Steins, pretzels and heat pretty much sum up the last few days I spent in Munich. And what an awesome few days it has been! Munich is definitely up there with some of my favourite cities in the world! Lederhosens and Oom-pa-pa bands were everywhere, beer gardens catered to thousands and giant pretzels were available on every corner!
My first day I discovered the city through a walking tour. Even saw the Glockenspiel - voted the second most overrated tourist attraction in the Europe. Then spent the afternoon with new friends in the Viktualien Markt beer garden eating bratwurst and pretzels and having my first stein of Bavarian local beer, available only in this region! The night gave me some practice for Oktoberfest with a beer crawl where a large number of us accidentally consumed a stein of 12% beer ensuring we were all very good friends by the end of the night! The next night was spent in the Hofbrauhaus with one of said new friends. Good ole facebook bringing drunken backpackers together! Hofbrauhaus - the most famous pub in the world!
However, the second daytime was a very sobering experience with a trip to the Dachau Memorial. An extremely dark side in Germany's history. However, the open honesty of the state in educating, not only its citizens but the rest of the world, is impressive. Despite the horrible atrocities committed under the Nazi regime the succeeding governments have done their best to ensure that this part of history is not forgotten. Dachau is no longer considered a place of suffering but a place of remembrance and freedom.
Considering this summer was the hottest in 20 years, me and few others chose to spend my last day to chilling out in the English Gardens on the 38degree day. Geez, we weren't expecting what we found!! Thousands of people, a makeshift surfing area and a rapid river perfect for jumping into (despite the DANGER DEATH warning)! I didn't try the surfing (they were definitely all pros). I did jump in the river! Not going to lie, I was extremely worried about where I would end up as it was next to impossible to jump out for most of the river! A few bumps and scrapes later it was one the funnest things I've ever done!
As sad as I am to leave Munich behind, I'm now driving into Prague and excited for what the next city brings! (Spoiler Alert: Prague is apparently home to the first most overrated tourist attraction in Europe!).
