Beer, Beer, and More Beer

This early train business was starting to get to us as we downed our Starbuck's coffee and blueberry muffins hoping for a surge of energy. It was 6:50am and our train for Munich was leaving in two minutes. The coffee barely made a dent in our exhaustion so about an hour in to the ride Caitlin and I both were out for the count. I think Caitlin was a little more successful than I was in catching up on sleep, but drifting in and out of sleep wasn't so bad either considering the views of the German countryside consisting of aged farmhouses and rolling fields of bright yellow and lush green.

Sadly, Munich itself was not so beautiful when we arrived. It was cold and rainy, and my annoying runny nose and progressively worse cough weren't making it any better. We didn't arrive until late afternoon/early evening, so we headed straight for our hostel to crash and recover in order to prepare ourselves for the next day's tour of Munich.

After thoroughly enjoying the ease, company, and informative nature of our free walking tour of Berlin, we decided to go on the same company's free tour of Munich as well. Our guide this time was Irish (we loved every minute of his accent), and he did just as admirably, if not more so, as our last tour guide in Berlin. With numb toes and jacket hoods pulled tightly to our faces, we shuffled through the drizzle to the main historical and cultural monuments in Munich. We also had to deal with a few extra thousand people in Munich for some religious holiday that only occurs every 5 years. We still aren't clear on the name of this festival, but it definitely brought out all the festive Catholics in Germany.

I could bore you with all of the names of these places that you did not see and probably have very little meaning to you, but I'll spare you and just mention some of my favorites.
1.) The Glockenspiel: This is the place we started our tour, and it has to go on the list because as our guide mentioned, "it is the 2nd most overrated tourist attraction in Europe." Basically it is a giant clock on a really old building that chimes at 11am everyday. Just under the clock are a bunch of life-size figurines in lederhosen and medieval garb that dance and joust around in a circle at snails pace in a celebratory beating of the French while terribly out of tune bells chime. Who couldn't resist seeing that?!
2.) The Hofbrauhaus: This is the oldest beer hall in Bavaria, which interestingly or disgustingly did not originally have any bathrooms but troughs that ran underneath the tables that men could easily urinate in without leaving the table. I was very disturbed at this thought especially when considering the smell and splash factor, but also a little impressed by the efficiency. Luckily for us women, they now have bathrooms and actually allow us in for a drink. It is also the beer hall frequented by Hitler, although that is definitely not the reason it is revered so much here.
3.The Viktualienmarkt: This is a famous market in the middle of the city with stalls selling everything from pickles to potpourri. Apparently it is asparagus season since every stall had the popular thick, white stalks that  Germans love to eat like candy. Of course having no way to cook said asparagus, Caitlin and I had a go at a good old bratwurst and mustard, and it was delicious.
4. Memorial to the German Resistance: Memorials to the Holocaust and Nazi era are minimalist here. They are hardly noticable unless you know where to look, and that is how Munich wants it. They don't want WWII to define the city, but thez want reminders for those who need it and those who deserve it.  One such monument is a narrow, meandering path of gold bricks about a foot wide that runs down the length of the alleyway. In short, some Germans who needed to get between the two main squares would take this alleyway in order to avoid saluting the SS officers stationed at a plaque memorilizing the Nazis and Hitler's "successful" Beer Hall Putsch near the entrance to one of the main squares. Germans would purposefully take this alleyway as a sort of passive resistance to Hitler. Hitler soon caught on, however, and began stationing secret SS officers in the alleyway to arrest those trying to avoid the salute. Many of these people were thrown into Dachau for this simple act of resistance.

There were many more sites I could mention, but even I can't remember them all...mostly because they are in German. After our day tour, we decided to take a few hours break and then join another tour with the same company called the "beer challenge." Basically they take you to some of the local beer gardens and beer halls, which are not only a part of the culture, but THE culture in Munich. They are very proud of their beer here, and it wouldn't be right for us to leave this city without sampling a few steins of beer. Where else can you go and find a church built entirely with the proceeds from beer? Munich, of course. As a city, Munich has a happy-go-lucky exterior, but its deep scars left by the third reich are never far from your mind.