I’ve been looking forward to seeing the big city area of Germany for a while. After spending time in a smaller city suburb I wanted to see the sites everyone speaks of. We took the train into Munich which was very comparable to my travels from home (NJ) into (NYC). The train reminded me of New Jersey transit, not the cleanest, but comfortable enough to get you from one place to another. After an hour we were in the heart of Munich, which looked a bit different than I thought it would. I was expecting something similar to New York City with skyscrapers, shopping, restaurants, and people pushing around each other. What I found was very historic and colorful, intricate architecture with many churches, the scenery was very nice, it didn’t feel like a US city. There were only a few skyscrapers outside the main city areas. I saw PWC as we trained out of Munich. I was reminded of New York with the layout of shopping and big US brands that were there like Brandy Melville, Urban Outfitters, Zara, and H&M. There were a lot of tourists and some traffic, but not nearly as much as New York. I knew they were tourists because there were many different languages I heard around me: English, Spanish, Chinese, and German.
The first attraction we saw was the Rathaus-Glockenspiel, which was a massive structure whose design looked rustic and historic. We waited there for a while to see the clock strike 11 and the Glockenspiel perform with bell songs and moving parts throughout, it looked like every tourist was there watching. After, we stopped by the Residence and walked into the courtyard which was decorated nicely with tiles and designs on the walls. On our way out we walked into the garden there, which had a gazebo with many benches and a lot of greenery, it reminded me of something I have seen in a movie. The Eisbach river was next on our list to watch people river surf in the waves. It was fun to see something very out of the ordinary, sort of like a small show. I also got to have a Bavarian ½ roast chicken with potato salad, which was the best German meal I had eaten thus far. The chicken was cooked well and the salad was lemony rather than a ton of mayonnaise. Some post lunch shopping damage was also done, we walked into some stores that we have in America, but they were all much bigger, and cheaper to pay in Euros which was nice.
We finished the day with a tour from Hildren, she took us to various landmarks, churches, and sites that encompass the rich history of Bavaria and Munich. Landmarks like the Theatinerkirche Church and Munich Residence are Baroque and date back to early Bavaria showcasing its time. There were also many roads named after people who were prominent in Bavarian history like Wittelsbach and Ludwig. Roads were also named after people who tragically passed away in concentration and death camps. There is also a memorial commemorating the victims of this tragedy as well. Munich embraces its history and teaches people through its landscape and heavy connections to its Bavarian roots.