"Munich nestles between art and beer like a village between hills”, Heinrich Heine
The EGI Community Forum 2012 will be held at the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ) in Garching, located about 15 kilometers (10 miles) north of downtown Munich.
Garching is a well-established campus that hosts university and non-university research facilities from the Ludwig-Maximilians University (LMU), the Technical University of Munich, the Max-Planck Institute and the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ), amongst others. The Community Forum will take place in the facilities of the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ) and at the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics (FMI) building, famous for its indoor slides. The Garching Research Campus is well-connected by an excellent public transport network and is served by two bus lines (230 and 630) and the Munich subway (U6). Travel time from downtown Munich or the International Airport (by train) is about 30 minutes.
About Munich
Munich (München in German) is the capital of Bavaria and the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg. The city is located on the River Isar, north of the Bavarian Alps and is home to about 1.35 million people. Munich ranked top of the 2010 list of the world’s most livable cities, published by the Monocle magazine, thanks to its safety, connectivity, tolerance, urban design and business conditions (amongst other criteria).
The city offers a wide variety of leisure time activities and outstanding cultural offerings, including three world-class orchestras, many concert venues and a host of festivals ensure a constant flow of music of all styles, from classical to rock and medieval. Munich also has a wide array of museums, notably three art museums exhibiting fine arts from six centuries, all located within walking distance.
One of Munich’s most famous districts for bars and restaurants is Schwabing, between the main buildings of Ludwig Maximilians Universität and Münchner Freiheit, along the Leopoldstraße. The area features many cafés, restaurants and bars – including Italian, Greek, Indian and Mexican restaurants and of course traditional Bavarian cuisine.
And the beer...
One of Munich’s main attractions is of course beer. The Oktoberfest, Munich’s beer festival and one of the city’s trademark events, is a household term in all parts of the world.
The Community Forum will miss the Oktoberfest, but will coincide with the ‘strong beer season’. The tradition of brewing strong beer dates from the Middle Ages, when the local monasteries brew nutritious beers in late winter, so that they could survive Lent with no ill effects. The enjoyment of strong beer was not regarded as a sin: “Liquid nourishment doesn’t break your fast”. The tradition of strong beer lives on to this day.
During the weeks of March, when the EGI Community Forum 2012 takes place, strong beer is served in all the breweries’ restaurants; there are music and festive events on the programme.
