Munich and Stuttgart: Germany's Perfect Match

By Gary Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 21, 2006

In case anyone is wondering how I ended up on a barroom stage in Munich, throwing my voice into a soccer-fighting tune, I can tell you this: It started with a tip.

Mine had been a familiar traveler's predicament. Wanting to find a no-attitude place to catch a game and a brew on a Saturday night, I turned to my friend, Wolfgang, a nightclub bouncer. He knew just the place. Soon I was making my way down Schraudolphstrasse, a side street in the city's Bohemian Schwabing quarter. Inside the Arc, beer flowed like a geyser as youthful revelers watched a soccer face-off on a large-screen TV. Eventually Catherine, a local schoolteacher, coaxed me into joining her in a duet of "We Are the Champions," the Queen tune that sports fans the world over employ to exhort their teams to victory.

As suggestions go, the Arc scored. After that, I relegated my Lonely Planet to a bottom drawer and relied instead on advice from locals.

I'd come to explore the Bavarian capital and the nearby city of Stuttgart as a kind of advance man for fans headed to this year's World Cup, the international soccer tournament taking place in a dozen German cities (including these two) from June 9 to July 9. How, I wondered, could visitors weave in the flavor of these two delightful southern Germany cities between matches?

I was familiar with Munich and Stuttgart from earlier visits, but nonetheless had questions. Was it worth fighting the crowds in Munich's Hofbraeuhaus -- the raucous 5,000-seat beer hall -- for a half-liter of beer and a super-size platter of calves' brains? Would the Viktualienmarkt, the elegant open-air gourmet market in the city center, make a suitable picnic spot? Was Olympic Park, site of the 1972 Summer Games and backdrop for Steven Spielberg's "Munich," as thrilling in life as on celluloid? Was the view from the top of the 712-foot Fernsehturm television tower in Stuttgart -- reputedly the first such structure ever built -- worth it?

In the end, I gave all of them a pass. My ad hoc team of travel agents -- a clerk in a department store, a student on the subway, a restaurant waiter, a seatmate on a train to Stuttgart-- recommended brilliant alternatives.

* * *

Few things in Munich come cheaply, a point drilled home as I walked through the ever-popular Viktualienmarkt, passing dozens of stalls sagging with fresh meats, pungent cheeses, just-baked breads and other gourmet foods. The goods for a modest picnic lunch for two, I calculated, would run around $40. But during a coffee break in nearby Deutsche Eiche, a popular restaurant on the gay scene for more than five decades, a waiter told me there was no better place for picnic fare than Elisabethmarkt in the Schwabing quarter.

A quick ride to Josephsplatz on the U-bahn, the city's easy-to-use subway system, and I was there. The products were much the same as at Viktualien, but less expensive. With a lovely $11 picnic in hand -- hunks of Camembert and Gruyere, a piece of Spanish ham, a loaf of bread and some strawberries -- I plopped down in the adjoining beer garden for lunch.

The more I traveled through the city, the more it seemed on the brink of World Cup overload. Posters for the tournament hung on street corners; clocks ticked away the seconds until the first kickoff. The Allianz Arena, the city's uber-modern sports stadium, will host the opening match and five others.

Throughout the Cup, Olympic Park will host a sports fest, highlighted by a free open-air screening of all 64 games nationwide, leading up to the championship game in Berlin. On July 2, the Long Night of Sports program will feature dozens of local sports clubs, including aquatic divers and horseback riders, in public sports demonstrations. Those who tire of watching will have the chance to participate in in-line skating, tai-bo, Nordic walking, gymnastics and other sports at various sites. The Deutches Museum, Munich City Museum and State Ethnology Museum will hold special exhibits. (For more information on World Cup tickets, see Page P10.)

It's no surprise, then, that the city is expecting a rush of tourists. When I asked Jill Henne, managing editor of the English language magazine Munich Found, where visitors could go to escape the hordes, she pointed me to two happening neighborhoods: Schwabing for its youthful cafe and club scene, and Haidhausen for good, inexpensive eateries.

Famished after an afternoon of exploring such venerable Munich sites as Marienplatz (the massive central square) and Maximillianstrasse (a shopping boulevard), I needed just such a muse. In a city of gourmands, finding the right eating venue is no simple matter. Hofbraeuhaus, complete with an oompah band and a breathalyzer in the corner, is where many a tourist has bade auf Wiedersehen to sobriety and a low-fat diet.

"Forget about it," said Hans, a friend whose sumo wrestler's girth suggested a profound knowledge of Munich's dining scene. His recommendation for traditional German fare was Hofbraeukeller, a brewery frequented by Munichers in the Haidhausen neighborhood. After a couple of subway stops and a short walk from Max-Weber-Platz, we were led to a heavy wooden table. Sasha, a portly waiter dressed in traditional Bavarian costume, quickly brought us overflowing mugs of Lowenbrau. They were followed by a couple of platters of pork knuckles, sauerkraut and potatoes -- and the bill, for $21.

The next morning, I hopped on the U-Bahn for the 20-minute ride from the city center to Allianz Arena, in the suburb of Froettmanning. I'd overheard a student from the University of Munich raving about the city's soccer teams. Would he recommend a trip to Olympic Park for a visiting sports fan?

"Oh, that's the past," he said. "The Allianz is the future."

Walking toward the stadium from the train station, I could see what he meant. The $435 million building was a gargantuan bubble-shaped structure that looked like an outsize rubber dinghy suspended in air.

Inside I joined a tour with a couple of soccer enthusiasts from England and a gaggle of German fans. For two hours, a guide ushered us behind the scenes and pointed out features that make the 66,000-seat stadium an architectural landmark, including the smooth outer skin (made from a thick fiberglass-like material) draping the exterior. The building's translucent shell is embedded with thousands of lights, allowing the stadium to flash brilliant shades of red, blue and white for a glow visible from miles away.

By tour's end, the group began to swap stories about their favorite players and sing sports combat songs. Brit fan Garry Francis couldn't stop beaming. "I'd come to Germany just to be a part of this," he said.

* * *

Stuttgart is a 2 1/4 -hour train ride from Munich through scenic territory -- forests of birch, rugged mountains, villages with only a church steeple and a few half-timbered homes. It's a far less-visited city than Munich, so I figured it would offer a respite from the World Cup craze.

Not a chance. Amid the hilly enclaves and mix of modern and ancient buildings, posters of soccer players were plastered everywhere. In a walk along Koenigstrasse, a pedestrian shopping promenade, an electronic clock counted down the minutes to the Cup opening. Six games will be played in Gottlieb Daimler Stadium, just outside the city.

Here, too, all of the matches will be broadcast live on a screen in Schlossplatz, the city's main square. At nightfall, the buildings in the center city will be illuminated Times Square-style. And those missing the flow of suds in Munich may be relieved to know that during the tournament, Stuttgart is setting up a wine village -- featuring local vintages -- on centrally located Schillerplatz.

As far as my seatmate on the Munich-to-Stuttgart train was concerned, the not-to-be-missed attractions here are the mineral baths in the city and a couple of small towns. Though tourists generally haven't discovered them, visiting the day spas that have sprung up around the springs is a local pastime.

My choice was Mineralbad Leuze, about 10 minutes from the city center by train. The complex, including six pools, a solarium and other facilities, was spotless and impressively organized.

After jumping into a warm bathing pool, I discovered the sauna, a spacious tiled area with a dozen or so varieties of sauna and steam rooms, including Finnish, dry, lemon-infused and eucalyptus-scented. At first unsettled by the spectacle of dozens of nude men and women sitting in silence, I quickly got over it.

Over two days, locals steered me to one appealing venue after another. In the Bohnenviertel, a neighborhood of 15th- and 16th-century low-rise buildings, I partied at Schellenturm. The last surviving tower of the fortification that once surrounded the city, it's now a wine bar with a fun, young clientele and a daunting selection of local wines. A bit farther afield was the Bosch-Areal, a former factory that's now a vibrant complex of boutiques, cafes and cinemas.

But the more people freely gave tips of their favorite places, the clearer it was that the Stuttgarters themselves, warm, unpretentious and affable, were the city's biggest attraction.

* * *

On the return trip to Munich, my thoughts turned, not surprisingly, to beer. Augustiner, Lowenbrau/Spaten and the other major beer producers closely guard their processes and rarely offer tours. Again, it was time to call in the local experts. A friend contacted a friend who suggested Unionsbraeu, a family-owned brewery and Bavarian restaurant in the Haidhausen neighborhood.

Stephanie Spendler, the owner's daughter, led me into the basement for a primer. She showed me the oversize copper containers and other brewing and cooling equipment and oak storage barrels, then walked me through the production process. Unlike mega-breweries, all of the 1.4 million liters of beer Unionsbraeu brews each year is not exported but is sold only to the people who drink or dine there.

Afterward, I took a seat in the basement, where a second casual dining room is located, and watched the place come to life. The room, a sprawling space decorated with dried hops plants and furnished with a long wooden table, filled up quickly, mostly with neighborhood regulars. A couple of waiters scurried about with platters of roast pork with dumplings and other rich, aromatic fare, and mugs of fresh-brewed beer. Soon a band started playing Bavarian favorites, and a group invited me to join them. I happily settled into their table.

As I made my way back to the hotel after a fine evening of brew and music, I had already started to miss that festive atmosphere. But no matter: If any soccer-weary travelers were to ask me where to go in Munich for a piece of old Bavaria, I'd found just the place to recommend.