Day 20-21 Munich

So it is goodbye to Athens and hello to Beer, I mean Munich. Maybe now James will stop using his ridiculous German accent he has been using this entire trip, probably not. I’m stoked to see Germany for a bunch of different reasons but one I know all of us are looking forward to is cooler weather!

Day 1

We took an early morning flight from Athens to Munich, just another flight in the books. From the air we could tell we were in for a big change of pace. Lush green land stretched as far as the eye could see, windmills, lakes, snow topped mountains, and storm clouds! All things we hadn’t seen in quite awhile.

Patiently awaiting departure


Entering the Deutschland


Because we took an early morning flight our hotel wasn’t ready for our check-in so we had time to burn. We left our bags in the deposit and headed for the subway or the “tube” as everyone else seems to call it. The concierge told us about a street fair so that was our destination. The fair was in the Freiheit area and it was called the Leopold Street Fair.

The street was lined with all the beer, food, and worthless junk you could ever imagine. There were live bands playing and street performers walking the streets, I must say what some find amusing out here I find intensely frightening. I drank several different beers all claiming to be Germany’s finest and ate three different kinds of bratwurst’s… I could live off this stuff back home.

These things will haunt my dreams


One of the bands (Makes us miss our favorite rockstar Michael Morris)


After a few hours at the street fair and enough beer to put me into a bit of a coma we headed back to check-in to the hotel for real this time. We all relaxed in the room for a bit and took what we intended to be a power nap. However time got away from us a bit and we slept for a few hours. So we all popped up and headed into city center for dinner, drinks, and just to walk around. We didn’t last too long and we were going to need rest because we are doing a bike tour tomorrow! Gotta get my Lance Armstrong on.


Day 2

With some handy BlackBerry work I was able to locate the #1 rated bike tour in all of Munich which started at 11:30AM. James and I got up and headed downstairs for breakfast and I must admit I have been craving cereal. So I loaded up on a bowl of Alaska Flakes, high class Frosted Flakes I guess. We geared up and headed for Marienplatz, the city center of Munich and home of the new town hall.

Marienplatz “St. Mary’s Square” and the New Town Hall


After browsing around a bit we were able to locate our tour guide Jolly, the name fit this Aussie perfectly. We had what he said was his largest group ever, at around 30 I’d say, which made for an interesting ride especially after the biergarten or beer garden.

Jolly the guide


The bike tour was definitely the best way to see Munich. We got to see so many things, all the while having a guide with us and plenty of people to befriend. We basically saw the entire city but a few places stuck out to me the most.

My favorite was Odeonsplatz which is a major square in Munich that holds the most beautiful church in the city as well as the Royal Palace. In the 1920’s before Hitler was in power he marched his troops through this square and an altercation broke out with Police in which 16 Nazi’s were killed, Hitler was jailed soon after and this is when he wrote Mein Kampf. Once Hitler reigned over Germany he returned here and erected a huge swastika in Odeonsplatz and everyone was to salute it. Bavarians were resistant however and would walk down a back alley called “Evader’s Alley” or “Dachau Alley” after the first concentration camp to be liberated by the Allied Forces in WWII.

Odeonsplatz Monument (the far left opening is where the swastika stood)


“Evader’s Alley” (Notice the golden snake)


My next favorite would have to be the Hofbrauhaus, which is supposedly the world’s greatest pub. Hitler used to drink here and give speeches, Bavarian crests cover the walls where swastikas used to lay. Some other cool places include the Chinese Biergarten and the English Garden which makes Central Park look like a playpen. Oh and another spot that holds a special place especially for James and I is called the Surf Spot, obviously there is no ocean close to here but the locals make due with water that comes raging out of a dam and creates a pretty intense little swell. I almost forgot to mention James kicked my mudflap in after we drank at the beer garden and my bike came to a complete stop while the pedal cut my leg open and left a gnarly bruise… I didn’t feel much at the time.


Hofbrauhaus


Chinese Biergarten (beer garden)


Surf Spot


Some other spots I really enjoyed in Munich included the Olympic Village and Stadium and seeing in person all the places involved in the kidnapping of the Israeli athletes during the 1972 Olympic games. Another spot was the monument to the leaders of the White Rose Movement, which was an anti-nazi propaganda campaign. Their names were Sophie and Hans and instead of fleeing when discovered Hans ran to the top of the university and tossed every pamphlet he had left down on the Gestapo and students who had gathered due to the commotion. Oh and I have to mention the BMW Museum, I wish I had more money!

Munich Stadium


White Rose Monument


My next purchase BMW HP2 Sport


So day two has been pretty jam packed and you’d think it is over right? So did we. James and I made a last second decision to just go straight to the Hofbrauhaus and instead get a beer and dinner. One beer turned into two and soon enough we had met an intensely drunk Austrian named Ansgard (spelling?) followed by meeting an entire pub crawl of people from the UK, Australia, Spain, Ireland, and two kids from San Francisco. We ended up joining the pub crawl and befriending a few English girls who are convinced life in California is exactly like The OC. When I told them I played sports and dated a cheerleader in High School they were absolutely fascinated.

James and Ansgard (sorry for drunk photo)


First cheers on our new pub crawl


So now you really think the night is over… again so did we. Everyone from the pub crawl dispersed and James and I somehow met a group of Germans in the subway station as we discovered the subway was closed. So we headed with them towards a taxi and they talked us into heading to another bar with them. These six Bavarians were the coolest Europeans we have encountered our entire trip, they took us to the most underground dive bar I have ever seen and we didn’t pay for a single beer all night. I honestly felt like we were in a bat cave with not a single tourist around but at no time did we feel uncomfortable at all. This was the absolute best day hands down of the entire trip.

The Germans


My favorite wouldn’t let me take a picture!


Schwabinger 7 (entrance)


James passing out like a baby after terrorizing everyone while blacked out


Munich was and probably will remain the greatest time we’ve had while in Europe. We couldn’t find a bad beer if we tried, the people were all awesome, and the history certainly applied more to a WWII buff like myself.