Saturday was pretty much a free day. We departed from Augsburg via train to Munich to spend the day there. Munich, like the other cities we visited was welcoming with a historic atmosphere. With a population over one million, the city obviously felt much larger than the other Bavarian cities we visited. There was far more hustle and bustle as well as a much larger tourist population in the scenic parts of the city. We were given a few hours of free time in the city and the first stop was lunch. We were recommended to go to the Augustiner Stammhaus. It felt like the equivalent of a German Cheesecake Factory. The restaurant itself was enormous and the menu is printed in 7 languages since it is such an attractive spot for tourists in downtown Munich. After lunch, me and a few of the guys went to the park and saw the court gardens. The Englischer Garden walk was nice, lush walking trails around rapid water system running through the park that you can apparently swim in. 

After the walk through the park, we met up with some other students at a restaurant to watch the Bundesliga games. The local team, FC Bayern had already clinched the top spot in the table but, there were important games for seeding around the league on too. It was a cool experience to see what a day of soccer looks like. At the Irish pub we were at I probably saw fans from 5-10 teams and everyone there is very passionate about their club and no one is afraid of some friendly banter with a fan of another team. As the 5 o’clock bell rang in the glockenspiel, we headed back to center city to meet with the whole group for dinner. We went to a smash burger restaurant where we were able to see the German’s ability to make ‘American’ food. I was pleasantly surprised with the meal, the Germans indeed make a tasty burger. 

Munich was a great experience and I could see myself going back at some point. I feel like I could’ve spent several days there. Munich has world-class museums like the Deutsches museum which presents the history of natural sciences. I think it would also be cool to experience the cultural festivals they have in the city, like Oktoberfest or see an FC Bayern game at the Allianz Arena. Overall, I think Munich is the perfect representation of Bavaria, it has the historical sites, old family restaurants, and Munich encapsulates the cultural richness of Bavaria.