Memoirs of a Travelling Foodie: Servus Munich

First of all... SORRY. Got too caught up w the travels & wifi was a bit sketch for the later part of my trip. I'm dedicating time to finish up my trip & give my final words. Alright so where did we end off...

We took an overnight train from Amsterdam to Munich... let's just say that sleep trains & I don't go together very well. It was quite a bumpy ride and this train stopped SO MANY TIMES it was hard to focus on sleeping but I did get some quiet time which was good. We arrived in Munich fairly early in the morning & met up with some fellow Canadian travelers that were staying at the same hostel (Wombat's http://www.wombats-hostels.com/munich/). The hostel was very spacious, clean and the staff was great. They had a great set up for guests and provided some awesome tours in Munich and around.
We decided to take the walking tour with Ozzie, which was by far the smartest thing we could have done. IT WAS FANTASTIC. We got to see all Munich had to offer, learned a lot about the history of the city and learned what it was like to be a REAL local (and not fall for the tourist traps). These are some of the sites we saw while on the tour:
- The Frauenkirche (gorgeous and symbolic church)
- The Glockenspiel in Marienplatz (part of the New Town Hall and is a performance/stories from the 16th century of the marriage of Duke Wilhelm V & Renata of Lorraine and of the Schäfflerstanz, which is the coopers dance)
- The famous Hofbräuhaus brewery
- Karlsplatz (known by locals as Stachus)
- Maximilianstrasse
- St. Michael's (absolutley breath taking with the high arches and gold encrusted statues)
- The National Theatre looking onto the Max-Joseph-Platz
- Odeonsplatz
- St. Peter's/Alter Peter (one of the oldest church in the city)
- The Residence (royal palace, which is the LARGEST palace in Germany)
- Viktualienmarkt (where we had the one & only Bratwurst and ice cold beer - also, we saw the beautiful Maypole next to the market)
- The English Garden (an absolute GORGEOUS day with tons of university students out and enjoying the sun.... we checked out the Monoptetros, stopped in at the Chinese Tower beer garden to enjoy the sunny afternoon and walked by the "nudest area" on our way out)
- The Surf Wave is this awesome spot in the English Gardens where surfers come to "ride the wave" right in the city...you won't believe your eyes
We ended up walking around the English Garden after the tour and enjoyed the absolute PERFECT weather for the rest of the day.
When we got back to the hostel, we found out that it was SPRINGFEST in Munich. Springfest is basically Oktoberfest but smaller... So after getting some eats and relaxing for a bit we ventured to the oktoberfest grounds to check out the festivities. What we found was a gorgeous fair filled with carnival rides, cotton candy and food stands, carnival games and much more BUT there was no one around. It seemed like the place WAS DEAD (mind you it was a Monday night) so we were a bit discouraged until we stumbled upon the beer hall... that's where we found the party. The place was ABSOLUTELY packed with locals in lederhosens and dirndls. We were definitely the only non-locals in the place but that didn't stop us. We ordered some beer, jumped on the tables and danced to the 50's and 60's rock&roll music that was playing by the live band. We met some new friends (dressed in lederhosen of course) and had an absolutely amazing night. Bavarians know how to party!!
The next morning we headed to Dachau, which is the very first concentration camp that opened in Germany in 1933. It was an extremely moving experience for me, witnessing the roll-call square, walking through the "maintenance building", reading about the various horrific events & walking through a sample bunker.
After Dachau, we headed to the Olympic Stadium and BMW museum. I will admit, the BMW Welt was pretty awesome - they had a lot of gorgeous cars on display, some interactive simulations and games as well as a great display of BMW motorcycles upstairs. While Jon checked out the museum (there was just so much testosterone I could handle from the place), I enjoyed a delicious ice cream with the girls from Windsor. After we headed over to the Olympic Stadium and Olympic village area. Basically an athletes heaven; there were courts, tracks, pools, fields etc... just gorgeous! Munich is in the running for the 2018 Winter Olympics and will be the FIRST city to host a summer Olympics, winter Olympics AND World Cup. Fingers crossed that they get it!!
And that was Munich. We headed for another overnight train to Berlin, to continue our EuroTrip. I have to say, Munich was by far the BEST place I went to on this trip. 2 days WAS NOT ENOUGH. I plan on going back for a much longer stay and really soaking up the Bavarian culture. It is absolutely gorgeous, filled with so much history and culture and there is SO MUCH TO DO. Munich is a MUST! Servus for now...