Lisa and Niklas kindly escorted me to the station, where I got a Fernbus about 6 hours to Munich..the German countryside was beautiful :) whenever the bus would stop for a break id just have to follow the others, as the driver didn't speak a word of English lol
I planned to meet/stay with some friends of mum's cousin Maree..who had been unbelievably kind and offered to have me stay and show me around Munich :)
Well, I needn't have been so nervous going to stay with strangers..I got off the bus and was greeted with an Emily!, as though I was meeting an old friend :) Julian and I walked through Munich's main square past the impressive town hall before meeting Julian's brother Nico in the
Viktualienmarkts beer garden..my first bovarian beer garden! A place where people can bring their own food and enjoy a liter or two of delicious beer :P
As Julian had to leave, nico continued to show me around..we went up peterskirche church tower for an awesome view of Munich..to a cocktail bar for happy hour, had two GIANT cocktails, followed by a liter of beer and a massive pretzel at the Hofbrauhaus beer hall...and that was that!!
Woke up (a little hungover...) and went to mullers sches volksbad swimming hall,.a beautifully old place, kind of Greek inspired..checked out Gartnerplatzviertel (gay quarter of town), Munich university, the awesome Hofgarten - a garden the king built for people - Chinese tower (Chinesischer turm) in the huge English garden...chilled next to isar river for a bit, watched the people swim in the rapids, checked out the surfers surfing the artificial, backwards wave in the river..very cool :) walked passed the outdoor theatre (feldherrnhalle), Theatinerkirche church (king built for wife, as you do), Angel of peace (friedensengal), walked through Julian's favourite beer garden - where they watched all the World Cup games - and went home for a well deserved 2 hour nap (Julian really knows how to take someone sight seeing!!)...woke up, headed to Tollwood international hippie festival (lots of cool music, food, stalls) at Olympic park..walked around the park whereby Julian told me the hills were artificial and in fact had all the rubble from WWII buried under them :S....found some kangaroos in the play equipment, observed a creepy man riding a giant creepy snail then trekked home!!
As Julian had to work at the orphanage today ( Friday), Nico and I did a little more sightseeing together..saw the impressive Maximilianeum - parliament and where the top 20 or so smartest students in Munich stay - chilled in the English garden (saw some naked people I wish I didn't see...) walked along horse tracks (in the middle of Munich!), had lunch on Greek temple (monopteros) then walked back home as nico had to work at the gym..I biked to kleinhesseloher see (big lake) in the English garden and just chilled and read my book..dinner and an early night!
Today..we went to a castle (Neuschwanstein)! A couple of hours train ride to Füssen to the Castle that inspired the Walt Disney castle..so amazing!! Trekked up there for awesome views, got tickets to go in the castle but not until later..so we went back down, met up with some of Julian's friends and I had my first german doona kebab (yum!) in the lovely little village of Füssen..then we headed back up to the castle for our guided tour..in English, even though I was with three Germans :P got absolutely drenched in the rain! But the castle was AMAZING..only a third is completed as the last bovarian king, king Ludwig II, died (under suspicious circumstances....) before it was finished..but soooo much detail..'twas beautiful..
Got a lift back to Munich and then went to Olympic park to watch some fireworks..which were pretty cool, considering it was raining :P I'd planned to make the guys dinner but we didn't get home til about midnight..woops :S
Nico got up early with me to escort me to the fernbus to head to Basel, Switzerland, where I was to meet Maike and her family to head to Italy....an awesome stay in Munich, would've liked to have stayed longer!!
