Today was our first day with no company visit. We took a train and arrived at Munich around 11am. From there we walked over to the Marienplatz where we watched the Glockenspiel show which has animatronics moving around. From there we started our guided tour around the city. We walked around many parts of the city looking around at all the different types of architecture while she explained the significance behind it. I found it very interesting hearing about the history and how things were post WWII.
There were many buildings I liked in Munich but the twin clock towers were my favorite. I really liked the open space around them to be able to get a clear view of them. There were a couple of places I really would have liked to see, but there was not a ton of time to accomplish everything I wanted. For example, Allianz Arena has been something I have really wanted to see, but the bus ride there and back would’ve taken up most the day.
After the tour we separated and got lunch at a traditional German restaurant. Here I got roast beef with a potato dumpling. I have found it very interesting trying to order food so far, but today we had our Augsburg student friend Maxi with us. He was able to help me order and it is safe to say this was the easiest it has been ordering food.
For the rest of the free time we walked around trying to buy souvenirs for ourselves and family. I bought a Munich shirt for myself, and since my family reads these I am going to leave out what I got for them! Lastly we finished our time in Munich by eating at Hans im Gluck. It is an American style German restaurant where we all got burgers. I got a blue cheese burger that was very good but in my opinion, it is not as good as the burgers back home. Afterwards we took the train back to Augsburg. On the train we talked to Maxi about how things are in Germany and his views on the United States. We also talked about his plans for the future while he also told us some German phrases. I have a lot of fun talking about things like this with all of the German students, but Maxi in particular has talked to us the most and I have really enjoyed it. This is for sure something I am going to miss, but I am excited to have more experiences like this before the trip ends!
-Jason