Munich

Hey all,
I have spent the last two days in Munich. After arriving in my hostel in the afternoon I went out to dinner & then headed to the Hofbrau house with a guy from my hostel. It was hard to find a seat, but we managed and stayed for a beer, now one beer does sound a little bit pussy but you have to keep in mind that a beer there is 1 litre big. The Hofbrau house is Germany´s most famous beer hall, it can fit hundred and hundreds of people. 3 kinds of beers are dished out by beer ladies and gents who are able to carry about 12 of them at a time. I had even trouble lifting the one I had up to my mouth. It is rather touristy but it is great fun.

(The Baveria Maypole - Dedicated to Beer)

The next morning I was up and did a walking tour of Munich, we started at the Marienplatz to watch the rather lame Glockenspiel go off, we then walked around learning about the history of the city, before and during the wars, as well as the history and importance of beer, we visited churches, the market which was full of lovely food, I had to settle with cheese and bread as German food (schnitzel and sausages) is not very vegetarian friendly, we saw the local may-pole. We also saw the opera house, royal family residences as well as visited the streets were the Nazi´s started attempted to first take power by treason and physical means before their rise to political power.

(Glockenspeil in the Marienplatz)

That night it was back to the Hofbrau House (I figured I was failing my country by just having one there) a guy from the walking tour and I headed back. I know it is criticized for being touristy but it has a great atmosphere with a cheesy band of fat Germans in Lederhosen, as well as tables reserved for locals, who have their own steins put in a locker for them & when they return they are presented with beer in their own mug. The staff of usually slim but busty German girls carry more than their weight in beer and there are young girls selling those big German Pretzels. This time I managed 2.5 litres of beer, we had a good night as at our table were lots of rowdy German teenagers from the countryside in town for the night out.

(Enjoying Beer at the Hofbrau House)

The next day was Sunday so it was rather quiet in town, I went for a walk in the park which was beautiful it being rather cold the parks beer garden (one of the worlds biggest) was empty but I was hoping to find Munich's surfing hot-spot. That´s right! Surfing. There is no coastline but there is a stationary wave in the park where lots of German surf dudes hang 10. I didn´t find it though. I climbed one of the church towers to get a great view of the city and with all that walking I then retired to my hostel.

Tomorrow I am off to the black-forest!!!!