Today was by far one of the most memorable and equally as busy! We started the day bright and early at the Augsburg train station. We set off for Munich at around 9am. The 40-minute train ride was smooth and we arrived at Munich close to 10am. Setting foot off of the train was an interesting contrast to the station in Augsburg. The Munich train station was chaotic and buzzing with people going every which way. People watching was absolutely immaculate! Clutching my bag close to me, we existed the station and made our way to the town hall center where we met up with our incredibly knowledgable tour guide for the day.
The tour of Munich was two hours long but it flew by. The tour began at the New Town Hall which hosts the city government including city council offices. This historical building had a large mechanical clock located inside the building that is called The Rathaus-Glockenspiel. 43 bells and 32 life-size figures were added during the construction of the New Town Hall in 1908. Every day at 11 am and 12 pm the clock re-enacts two stories from Munich’s history. At 11 am, we watched this 15 minute performance then proceeded to walk through the entire city.
During this tour, we made several stops to the most notable and historic parts of the city. One of the most interesting things we saw was a Michael Jackson shrine were fans put up photos of the late American star directly across from the hotel that he stayed at while he toured in Munich. I never expected to see such a sight in a German city especially since it has nearly been two decades since Jackson passed.
One of my other favorite sites that we visited was the Eisbachwelle, the largest center for river surfing in the world. Located at the entrance to the Englishcher Garten this spot attracts surfers from all around the world. We stopped and watched a couple of surfers ride the man-made wave. Most were only able to ride the wave for a couple of seconds, but some stayed afloat for awhile. It was a random and unexpected spot for surfing but it was definitely one of my favorite sites in the city!
After our tour concluded, I went to the original Hofbrauhaus! It was so cool to go here as we have one in Pittsburgh that I grew up eating at. It was interesting to compare the food that I ate in the Munich location compared to in Pittsburgh. A live band was performing traditional German music while we sat and ate. The paintings on the walls of the restaurant were filled with impressive detail and beauty.
After eating, we continued to walk around and shop. I spent way too much money on souvenirs and clothes. We ate a group dinner at a hamburger restaurant and it was so satisfying after a long day of walking and exploring. We headed back to the train station around 8 pm and took off for Augsburg. I slept so well that night after walking over 20,000 steps. Today was a wonderful day Munich is easily one of my favorite cities in the world.