In Munich we stayed with our friend Markus. Despite his busy schedule he was nice to let us use his couch for a few nights. It was really great to stay in a homey place instead of a hostel. Adding to the homey atmosphere was a cat, which Josh really enjoyed. After crashing at Markus’ we were ready for our first day in Munich. We decided to get a feel for the city by taking a free walking tour with the company New Europe. These tours were suggested to me by my friend Brette who used the company during her travels in Europe. The tour proved to be worthwhile.
We started in Marienplatz, the town square. The tour meets on the hour allowing the participants to watch the Glockenspiel, the town clock, give a little show. The music starts and a wedding party unfolds. After the wedding party two jousters take center stage, one represents Germany and the other France. Keeping in line with history the German jouster wins. The Glockenspiel goes on for about 15 minutes, but we didn’t stay for the whole show. I do have to say that the Glockenspiel definitely outdoes the clock in Prague.
The next stop on our tour was the Church of our Lady. This church has two tall onion domes, which define the Munich skyline; city ordinances prohibit building anything taller. In the back of the church is a footprint, which, according to tradition, belongs to the devil. It’s a long story, but the devil apparently had something to do with the building of the church.
As we continued our tour we passed Old Town hall and St. Peter’s church. Both buildings were bombed during WWII, but have since been restored.
Along the tour several Holocaust Memorials were pointed out; they were all small and almost unrecognizable as memorials. Luckily the tour guide was able to point quite a few out or we would’ve missed them. According to the tour guide, Munich has the attitude that it’s better to look towards the future rather than dwell on the past, and therefore doesn’t like large in-your-face memorials (this is quite the opposite of Berlin.)
Eventually the tour stopped for a break at a famous market, of which I forget the name, and I got my first view of a beer garden, pretty cool I guess.
After the break we walked down Munich’s most expensive shopping street where the so-called “Shicky-Mickies” (aka Yuppies) can be found. The street was lined with BMWs and Range Rovers. The stores ranged from Rolex to Prada.
At the end of this shopping road is the Residenz Palace. We didn’t go inside, but we did peak in through the window for a glance at the famous portrait gallery.
Afterwards we walked down the road where Hitler made his first demonstration. The tour guide was really informative and I learned a lot about WWII and the Third Reich.
At the end of our tour we joined the guide for beer and unlimited Bavarian soup. The soup was very good (I couldn’t identify the meat) and also very filling, there was no way I could’ve beat (or even tied) the five-bowl record.
We walked off our big lunch at the Englischer Garten. According to our guide book the park is typically filled with nude sunbathers. We didn’t find any, probably because it was a rainy day. What we did find was even more interesting. In the river we found a group of surfers. The city has created an area with big waves allowing for water sports in a land-locked city. The surfers were pretty good, but I don’t know if they’d survive the ocean.
On our second day in Munich we visited the concentration camp Dachau. Dachau was the first concentration camp, and the model for all the others. The memorial was full of information and stories, and we ended up spending our whole day there. The sights were chilling, but it was definitely worth the trip. The audio-guide led us through the camp, and also allowed us to listen to the prisoners’ first-hand accounts. After touring the camp there was also a museum to visit. Overall, I think the memorial is put together well, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to visit.
The next day we said goodbye to Markus (and the cat) and were on our way to Berlin. Instead of taking a train we drove. We picked up our Volkswagon Golf from Europcar and drove out of town.
The drive on the autobahn started off slow as we made our way through a long construction project. Honestly, I think we were driving slower than Manchester on a Saturday. Eventually the construction ended and we entered a no-speed-limit zone. The cars in the left lane were flying by us at speeds off about 150mph. It was intense. When I took my turn driving I was cruising at a cool 99mph.
Along the way to Berlin we stopped in the medieval town of Rothenburg. We didn’t have much time, but we were able to try the famous Schneeballs. Schneballs are fried dough-balls coated in candy. They sound much better than they taste. I didn’t finish mine, and I eat anything that’s sweet. Besides the Schneeballs Rotherburg was a pretty town with rows of colorful storefronts.
Besides our stop in Rothenburg nothing else of note took place along the drive. However, when we arrived in Berlin we were met with a big obstacle. We arrived at the East Train Station, our drop off location, at around 7:55 just in time for our 8 o’clock drop-off time. Unfortunately we couldn’t find the Europcar location. After looking around the train station I called the company. Instead of talking to a local worker I was connected to the corporate offices. The workers spoke little English and were quite rude. They informed us that the East Train Station didn’t have a drop off location, and we needed to make our way to the Main Train Station. They refused to give us driving directions, saying simply that they couldn’t help us further. Luckily we were able to connect to the internet and find directions online. We made it to the second train station (luckily before dark) and returned the car.
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