Today started out just as any other day does. We woke up early and ate breakfast at the hotel. I woke up a little later than I would have liked so I had to wolf down eggs and bread before we headed to Munich. Instead of taking a bus, we took one of the local trains to our destination. It was way more spacious than the buses and also very comfortable. I did not get much sleep last night, so I took the train ride as an opportunity to take a quick 30 minute nap. However, I was woken up many times to my friends messing around with me by taking pictures of me while I was sleeping (I still looked good in them).
We arrived in Munich and immediately started walking around it. The city is way bigger than Augsburg and has so much history and things to see. We explored many sights like the world’s first Hofbräuhaus. It was first created as the brewery (brauhaus) for the royal family (hof), and has three floors, an outside area, and the brewery. They served many items like beer, huge pretzels, and other typical German foods. Today the local soccer club Bayern Munich played a game in the german league (Bundesliga), and this made the brewery extra crowded. There were fans everywhere inside and out of the building, eating and drinking and singing their clubs’ chants. We then looked at the New Town Hall in Munich. This beautiful building was constructed more than a century ago and is very special to the city. It of course serves as its town hall, but it also provides a very special show at noon for spectators. It is called the Glockenspiel, and it shows important scenes from Munich’s history, like the wedding of Duke Wilhelm V to Renate of Lorraine in 1568. It also shows the famous “Schäfflertanz” dance, which was celebrated by the barrel makers of Munich many ages ago that symbolized the end of the black plague in Munich. These shows are done under the cacophony of bells from the many churches that are located around the New Town Hall and add an atmosphere of importance and symbolism to the attraction.
We then headed to the clock tower that was situated a block or two away from the main plaza. We paid the entrance fee and climbed over 300 stairs to get to the top of the tower, where we had an amazing view of the entire city and beyond. However, the top of this tower was filled, and it became really hard to walk around the tower to see the entire city. We spent about 45 minutes at the top by the end of it, but it was very much worth it because of the amazing view of the city. At this point of the day my phone unfortunately died, so I had to start being extra cautious with knowing where the group was so that I wouldn’t get lost. We finally traveled on foot to grab dinner at a local vegan restaurant then headed back home through the trains. Tomorrow we tour Dachau, a concentration camp from World War II, see you soon!
