A Stroll in the English Garden, Munich

I had enjoyed watching the surfers from the beaches in Portugal, but I never expected to see surfers in the middle of Munich! This is like nothing I have ever seen before. A section of the river has been dammed up to create a surfable wave. The surfers are a hardy lot too – they surf the wave day and night, summer and winter! No wonder it’s called the Eisbachwelle, the Ice Stream Wave!

Yes, the Englischer Garten, the English Garden, is full of surprises. There’s a Japanese teahouse, would you believe, and a Chinese tower … surrounded by a beer garden … with oompah music supplied by a brass band on the upper level of the tower. Yes, typical sights in a typical city park. I don’t think. But what fun!

I was intrigued by this Monopteros, which seems to be some kind of Grecian gazebo – yet another unexpected exotic touch. Whatever its purpose, it offers great views of the church towers in the old town centre.

I’d been staggered at the size of Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg, but the English Garden is almost as big. In fact, at close to 4 km², with 78 km of paths, it’s one of largest city parks in Europe. No wonder it feels like a piece of countryside – and a large piece at that – slap bang in the middle of the city.

I felt quite at home in this beautiful wooden carousel, a protected structure dating from 1913. What amazing craftsmanship! I have met a wooden stork or two in my time, but this chap was particularly elegant. Like myself, of course. I think he was looking down his beak at me though. He may have been afraid of competition from a wooden seagull!

Apart from us Wooden Wonders, there was no end of birdlife to be spotted in the park. There was a large variety of waterbirds in and around the Kleinhesseloher Lake, of course. They certainly aren’t shy, especially the Greylag geese who had no fear of begging for food at the ubiquitous beer gardens. I don’t blame them. I also kept begging for bits of those yummy Brezel. Not that I had much chance of scoring many with Her Ladyship around!

With its Chinese tower, Japanese teahouse, Grecian-style temple, Bavarian beer gardens and Atlantic-style wave – ok, mini Atlantic-style wave – I couldn’t quite figure out which bit of the English Garden was English. But whatever its nationality, it’s certainly a national treasure!