Out of every activity and excursion planned on our itinerary, our free day in Munich was the day I was most looking forward to! I love the rush and excitement of a big city. I think all big cities feel familiar in a way, but they also have very stark differences.

To get to Munich, we took the train for the first time which I really enjoyed! In my past trips abroad, this was the most frequent form of transportation, so I really enjoyed the 45 minute ride to the city. Our first stop was the Rathaus-Glockenspiel which was located in the heart of the city center. We timed it perfectly to get there just before 11am to see the Glockenspiel clock show. There were lots of bells and moving parts inside the massive building, and it was fun to be standing with a large group of people all excited to witness the same thing.

In order to see as much as possible with our short amount of time in Munich, a large group of us first stopped at the Residence and it’s adjacent gardens on our way to the Eisbach river where people surf the naturally occurring waves. At both of these spots, I was surprised by how lush and green the outskirts of the immediate city-center were.

After this our group split off into a couple smaller ones to grab lunch and do some highly anticipated shopping. I got schnitzel at a grab-and-go shop in the city, and then we made our way to Brandy Melville where I was so excited to find a Munich hat that I immediately put on to wear the rest of the day. I continued walking around to stores other people wanted to pop in, and before we knew it, it was time to meet at the fountain for our walking tour of the city!

Our tour guides name was Hildren, and she taught us so much about 20th century history that occurred right in Munich. My favorite part of the tour was seeing the “golden path” where the cobblestones were painted to commemorate the bravery of German’s who used this side street to avoid having to give a Nazi salute. Just at the end of the tour on our way to dinner, it started to downpour and hail, so we stopped for cover and then booked it to the restaurant. A burger and sweet potato fries has never tasted better in my life. Before taking the train home, we stopped at the grocery store since they are all closed on Sundays. I got more of my favorite Milka chocolate, and said a very sad goodbye to a city I didn’t get quite enough time in. If I ever get the chance, I will definitely be back to Munich!