Day 53: Munich, Germany

We weren't really sure what to expect from Munich, but it turned out to be a good decision to go there. We learned a lot and met some pretty great people.

Today we hung around the whole day with two girls from Northern Ireland. I was confused for a good part of the day because I didn't realize they were both named Emma.

We starting with joining the walking tour organized by our hostel. Our guide was actually really good and the history of Munich is really interesting. We went to the Viktualienmarkt, the largest market in Germany and I had a pickle. Was pretty tasty. Then we headed to the Marienplatz where we saw the Rathaus-Glockenspiel that chimes at noon and re-enacts two stories from the history of Munich. Also made our way to the Odeonplatz, Hofbräuhaus (popular beer hall), Peterskirche (church) and Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady) that apparently has the Devil's footprint.

There is a story where the devil made a deal with an architect of the church because he ran out of money. Apparently, the devil said he could have the church finished with no cost to the architect, as long as their were no windows and the church would be dark. At the end, there were many windows and the devil wasn't happy so he stomped his foot and left a footprint on the floor in the church. Some other interesting things we learned on the walking tour:

(1) On the building where all the royals lived, they started with brick on the front and it was really nice, but by the time they got to the side of the building, they ran out of money so they decided to paint the rest to make it look like brick.

(2) One of their buildings (Opera House) caught fire so since they had an abundance of beer, they decided to try and put it out that way, but turned out beer was flammable and they got so thirsty from the heat that the beer hardly made it there anyways.

(3) The Nazis took power in Munich and every resident couldn't walk down the street where 16 of them were killed during battle without paying their respects and doing to Nazi salute. They would be sent to the camps if they didn't pay their respects or took the street parallel to avoid it.

After the tour, we went to the English Gardens and found our way to the famous Chinese Beer Garden. It was pretty neat and we ate lunch. We had red bratwurst sausages (so good), schnitzel and potato wedges with a really good sour cream dip.

Before we went to the Hofbräuhaus, we went to the BMW Welt museum which was really cool. We got to see Elvis' car and the history of BMW. We then went to the Olympic park and stadium that was established for the 1972 Olympic Games. The park was really nice and we enjoyed the view from the peak.

The Hofbräuhaus is like no other. It's PACKED with people and you have to sit with whoever you can to get a seat. The smallest beers they have is a litre. People are dancing, singing, chanting, eating and of course drinking. It's something you have to see for yourself.

Of course, we needed to eat after so we all stopped at Pizza Hut and had a late snack (or dinner) before heading back the hostel. We worked hard on trying to convince the girls to come to Montreal, so hopefully they will visit.Read more