arrived home and we were ready to go out for dinner. We went to Spezl Wirtschaft which we booked a table a couple of days ago. I ordered a traditional Bavarian dish called Kasspatzen (noodle with cheese and fried onions) and totally loved it. After dinner we stopped by at Lehnbachs & Sohne for some drinks.

Ertesi gun araba ile 1.5 saatlik mesafede ki Neuschwansstein Kalesini ziyarete gittik. Yolculugumuz boyunca muhtesem bir kar manzarasi, buz tutmus agaclar, kayak yapan Almanlar ve hatta bir nokta da minik bir kizil tilki bize eslik etti. Kesinlikle en keyifli araba yolcuklarimdan biriydi.

On Saturday we made a short road trip for 1.5 hours to visit Neuschwansstein Castle. There was an amazing view with the snow and icey trees and people were skiing next to the road. At one point we even saw a little red fox on the side of highway. I have to say that it was definitely one of the best car rides for me ever.

Kasabaya varip tarihi alana girdiginizde Neuschwanstein ve Hohenschwangau Kalelerini ve muzeyi gezebiliyorsunuz. Ayrica etrafta cafe, restaurant ve hediyelik esya dukkanlari var. Neuschawanstein'i rehber esliginde gezmek isterseniz Almanca veya Ingilizce duzenlenen turlara katilabilirsiniz. Fiyatlar 15 Euro civariydi ve turlar icin en az 1 saat beklemek gerekiyordu. Biz kalenin icini cok merak etmedigimize karar verip bilet almadan kendimiz gezmek istedik. Biletlerin alindigi yerin hemen yanindan bir at arabasina binip Erasmus ve Sophie'den bizi tepedeki kaleye cikarmalarini rica ettik. (Tek yon 6 Euro) At arabasiyla 10 dakika suren bu mesafeyi yuruyerek cikmak isterseniz ise sizi 30 dakikalik dik bir yokus bekliyor.

In the historical town you can visit Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles along with a museum. There are also some cafes, restaurants and souvenir shops around. If you want to enter the castles you can wait for the guided tours that they have both in English and German. The guided tours are around 15 Euros and you have to wait almost for 1 hour. We decided that we don't really want to see inside of the castle and do our own tour by asking Erasmus and Sophie to take us to the top of the hill. The climb with the horse-carriage takes around 10 minutes (one way-6 Euros) but you can also go by walk. I should warn you that the road is a little bit steep and it takes about 30 minutes though.

Tepeye ciktigimizda bizi mukemmel bir manzara bekliyordu, bembeyaz kar, orman ve Disneyland'da ki Uyuyan Guzel Kalesine ilham olan bu kalenin goruntusu gercekten de tam bir Disney masali gibiydi. Ben her ne kadar Istanbullu bunyemle -8 derecelik soguga meydan okuyup kalenin etrafinda biraz yuruyus yapmaya calissamda Iphone 6s'im ayni performansi gosteremedi ve soguktan kapanip calismadi. Kalenin bu muhtesem guzellikteki uzaktan goruntusu arkadasim Alex'e ait bir kare...

Once we reached to the top, we were welcomed with an amazing view. It was like a real-life Disney Story with the amazing scenery of snow covered forest and the castle that was an inspiration to the Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland, the US. Although I could challenge my little Istanbulite body with -8 degrees and managed to walk around the castle, my Iphone 6s couldn't tolerate the cold and shut down. So, credits go to my friend Alex for this beautiful shot of the castle...

2 saatlik bir yuruyusten sonra tarihi alanin icinde bulunan Allgauer Stuberl'te bir seyler yiyip biraz isinmak istedik. Her ne kadar turistik bir restaurant olsa da ben hem ictigim Gulaschsuppe'den hem de fiyatlardan memnun kaldigimi soyleyebilirim, corba ve bira icin yaklasik 10 Euro hesap odedim. Ama o kadar soguktan sonra Gilles ile benim canimız bir sicak salep cekmedi degil.

Cumartesi gunu aksam yemegimizi ise biraz daha sik olan Alter Hof'da yedik. Anladigim kadariyla Bavyera yemekleri genel olarak Cakmaktaslardan cikmis gibi gorunen kocaman kuzu ve domuz etleri ve patatesli garniturlerden olusuyor. Burada da eger tercihiniz et yonunde olursa 18-20 Euro, Schnitzel isterseniz 21.50 Euro gibi bir fiyat oduyorsunuz. Yemekten sonra Schumman's adli bir bara gidip bir iki kokteyl ictik ve 089 adli night club'a ugradik. Oldukca populer bir yer olsa da asiri kalabalik ve yas ortalamasi 18-22 arasinda oldugu icin pek uzun kalmadik.

After 2 hours of hiking we headed to Allgauer Stuberl, which is a restaurant in the historic area to grab a bite and to get a little bit warmer. Despite the fact that it is a touristic restaurant I can say that I was both happy with my Gulaschsuppe and the prices as I only paid 10 Euros for the soup and beer. Still, I should admit that Gilles and I could use a cup of salep after all that cold.

On Saturday evening, we went to a more high-end restaurant called Alter Hof for dinner. As far as I'm concerned, Bavarian cuisine is based on huge lamp and pork dishes which look as if we are in The Flintstones cartoon. So, if you want to eat a meat dish in this restaurant you pay around 18-20 Euros and if you prefer Schnitzel then it's 21.50 Euros. After dinner, we went to a bar called Schumman's and then to 089 night club. However, the night club was too crowded and age average was between 18-22 so we didn't stay there for long.

Pazar gunu biraz Munihi gezelim dedik ama hem -10 derecelerde olan soguk hem de tum dukkan ve cogu cafe'nin kapali olmasi nedeniyle cok basarili bir Munih turu yaptigimizi soyleyemem. Sokaklarda hizlica dolasip bir iki fotograf cekip (ki benim telefonum yine kapanmisti) Oktoberfest'in meshur bira evi Hofbrauhaus'a gittik. Burasi hayatimda gordugum ennn buyuk restaurant diyebilirim ve kesinlikle gitmenizi oneririm. Cok turistik olsa da calinan canli geleneksel muziklerden Breze (pretzel) sepetiyle dolanan calisanlara, kocaman bira bardaklarindan mekanin dekorasyonuna hersey tam bir Bavyera tecrubesiydi. Ben resimde gordugunuz gibi beyaz sosis ve kartofelnknodel yedim. Soylenene gore Almanlar bunlari kahvalti niyetine gomuyormus ama bana bir tane sosis yetti bile, ikincisi kaldi.

On Sunday, we wanted to see the city center and do some sightseeing but I can't really say that we did a very successful tour as it was -10 degrees outside and the majority of the cafes and all shops were closed. After a quick tour on the streets and taking a couple of photos (my phone was off again because of the cold!) we went to the famous brewery house of Oktoberfest, Hofbrauhaus. This was the BIGGEST restaurant I've ever been to in my life and I definitely recommend you to go! Although it's very touristic, it gives a you a full Bavarian experience with their traditional live music, Breze (pretzel) Lady and huge beer glasses. I tried these white sausages with kartofelnknodel. They say that, Germans eat these sausages for their breakfast but I was full with only one of them.

Munih Ikinci Dunya Savasi sonrasinda genel olarak bastan insa edildigi icin mimari olarak cok buyuleyici bir sehir oldugunu soyleyemem. Dolayisiyla benim bu geziden aklimda kalanlar cok uzun suredir gorusmedigim dostlarimla gecirdigim super vakit, dakikalarca suren kahkahalar, masalsi Neuschwanstein Kalesi, yemekler ve biralar oldu.

Bu sehre bir de kesinlikle Oktoberfest zamani gitmek istiyorum!

On my way back to Istanbul on Monday, I thought that Munich was not one the most beautiful cities in Europe but I left the city with very good feelings as I could spent some amazing time with my good friends full of laughter, good food and beer! and the beautiful Neuschwanstein Castle of course!

I definitely want to visit this city again for Oktoberfest one day!

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