Hey bloggers! Today we spent the whole day in Munich, and it was so much fun. It was nice to get outside of Augsburg and be able to explore another amazing city. It was so big and awesome, and I hope I can explain as much as possible.
Our morning started with hotel breakfast, but I only had two mini baguettes and a hard-boiled egg because I slept in as much as I could. They were really good and enough to fill me up until lunch. We then headed to the train station in order to get to Munich. The train is very efficient and it was nice to relax and talk about all the fun memories from this past week. When we reached Munich, we got off the train at the train station, which was our first time there. It is really big and has a lot of trains heading to different locations. Everyone is rushing to their train and it is full of action.
Once we finally got outside the train station, I was amazed. The city is so much bigger than Augsburg and is like the New York City of Germany. There are a ton of stores, souvenir shops, restaurants, tourist attractions, street performers, etc. What makes it better than New York City is there are so little roads, the buildings are more spread out, and the historic infrastructure makes it special and mesmerizing.
We started our day in Munich with a city tour given by a Munich resident. She pointed out all the historic landmarks, including the Rathaus (town hall), the Glockenspiel (town hall clock), the original Hofbräuhaus brewery, the market (main food eating area), St. Peter’s church, Maximillianstraße (main street), the parliament building, the first royal family residence, etc. The city overall has a very historic look to it with all the many old buildings and when you turn every corner there is at least one beautiful building.
The Munich town hall is the most complex historical landmark I have ever seen in my life. It is so beautiful and one of the only original structures left in Germany after all the bombings. Above the town hall is the town hall clock and at noon, we saw the traditional mid-day carousel that plays every day. It is such a great tradition as the mini statues run on a timer and dance for a few minutes. In front of the town hall is also a statue of St. Mary, the saint of Munich.
The original Hofbräuhaus is so big. It is not just a restaurant but also has two other levels and is an awesome tourist attraction. As Bayern Munich had a big soccer game today, the brewery was packed and full of enthusiast fans. In Germany, soccer games are a big deal and everyone comes together to watch the games. Throughout the day, the Bayern fans were singing and cheering.
During our tour we passed the English Garden and there is one small wave section where surfers are surfboarding on it. It was really cool seeing a bunch of surfers surfing on this lake in the middle of the city. We also passed horse-drawn carriages and police on horses. Throughout the tour I realized that the city is pretty historic, but stays modern with all the luxury stores and street entertainers all over.
After the amazing tour, we had the rest of the day to ourselves. With about 4 hours to ourselves, all the guys first got lunch in the market. I tried curry wurst for the first time, which is a kind of sausage, and had fries on the side. It was actually really good and pretty cheap. I really liked the sauce and seasoning that was put on it and it is now one of my top German foods.
We then headed straight to St. Peter’s church and climbed the clock tower. The clock tower took forever to climb up, as we walked up about 330 stairs. The climb was worth the pain as we were able to see everything in the middle of the city. From above, you can see just how big Munich is, as you can’t even see when the city ends.
After the amazing view, we walked around the city and explored. We did a lot of shopping but not a lot of spending. There are so many luxury stores nearby and the clothes are very expensive. We did end up buying gelato ice cream twice, once at two different shops. After all the ice cream I’ve eaten the past couple of days, I have come to the conclusion that no other ice cream compares to German gelato.
Once it was dinner time, we all came together as a group again and went to this burger restaurant. I got a lemonade with a cheese and bacon burger and sweet potato fries. The food was good but the burger wasn’t as good as American burgers. I feel it is hard for European restaurants to please Americans because of how unhealthy we eat back at home, as everything is greasy and fatty.
Our day finally came to an end after dinner and we took the train back to the hotel. Tonight, we have the evening to have fun in Augsburg! Tomorrow, we head over to Dachau and take a tour of a concentration camp…
Nicholas Monetti