Munich!

Since our afternoon classes were canceled today, we took advantage of the extra hours (and of the "Bayern Ticket" which allows up to 5 people to travel within Bayern for a total of only 28 Euros) to head to one of Germany's most beautiful cities: Munich! I booked us a youth hostel for the night and Anna, Ellen, Donya and I took one of our best weekend trips yet.

Friday afternoon we wandered through the city, enjoyed gorgeous buildings and famous sites. Ellen guided us through the city with the help of her camera, which had pictures from the last time she visited Munich, three or four years ago.

Despite my fears (online bookings are always a little bit iffy!), our youth hostel ended up being great. Very clean, we had a room for the four of us, and 5 minutes walk from the center of Old Town, which was great for site seeing. We had dinner across from the main square and then sampled some local ice cream: the Orange Chocolate flavor was a big hit!

After a leisurely morning and some of the best pastries we've had yet, we went to the Deutsche Museum. Though the name makes it sound important, it really was a somewhat boring, hands-off science museum. We got huge discounts for being students, though, so we laughed our way through it and enjoyed the few things where you could "press buttons." My personal favorite was a weaving machine, where you had to pull the shuttle across the frame using the correct amount of friction.

Our afternoon adventure was much more successful, though. We had a late lunch at the Hofbrauhaus, which is one of Munich's main attractions. The place was HUGE inside and was absolutely packed with both tourists and regulars. Live music accompanied our search for a table.


Once we were seated, we perused the menu while the other girls ordered what the brewery is actually famous for: beer! One of the main attractions of the Hofbrauhaus is that you can order beer by the liter - a specialty which was not exactly to my taste. Here I am, sampling Anna's beverage (a disgrace to the German nation!):

My personal favorite memory from the Hofbrauhaus? A Bretzl (German pretzel) the size of my head!

After lunch, we climbed St Peter's Church, a church near the main square which allows you to look out over the entire city. I have to say that after touring quite a few cities this summer, climbing a tower is one of my favorite things to do. In Dresden it was the Frauenkirche, in Prague it was the clock tower, here, Peterskirche... it's a great way to get an "überblick" of the city - to see huge chunks of the city at a time.

But our time in Munich was short-lived, as evening drew nearer and the last train back to Bayreuth approached. We wandered through the city some more and Donya discovered the "coat of her dreams" in Benetton (a beautiful green fall coat which she later convinced her mother to let her buy).

Overall, the weekend was an incredible success and I would have to say that Munich was one of my favorite cities! Beautiful, clean, not overcrowded with tourists. The buildings are all quite quaint, in a grandiose sort of way. If I had to choose a city to spend more time in, Munich would definitely make my list!