Bavarian Alps from our apartment

Every now and then, we get an amazing view of the Bavarian Alps from our apartment here in Munich. We live on the eighth floor, which is pretty high by Munich's standards and fortunately, there isn't much that blocks our view.

I was probably a little too ambitious with this panorama here. In fact, I don't think it really qualifies as a regular panorama anymore. Perhaps "super panorama", "ultra panorama" or "panoooooooorama" would better describe it. It was stitched together from a sequence of 13 photos (must have been the wind that day because I was definitely carried away!) using Photoshop.

You'll have to click on the photo to make any sense of it.

Specifications
Camera: Nikon D60 (model replaced by Nikon D3000)
Lens: Nikon 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S DX VR ED
Flash: N/A
Tripod: Slik Pro 400DX
ISO: 100
Shutter Speed: 1/40 sec
Aperture: f13

joel@jjsolomon.com

New Year celebration in Munich

We celebrated New Year in Munich. We invited some friends of ours (note the Donnie Brasco quote) over to our place for dinner, some conversation and lots of fireworks. The latter, we did not actually have, since I am an against-wasting-money-when-there-is-so-much-poverty kinda guy. Some people rather call me a cheapskate. What we did offer however, was a splendid display of fireworks by the affluent (a.k.a. non-cheapskates) from our apartment in the eighth floor.

We had a great time with our guests that evening. There were seven of us and an ample amount of food. We didn't prepare all the food though - it was a potluck (cheapskate ring a bell?). At the end of the day, there was still much food left. Like most hosts, we kept the most of it (don't say anything!).

People started test firing their ammunition (a.k.a. fireworks) at about 10 pm and stopped again at about 11 pm. The first photo shows one of the early test shots. The silence in between was needed to prepare for the big one at midnight. Armed with my camera, I waited, took some shots, waited some more and then took some more shots. I was trying the whole time to get some "killer shots". (Since it sounded like a war zone that night, I thought I'd use some war movie lingo too)

The second photo shows Munich city center right about midnight. It was taken towards the north of our apartment. As you can see, Munich's skyline was pretty well lit up by the fire works.

The third photo was taken towards the South. As it clearly shows, the Southerners can party too.

The fireworks went on for about an hour and progressively receded.  You could almost hear the battalions running out of ammunition. Of course, there were still some persistent resistance fighters on the loose way past the 1-hour time frame. I caught one of the night's final shots in the last photo.

A couple of our guests had to leave before midnight but the rest stayed on past midnight to watch the fireworks, or at least a part of it. We had a wonderful time together that day and it was a great start to the New Year.


joel@jjsolomon.com

Isar of Munich

I've been wanting to write about the Isar for some time now. The Isar flows through the city of Munich. At 295 km in length, it is the fourth largest river in Bavaria, after the Danube, Inn and Main, and Germany's third most important tributary of the Danube. I bet you're wondering where I got all that. For more information on the Isar, follow this link.

I live about 3 km away from the Isar and often go there when the weather permits. If fact, many people go there when the weather permits, which is why it's often crowded. I usually get there by bicycle although if I do take the train, it's only two stops away. There is a lake located along the Isar with a steady stream running beside it. To get there, I have to cycle through a beautiful field of corn (I think it's corn), which is shown in the picture above. The stream is popular among kayakers and the lake, among joggers. While I don't explicitly fall into either of these categories, I still like this spot. It's quiet, accessible and good for photography.

There are various spots along the Isar that people hang out at but the most popular has to be area around the zoo. This is probably because it is the most accessible spot, both by public or private transportation. The Flauchersteg, which is a bridge for pedestrians and cyclists, is located in the area. It is an extremely popular location for grilling. There are proper trash cans for ashes and so, making it easy to clean up at the end. If you want to get a good spot, make sure you're there early (try the night before!).

Last summer, my department had a grill party at the Flauchersteg. It was pretty cool. Expect similar activities from other departments during weekdays.

As you walk along the Isar on a nice warm day, you will notice many beer crates in the water. You can see this in the picture on the left. Why? Well, the water in the river is pretty cold and it helps to chill the beer. Talk about going green. And no, they are not free for you to take.

Now you know that grilling is a popular activity along the Isar. Other popular activites include sunbathing, boating, jogging and cycling. People don't swim much in the Isar because the current can be very strong and it may get dangerous. There have been several incidences of people drowning or getting stranded while swimming in the Isar. Be careful if you decide walk the wire anyway.

The Isar cycling path or better known as Isarradweg is an extremely popular route among cyclists. I often use it to get to the English Garden from my place. Be careful though as some cyclist fail to realize that it's a two-way path - they seem to think that the direction they are headed is always the right direction. *sigh* Nonetheless, I would still recommend cycling along the Isarradweg if you have the chance. It's fun and there's much to see along the way.

That's it for this post on the Isar of Munich.

joel@jjsolomon.com

Summer just arrived in Munich

The weather in Munich has been pretty crappy up until a few days ago. It's been wet and cold - not the combination you'd like to have in summer (actually, not the combination you'd like - period). We've had some really good summer days in May but then it started getting cold again. Now, summer is here and hopefully, here to stay. The weather has been great so far this week and the forecast for the remainder is excellent. I usually check the weather forecast here.

We're having some visitors this weekend and will probably take them to the Tegernsee for some sightseeing, sunbathing and swimming.

More from Nymphenburg Palace

I've finally finished working on the remaining pictures from my visit to Nymphenburg Palace a few weeks ago. You can check them out on my Picasaweb album by clicking here. Feel free to drop me your comments.

The objective of my visit to Nymphenburg Palace this time was primarily to take some nice photos of this beautiful place. I'm pretty content with the results I got. In my opinion, most of the shots turned out pretty well. I have published a post on my Shutteria blog about some of the High Dynamic Range (HDR) shots I took that day. You can check out that post via this link. In the near future, I hope to publish more posts about the technicalities of the other shots I took that day at Nymphenburg Palace as well.

I hope you enjoy the photos.

Marienplatz, Kaufingerstrasse and Stachus

Like last Saturday, I got up very early yesterday morning and went out to do some photo shooting. This time my stop was Marienplatz, which is situated in the heart of Munich. Marienplatz is usually bustling with people. Kaufingerstrasse, which is one of the streets leading towards Marienplatz is filled with shops for just about anything, departmental stores, restaurants, cafes - you name it. People often go there to shop, window shop, hang out, eat out, watch a movie or simply just chill. It's a very popular spot. Besides these, Marienplatz is the location where some festivals and events such as the Christmas Market, St. Christopher's Street Day and political rallies are held.

I left my apartment at about 7 in morning hoping to beat the crowd to Marienplatz. However, when I got into the train I realized "I ain't gonna beat no crowd". The train was practically already full. So much so that I couldn't even get a place to sit. I was hoping that most of them would not be getting off at Marienplatz and that was true for the most part. It seemed that most of them were headed somewhere else. Anyway, the train ride took me about 12 minutes.

As soon as I got out of the station, my heart sank. There was a huge stage and some tents being set up for the St. Christopher Street Festival and they had sort of blocked that "great view of Marienplatz" I had been planning for before. (FYI: the St. Christopher Street Festival is a gay festival but that will be the subject of another post.) Anyway, I did the best that I could considering the restrictions at hand. I took out my camera , set up my tripod and started taking some pictures.

The most prominent monument you would see as soon as you get out of the train station has to be the New Town Hall (Neues Rathaus). I don't know any details about this building other than the fact that it really looks captivating. It's white and has a certain Gothic look and feel about it. It looks even more majestic at night when it's lit up.

Right next to the New Town Hall is the less impressive Old Town Hall. Unless you've been pre-informed, I'm pretty sure that you will mistake one for the other. The reason: the Old Town Hall looks newer than the new one. Don't ask my why.

It is also on this building that you have the world famous Carillon (Glockenspiel). At 11 am, 12 pm and 5 am, the clock chimes and figures on this Carillon dance around for a minute or so. There is usually a pretty big crowd trying to witness this. Try to get there a little earlier to secure the best spot.

For more information about the New Town Hall and the Carillon, click here.



As soon as I was done taking some shots in front of the New Town Hall, I made my way towards the Church of Our Lady (Frauenkirche). The Church of Our Lady is an extraordinary building. It is 100m high. In Munich, there is a rule that prohibits buildings from exceeding the height of this church. I actually see the benefits of having this rule. First, you can see this church from just about anywhere in Munich, making it a very prominent landmark. Secondly, population density is kept low. By restricting the height (and hence, density) of buildings, development is forced to expand geographically. This results in less traffic jams and better air quality. I doubt that the people thought about the latter when this church was erected and this rule established some 600 years ago but we're sure seeing that benefit now.

I continued along Kaufingerstrasse, moving away from Marienplatz and towards Karlsplatz. It was indeed a pleasant walk. It was still early and wasn't crowded yet. There are places to sit and relax along the way, beautiful plants and flowers, a nice fountain, fruit stalls, cafes, etc. During the day, when the stores and restaurants are open, this street can get really packed. Then, it is more stressful than fun as you struggle maneuvering yourself through the crowd.

It was already starting to get a little uncomfortable with people starring at me as I was lugging around my tripod and camera gear. One guy, who I think was visiting the St. Christopher Street Day came up to me and offered me blueberries. But I said, "no no..." and thought to myself, "He ain't gonna drug me that easily!" Anyway, the signs hinted that I should move on.

At the other end of Kaufinger-strasse is a gate known as Karlstor, which is shown in the picture on the right. Beyond this gate is a square called Stachus - shown in the picture below. The train station here is called Karlsplatz (Stachus). Big surprise, huh?

I often come here to visit Saturn, a big electronics store. In fact, we got our washing machine and refrigerator here. Their prices are really good on discounted items.

Anyway, Stachus was the end of the road for the day. It was about 9 am when I got there. I took some photos, got wet by the fountain, sat down and relaxed a bit and soon, it was time to move on. I made my way back to Marienplatz on foot and took some more photos along the way. I took the train home from Marienplatz.

I bought some rolls from the bakery on the way back for breakfast. We are starting to get fed up with the bread and to-be-baked rolls we buy from the supermarket. It was a good start for the day.

Nymphenburg Palace

I have been wanting to visit the Nymphenburg Palace to do some photography for some time now. Sure, I've visited the place several times before but not since I started picking up photography. As such, I don't have any great pictures of this beautiful palace and its surrounding. I decided to change that.

I got up at about 7 am yesterday, which is the usual time I get up on weekdays. I decided the night before that if I didn't get up too late, I'd go to the palace first thing in the morning to take some shots. There are many benefits to doing this. One, there aren't many tourists at this time of the day. You'll be able to take shots pretty comfortably and not worry too much about people getting in the way of that ideal shot. Two, you get soft lighting, which is great for photography. Three, the temperature is still cooling and comfortable. This makes a difference when you're lugging around your camera gear! Finally, you get to see how locals use the place and not just the visiting tourists. Many people jog and walk around the palace grounds, sit on one of the benches to do some reading, walk their dogs, take their kids to watch the swans or like me, take some photos.

The Nymphenburg Palace is a 30-minute bus ride away from my place. You can get there by either taking the bus 51 of tram 17. The stop is "Schloss Nymphenburg". This palace is a must-see when you're in Munich. It is in the city itself, easily accessible by public transport and simply beautiful. I've never been inside the palace but have heard that it's really beautiful in there. Having been inside quite a number of castles and palaces before, I think I can skip this one. Besides, I'm more interested in its architecture, palace grounds and surrounding area. There are some good online resources that give information about the background, history and layout of the palace. Here are a couple of such links to the Palace's official website and Wikipedia.

I spent about two hours there yesterday and took about 80 shots in total. Many of them turned out pretty well and I'm glad I made a trip. Here's a picture of the Palace's facade and the beautiful lake in front of it. The lake itself is actually full of swans, ducks and some other birds I don't know about (as you can guess, I'm not really into the whole flora and fauna thingy). The lawn is full of their droppings. Be careful where you thread. There is a small bridge along the walkway, right in the middle of the lake. This is where I took this shot.

The picture below was taken inside the palace grounds, facing the rear of the palace. There are many statues and sculptures along the walkways here. The statues are mainly of Greek and Roman gods and goddesses.


It can be a little windy and chilly around the palace because there's a lot of open space. So, come prepared. If you enjoy walking or jogging, this is definitely the place for you. There are proper paths all around the palace grounds and you can easily spend several hours just strolling through the area. It's also a great place for a family outing if you have young kids. There's lots of space for them to run about and play. There's even a Biergarten in there if you'd like to get something to eat or drink. Don't worry too much about it getting too hot out there. There are also lots of trees for shelter and the water is absolutely refreshing (though you're allowed to dip in).

I hope this has gotten you all excited about the Nymphenburg Palace.

Munich and I

For those of you who don't already know me, my name is Joel. I'm Malaysian and I moved to Munich just over a year ago. I work in the telecoms industry and was transferred to Munich for work.

Munich is indeed a beautiful city. There's something for everyone here. For those who enjoy nature, there are the Alps (which are not too far south), the River Isar (which runs through the city), lakes (there are six major lakes around Munich), forests, parks and so forth. For those who enjoy sports, there are many public pools, lakes to swim in, jungle tracks, cycling routes, hiking paths, jogging tracks, etc. Then there is of course, the rich history and fabulous architecture.

Munich is 851 years old this year. There are many historical buildings and monuments within and around Munich. The state of Bavaria is famous for its Castles, especially those built by King Ludwig II. Of all these castles, Neuschwanstein is the most famous. Neuschwanstein is known not only for its beauty but also the fact that it was used as the basis in designing the Disney Castle.

Munich is also regarded as one of the most expensive cities in Germany. This is definitely true in terms of property prices and rentals. Nonetheless, in comparison to other major European cities such as London, Paris, Vienna and such, real-estate in Munich is still reasonable. In other aspects such as food and shopping, I would definitely classify Munich as reasonable. I have been fortunate to rent a great apartment with an amazing view for a good price - I got it through my employer. Here's the view I was talking about.


I am by no means an expert on Munich and doubt that I will ever be one. I still get lost in conversations with locals about Munich (they talk about politicians, places and problems in Munich that I have never ever heard about). But I'm enjoying Munich and discovering a little more about it everyday.

Stay tuned.