And since the afternoon has just begun by the time we finished, it was a perfect time to explore things on my own. Instead of going all the way to the Olympiapark though...
... I decided to stick by the city center and its surroundings.
Past the Staatskanzlei, my way first led my to the Eisbach wave, a popular surfing spot in the middle of Munich. Turns out the city makes use of its river and its in- and outflows that run through the Englischer Garten. And on a wonderful spring day, even a worn-out winter school student would feel sorry that the program was slowly but surely coming to an end.
Instead of a detour into the green, my goal was to get to the Isar itself, i.e. have a walk down the royal Prinzregentenstraße past the Bavarian National Museum, have a little break at the Friedensengel and then return to the city center using some other way to see something new.
The golden angel that overlooks the avenue and is actually a statue of the Greek victory goddess Nike can be well seen fom far away. Once one comes closer, however, it is much friendlier to the neck to just look at its decorated footing.
Another use of the monument: just enjoy the views of the city.
Off to the Isar riverbank! A popular activity for young and old, especially on such a wonderful day, is to just sit by the river and enjoy its roaring waves.
Even though I wanted to hike somewhere else, I ended up at the Maximilianeum.
Not exactly knowing where the next tube station was, I decided to slowly return to the center. Turns out if I wanted to keep my originally planned route, I'd have to just keep goint till the next bridge.
Walking down the Maximilianstraße past magnificent buildings and museums...
... I found myself back in the familiar center. And after walking past it regularly for almost a month, I finally had a peek inside the neo-romanesque Ludwigskirche.
And even though the city welcomed me with wind and bare trees and a real culture work shock...
... much has changed in a month - from a spring-ish awakening of nature...
... to the fact that one day before my departure, I finally decided to explore the rooftop terrace of my student's dorm.
And finally, after another short night of last-minute packing and cleaning up...
... a mout-watering stairway led me through Munich's main station and towards home.
As for the initial work shock, as difficult as it seemed to be at first, I would never want to leave the Bavarian capital once I got used to the routine. With more and more positive feedback, everything seemed like fun in the end anyway. And until I become old and senile, the Munich experience with everyone involved will remain dear to me.
Additionally to everything I got to learn in terms of ward-work, the only bitter aftertaste comes from comparing the Munich program with everything I did NOT learn at home. Especially considering the different ways of implementing a learning process.
Because one thing is being thrown in cold waters, and another is to get either a little help with the swimming or stupid remarks of "How can you not know?" You really want to know how? Because in all the years of medschool, nobody has ever showed me, that's how!
Luckily though, one can dare to look over the edge of the plate every now and compare what is being offered elsewhere. Dare, compare and think things over. And maybe one day realize that everyone who ever told me to leave - which is frankly every Slovene doctor I've ever met - might have been right all the way.
~ the end ~
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