I was in Switzerland and I was curious whether I would come across the famous Swiss banks. And I did, accidentally of course, just a door with a sign there was a bank there.

1. PKB Privatebank

I was curious whether they have a website and they do, and the site is in English,  French, Italian plus information in German, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazilian) and Russian (lots of clients from Russia I suppose).

However, on the home page ”U.S. Nationals and Residents please click here due to Legal restrictions applicable to your Country.’

It is a matter of time other countries will do the same (I am wondering how Putin can still tolerate his country fellowmen to open accounts with Swiss banks).

2. Notenstein, they have a  website too

3.  Millesime Compagnie Financiere, they don’t have a website, finally a proper Swiss bank I thought , but they don’t seem to be a bank according to moneyhouse.ch.

I suppose there are many other banks that don’t have an exterior sign, and of course I would not know about them .

Usually I don’t fill out surveys, unless there is some reward.

And this survey fulfilled the criteria so I completed it, and I have noticed two faults in the survey.

1. The last column says ‘Don’t remember/Not applicable’, but they are different, you cannot just put them in the same column. I do remember what I talked with the CSR but the line is not applicable

2. I could have completed the survey twice. The link in the email I have received should have been personalized (they knew who I was) or at least ask for the Aeroplan number before starting the survey.

This concludes my series about Munich, Geneva to follow (hope I will find the time, to be read ‘I won’t procrastinate for too long’).

Munich in 3 Days
Munich 2 – Deutsches Museum
Munich 3 – Dachau, ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’
Munich 4 – BMW Museum
Munich 5 – ‘Englischer Garten’
Munich 6 – The Place Where You Can Sleep from 7.50 Euro (9.4 USD)!

A black granite memorial to the White Rose Movement, a non-violent group in Nazi Germany, consisting of students from the University of Munich and their philosophy professor, that became known for an anonymous leaflet and graffiti campaign, lasting from June 1942 until February 1943. I knew the story (I saw a movie about the White Rose) and I have always found it extraordinary the courage they had in the middle of one of the most oppressive regimes the history has ever known.  

“Bikes can also be rented by the Call-A-Bike system, which is run by Deutsche Bahn. You need to call a number listed on the bikes from your mobile phone and register with the callabike.de website in order to use them. The service is convenient, as you just spot an available bike throughout the city and just leave it at your destination. However, this is not an economical alternative if you are planning many trips in a single day. In that case, it is better to get a day or multiday rental from one of the rental services located throughout central Munich.” (from Munich Wikitravel). I didn’t use them but it seems an interesting idea.

View from the Olympic Tower

‘Designed & engineered in Bavaria’ on the frame of a bike; I thought that only Apple does this: ‘Designed by Apple in California’ on each of their products . Still couldn’t find where the bike had been manufactured, I suppose that in China otherwise they would have had written ‘Designed, engineered & made in Bavaria’.

“Frauenkirche (full name “Dom zu Unserer Lieben Frau”) is a major landmark and dominates with its 99 meter high twin towers the skyline of the Bavarian capital. It was built between 1468 to 1494 by Jörg von Halsbach and today it serves as the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising and seat of its Archbishop. The cathedral can hold approximately 20,000 people, and Catholic Mass is held regularly. The interior of the cathedral, which is among the largest hall churches in southern Germany, consists of the nave and two side aisles. The arches were designed by Heinrich von Straubing. Much of the interior was destroyed during WWII. An attraction that survived is the Teufelsschritt, or Devil’s Footstep, at the entrance. This is a black mark resembling a footprint, which according to legend was where the devil stood when he curiously regarded and ridiculed the ‘windowless’ church that Halsbach had built.” (from Munich Wikitravel).

Out of 10 taxis, 9 are Mercedes (and this in BMW heartland!!!) and one Toyota Prius that proudly displays ‘ecotaxi, cleaner drives better’. I have been in hybrid Prius (not in Munich) and the discussion I had with the taxi drivers was along the line that the car paid for itself by the savings in fuel. I wonder why not most taxis are Prius (Warning: I have 5 shares in Toyota, used to own 10 but lost my patience and I sold the half for some $1 profit just to recover half of my money; my hapless adventures in stock investments here).

People taking photos of the world famous Glockenspiel in Marienplatz

Asam Church (German: Asamkirche), very beautiful. It was built from 1733 to 1746 by the brothers Egid Quirin Asam and Cosmas Damian Asam as their private church but due to resistance of the citizens, the brothers were forced to make the church accessible to the public. Initially when I read the story I thought they were some rich foreign (their names don’t seem to be German) merchants. I was wrong, they were painters and sculptors and German.

I was in the tower of the Neues Rathaus in Marienplatz and I saw people in the opposite tower.

I couldn’t resists so I went to the St. Peter’s Church as well as I like to go up in towers in the cities I visit and here is the view of the other tower I had gone up to just 20 minutes before.

No idea why the locks are there, who put them and why.

Otto von Bismarck’s statue near Deutsches Museum

I found it strange, that he was depicted holding a sword, he was a prime minister after all not a general (I think I saw paintings of Saddam Hussein holding a Kalashnikov). Perhaps the sculpture is in reference to one of his speeches when he said: The great questions of the time will not be resolved by speeches and majority decisions—that was the great mistake of 1848 and 1849—but by iron and blood. (that is, military power).

However, in the 1880s Bismarck’s social insurance programs were the first in the world and became the model for other countries and the basis of the modern welfare state. While he was a chancellor old age pensions, accident insurance, medical care and unemployment insurance were introduced.

It is a … tent. I was so curious to see it – and if I ever have to stay there I hope it will be for fun and not financial reasons :) – and take the customarily photos that the Tent made the list of what to see in Munich the moment I read about it.

So one afternoon after I had visited the ‘Deutsches Museum’ I took the tram and I was prepared for a 30 min. journey. However, it was so hot I and the thought of a 1 l mug of Radler in a beer garden I had been thinking of all day was so powerful that I could no longer bear staying in the tram, so suddenly I changed my objective: a beer garden in the ‘Englischer Garten’.  I won’t get a feel of the Tent but I will read about it later I reasoned.  

And yes it does seem a lot of fun (FAQ here) and apparently it is closer to the city center (location here) than what I had thought.

Rates

The Englischer Garten (German for “English Garden”) is one of the world’s largest urban public parks, larger than New York’s Central Park.
If you come to Munich this park is a must see, best at the end of the day to relax in one of the 4 beergardens in the park: Chinesischer Turm (Chinese tower), Seehaus, Osterwald garten, Hirschau. 

Surfing is done here as well.

And don’t be surprised if you will see nude sunbathers in the park, not too many but I did see one or two.

I cannot say I am a car enthusiast (as a matter of fact I don’t own one) but I wanted to visit the BMW Museum especially as it is located near the Olympiapark that was on my list too.

BMW stands for “Bayerische Motoren Werke” (“Bavarian Motor Works”) and the attendance figures of the museum are, after the Deutsches Museum and the Pinakothek der Moderne, the highest in Munich.

BMW 3/15 PS, the first BMW car made under licence from the British Austin Motor Company. I couldn’t help but think of what has become of Austin (it disappeared) and what of BMW. 

BMW R32 was the first motorcycle produced by BMW

Some jab at the arch-rival Stuttgart based Mercedes, the ad poster says: “A Mercedes can also bring the joy of drive.”

BMW C1, I saw them first time when I was in Germany some 10 years ago and I thought it was such a cool concept. However, the production ceased in October 2002 as it seems this type of scooter didn’t catch on. C1 was never made available in North America.

You have seen them in WWII movies and until now I didn’t know they were BMW.

It’s quite old news but only recently did I read about it.

“Air Canada has been named the ‘Best International Airline in North America’ in a worldwide survey of air travelers for the Skytrax World Airline Awards. In what Skytrax termed “a remarkable repeat success”, it is the third consecutive year Air Canada has ranked among the top global carriers in the awards, which surveyed more than 18 million passengers worldwide.” (emphasis mine)

“”For the third consecutive year, Air Canada customers have ensured that the airline achieves its deserved recognition by winning the award for the Best International Airline in North America. This hat-trick result is an excellent achievement and Air Canada must be proud of this customer recognition of quality consistency. Air Canada is clearly a favourite airline amongst passengers and it is noteworthy that it has also maintained its place in the top-25 global airlines,” said Edward Plaisted of Skytrax.”

Dachau concentration camp was the first of the Nazi concentration camps opened in Germany, located about 16 km northwest of Munich.

The camp opened on 22 March 1933 (51 days after Hitler took power) and it served as a prototype and model for the other Nazi concentration camps that followed.

In the twelve years of its existence over 200.000 persons from all over Europe were imprisoned here and in the numerous subsidiary camps. 41.500 were murdered. On April 29 1945, American troops liberated the survivors.

The Memorial Site on the grounds of the former concentration camp was established in 1965. It is easily reachable by train and bus (how to get there) and the CityTourCard, I mentioned in  my previous post Munich in 3 Days, covers the area; the entry to the site is free of charge. 

ING Direct Canada has a promotion* (only for Canadian residents) that ends on Aug. 31 and this is the last time you will hear about it from me . If you use my Orange Key 17148482S1 to open an account account with $100 or more in it you will get $50 and I will get $50 (sorry about that) too. More details here: www.ingdirect.ca/doublebonus.

Also, as I thank you I will give at least 17 eUpgrades (“the travel on an upgraded flight must be completed before the expiration date”, the expiration date in this case being February 28, 2013) to the reader who uses my Orange Key, in case of more than one I will hold a draw after the promotion ends on August 31. A second draw might be held towards the end of the year as very likely I will have a lot of eUpgrades left (my flights are under 3 hours, the food is not so good, so no point in upgrading and I don’t have any plans for a non-reward long flight).

I say at least because you will be my nominee until February 28, 2013 and for sure I will have many eUpgrades left. I’ll gladly share them rather than have them expire as it happened last year.
 
And I am not saying this because of the bonus but I like ING Direct (I am putting money where my mouth is):

• good interest rate 1.35% (it used to be 1.50% but that’s it)
• no minimum balances
• no fees, no service charges (I have an account with another bank and there I take great care not go over the number of free transactions and also to have a minimum balance no to pay the monthly fee – I don’t like paying fees, that’s me)
• free e-mail transfer, no cost to sender or recipient (only recently did I find out about this feature).
• ING is considering the sale of Canadian and UK online banks (Future of ING Direct in Canada) so very likely no more of these bonuses and all these features (enjoy it while you can ).

Also, they had another promotion, where if you opened a chequing account and switched the payroll from other bank you would get $100 (I told you they are desperate for cash).

Of course the ING stock is a different story; average buying price around $30 and now it is around $7 and it has not gone over $10 for almost a year. However, I have lost money with Barclays, Citibank, Bank of Ireland also, so nothing new here. Only the Canadian banks have not disappointed me (yet).

*Last year the promotion was around Christmas, but it seems the European headquarters badly needs cash. However, the deposits up to $100,000 are insured by the still AAA Canada so no worries here if ING goes bankrupt.

They stop selling tickets at 4 pm and subsequently no-one is asking for them. Hence, the entry is de facto free for the last hour. I don’t know whether it happens every day but this is what I noticed when I left the museum.

In the museum there is a replica of Fokker Dr. I. that was flown by the famous Red Baron.

Royal Guardsmen – Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron

This is an invention difficult to understand, firing through the blades of a propeller.

Led Zeppelin – Stairway to Heaven (more than 61,000,000 views)