Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Munich by night...It's all I managed to see!

Munich (München) – Home of October Fest- but the Beer flows all Year!
I arrived late in Munich and checked into my hostel. I had a cute little Canadian roomie who was rushing around, getting ready to go out. Having not gone out in ages, not exactly true, but I’d been traveling alone four days now and really needed to get out, next thing you know we’re on the subway headed for the world famous Hofbräuhaus. It’s very well known but I only heard of it that night! When we got there it was full of rowdy groups drinking and toasting (Prost! -in German) with their 1 Liter (jugs) of beer.



We circled the room looking for seats and settled in with two German girls at a table in the middle of the main room. Later the German girls made friends with a group of British guys and our party kept growing…
I have to admit that I did not step foot in a single museum or tour any of the palaces in Munich. I took a tour one morning but it was so cold, the rain was actually more like sleet, and I had trouble concentrating on the facts (plus it was hard to see all the tall buildings from under my hat and hood!). After lunch and once I had thawed I spent the afternoon wandering the grounds of the Schloss Nymphenburg which was very picturesque. There were tons of locals out jogging and swans everywhere. It was a really nice park that you could walk around for hours taking different trails through the forest and around the ponds. On the way home I decided to stay on the tram around town to see the sights (cheap and warm!)


From the tram I saw a Mexican restaurant and just had to go there! I had already past so a few stops later I got off and transferred to take the tram back in the other direction. After I ordered the table next to me invited me to join them as they spoke English and two of the three spoke German. We quickly hit it off and I had a great dinner and drinks with my new friends! (P.S. by the end of dinner I rolled an RRR for the first time in my life! Ha, thanks guys!)


















The next day I took a day trip to the Neuschwanstein Castle – 2 hours south of Munich. It was a great day and touring the castle was one of my favorite parts of the trip. King Ludwig II put so many ornate details into the castle that made it unlike anything you’d ever seen (unless of course you’ve seen the Disney castle which copied his design!) he wanted to live in a fairy tale and that is exactly what he achieved.

Back in the city I met up with my new friend Marco and his buddies for dinner and drinks at a sports bar that tourists would never find! I love hanging out with the locals, even if they try teaching me dirty Bavarian slang! Holydeviphe! (no idea how to spell it!)

Basically I used Munich as a home base to take day trips and enjoy the nightlife -it was perfect!

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