Monday, October 20, 2008

In The Land Of Umlauts


Munich
Originally uploaded by currtdawg
We woke up Sunday morning, threw our stuff in the truck, and punched Munich into the GPS. It was a short drive, and we made it to our hostel by 10:30. Upon check-in, we found out there was a guided walking tour of the city that left at 11. It ended up being one of the best things we did the entire trip.


Munich
Originally uploaded by currtdawg
Our tour guide was Auzzie, who was originally from Canada, but had Bavarian roots and plenty of knowledge about Munich and its history.


Glockenspiel
Originally uploaded by currtdawg
Munich is a very Catholic city, and since it was Sunday, most of the shops were closed; but there was still plenty to see, including the Glockenspiel, which chimed at noon.


Munich
Originally uploaded by currtdawg



Munich
Originally uploaded by currtdawg
Particularly fascinating was Munich's role in the Third Reich. Hitler considered Munich one of his strongholds, and consequently, it was heavily bombed during WWII. Very few original structures remain, but such great care was taken during reconstruction, one would never know the difference.


Munich
Originally uploaded by currtdawg



Scott
Originally uploaded by currtdawg
The tour was over three hours long, and ended, naturally, at the biergarten.


Me & Auzzie
Originally uploaded by currtdawg



Munich
Originally uploaded by currtdawg



Munich
Originally uploaded by currtdawg
There was some amazing architecture throughout the city. Auzzie kept referring to this as the Tina Turner Church, but I don't know why.

We met some really cool people on the tour. Among them, Zach (from LA), Ashley and Emily (from Minnesota), Robert (from Bermuda), and Dusty (from Sydney).

After the tour, we hung out in the biergarten for a while, then headed back to the hostel to regroup. That evening, we all went to a big brew house where the beer continued to flow quite liberally.


Emily & Zach
Originally uploaded by currtdawg



Robert, Me, Zach, & Dusty
Originally uploaded by currtdawg
From there, we headed to another bar across town. This one was an Irish pub, and we had to take two trains to get there.


Karaoke
Originally uploaded by currtdawg
Then came the karaoke. Lots and lots of karaoke. I'm pretty good at making an ass of myself during karaoke, but that part of the night was rather fuzzy. It was 3 AM by the time we left, and all the trains had stopped, so we had to walk the entire way back to the hostel. I doubt any of us cared; but, like I said, that part of the night was rather fuzzy.

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