Munich: A new destination for Singapore Airlines

In choosing a European city to go to first when flying direct from Singapore to Europe, Singapore Airlines has given its customers a new and excellent option: Munich.

First, Munich is a beautiful city in Bavaria with tons of things to do and places to see. Second, the Munich Airport has been awarded Best Airport in Europe for four consecutive years by Skytrax and second Best International Transit Airport since it offers an unbeatable minimum connecting time of 30 minutes! Third, one can easily go out of the airport and check out sights in Munich when one has a stopover of at least four hours since the Munich Airport has already set out itineraries of what to do at a given stopover time (check its stopover guide service brochure at its airport).

I flew to Munich on Singapore Airlines’ B777-300ER. Without doubt, Singapore Airlines is one of the best airlines in the world, having been named World’s Best International Airline (for the 15th consecutive year) by Travel and Leisure Magazine, Best Overall Airline by Business Traveller (UK), Best Airline by Business Traveller (Asia Pacific) and Asia’s Best Airline (for the 14th consecutive year) by Asiamoney (Hong Kong). The industry has also honored the airline company with several other awards like Best Economy, Best Business, Best First Classes and Best in Long Haul.

The flight was even more pleasant than I expected because I was served great food by a wonderful and caring staff. It was a long-haul flight and I didn’t worry about getting the munchies because there was a snack bar with chips, sandwiches and noodles waiting for hungry passengers anytime. I also enjoyed the flight because of its excellent Inflight Entertainment in Krisworld, which has the latest movies from all over the world, with 17 new movie releases among over 60 other movies, countless television shows, music and games. Singapore Airlines also offers the biggest Business Class seat found in any airline in the world. I slept very comfortably on a very wide and flat bed. Time went by so fast that I didn’t even realize we were about to land already!

Our group, consisting primarily of top travel agents, checked in our hotel and immediately set off to see the sights of Munich. We had started the morning visiting the Deutsches Museum, which presents the crowning achievements of the spirit of human research and inventiveness encompassing aeronautics, metals, tunneling, photography, shipping, power machinery, robotics, DNA laboratories, textile, ceramics and countless other areas, which we obviously could not finish in one visit! A hefty Bavarian lunch of Wiener Schnitzel and sausages followed and we had time to wander off to food markets and do some shopping. We explored the beautiful city center filled with Gothic buildings and checked out some of the churches. We all met up for dinner in the rather touristy but fun Hofbrauhaus for another Bavarian meal. A lot of us opted for pork, specially the Schweinshaxe (pork knuckle with potato dumpling). Munich Airport’s Birgit Schweiger cordially acted as our interpreter with regards to some very difficult dishes to understand. She, too, was our marvelous tour guide.

Munich Tourist Office’s Vicky Weller met us the next day to take us to the BMW Welt (German for “world”). The BMW Welt is adjacent to the manufacturing plant of BMW. The intricately designed and massive building has become a tourist attraction in Munich. From the Welt, the Olympic stadium, where the 1972 Munich Olympics was held, can be clearly seen. Nearby are the BMW Corporate headquarters and the BMW Museum. The BMW Museum offers a permanent exhibit of vintage and prototype BMW cars, motorcycles and art. We were lucky to have caught the featured exhibit of BMW art cars with these designs (and certain cars directly painted on) by Andy Warhol, Alexander Calder, Sandro Chia, Roy Liechtenstein, David Hockney, Robert Rauschenberg and other renowned artists.

Singapore Airlines sales representative Cathy Garcia-Au took care of our lively and sometimes bratty group of 12 with such patience and care. Cathy was responsible for making sure that we were all okay and complete. She had arranged that our afternoon be free again to explore the city, which was an opportunity for me to check out places like the beautiful English Gardens, a huge park with lots of restaurants and beer gardens surrounding a lake. Others went shopping for more. Dinner was another Bavarian feast at a well known restaurant, Augustiner-Keller.

The beauty about being in Munich is that there are so many nearby places to see.

We were scheduled to go to Linderhof Castle but our bus driver mistakenly brought us to Neuschwanstein Castle in Füssen. It was a welcome mistake had it been not too foggy that we didn’t get to see Neuschwanstein. But we did get to see Hohenschwangau Castle. Our driver hurriedly drove us to Linderhof in the Ammergau Alps. Linderhof, the smallest of three palaces built by King Ludwig II, was the king’s favorite and perhaps the most beautiful in the second Rococo-style. The palace is filled with treasures and kept intact, which is not that difficult to do since this is one of the smallest yet most interesting palaces I have ever seen. Ludwig II stayed here alone and never had a family. He died young. People wondered whether his death was caused by an accident, suicide or murder. The Linderhof gardens are equally amazing and the highlight of the visit would be the grotto, the largest man-made cave in the world where Ludwig II would watch the operas of his favorite composer, Richard Wagner. The cave also has a lake inside, complete with artificial waves where Ludwig II occasionally swam.

From here, we headed to the quaint village of Oberammergau, where the Passion Play is held once every 10 years. Lots of souvenirs sold in this town are wood carvings. Hotels and houses in this Bavarian town are beautifully painted outside with Pilate’s House being the most decorative. This town has become a place for the faithful to go for a pilgrimage, just like the nearby Wieskirche in Steingaden. Wieskirche is an oval white Rococo church built in honor of a wooden figure of the Scourged Saviour, which supposedly shed tears in 1738. The stunning church was made into a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

In just three days, we saw so much in Munich and the rest of Bavaria. So we ended our trip with some people in the group heading home to Manila while some continued to see other places in Europe. I proceeded to London on my own, spent a few days there and took the A380 from London back to Singapore.

Singapore Airlines was the first airline to fly the A380, the biggest and most fuel efficient passenger airline in the world. It has 11 of this type of aircraft in its fleet and eight on order. Of the 107 aircraft in the fleet of Singapore Airlines, the average age of its aircraft is six years old, making its fleet one of the world’s youngest. The huge airline is surprisingly quiet for its size. Singapore Airlines’ award-winning Economy Class is located both on the upper and lower main deck. The Suites or First Class is on the main deck. The Suites give the passenger all he needs to indulge in his own office, cinema (23-inch widescreen LCD), dining area and bedroom on the sky. Suite passengers have the pleasure of sleeping on a distinctive stand-alone bed, not the one converted from a seat, which is a leather hand-stitched armchair from master Italian craftsmen called the Poltrona Frau Group. The Business Class cabin, located in the upper deck, was the same as the B-777 I took to Munich, with the same distinct 1-2-1 forward facing cabin layout with direct aisle access on a wide seat measuring 34-inch across. Other little touches like the sockets for laptop chargers and USB ports, built in mirrors on the seat, Givenchy beddings, a 15.4-inch widescreen LCD, automatic sensor faucets in the lavatories and many other “little touches” make Singapore Airlines what it is today.

This was the first time I have taken Singapore Airlines on a red-eye flight... it certainly won’t be the last.

(For reservations and inquiries, call Singapore Airlines

at 756-8888 or visit www.singaporeair.com)