Today was our last full day in Germany, and we had a free day to do whatever we wanted (as long as we stay in the country). Yesterday we bought train tickets for Munich, so that was the plan for the day. 

Fortunately, one of the German students, Mattias, came with us to help show us around. When we arrived in Munich, he took us down by the river, where locals were lounging on the stone beach. As we walked towards English Gardens, we even saw a few nudists! English Gardens is the largest metropolitan park in Europe, and the 2nd largest in the world. It’s home of a couple beer gardens, swimming in the river, boating on the lake, and my favorite: river surfers. We watched the river surfers for at least 20 minutes before heading off to the Chinese Tower beer garden, one of the largest in Munich. Beer gardens are very different than anything we have in America – a giant self-serve restaraunt outdoors that seats thousands of people. We got lunch here, and then it started to pour so we hopped on a bus and Mattias helped us find our way back downtown.

Our fun day in Munich was cut short by the rain, but we made it back in time to spend one more night with some German friends.