A Taste of Munich

Last weekend we went to Munich. Despite learning German since the age of 11 I have never been to Munich. I've travelled through it, but never seen it. I think I missed out!

It's a really lovely city, with lots to look at. It was badly bombed during WWII and many of the buildings are reconstructions. The statue above is of Juliet, a gift from Verona, with which Munich is twinned. A certain part of her anatomy is considered lucky to touch for wannabe wooers, as you can probably see...

My favourite part of Munich was the beer halls and cellars. My favourite was the Hofbraeuhaus, which was the royal Bavarian brewery and now belongs to the state of Bavaria. It's one of Munich's oldest beer halls and really rather pretty. I was a bit sceptical of beer kellers and halls before we went - I just thought they would be full of tourists - but actually they were full of tourists and locals, and one of the friendliest environments I've ever been in! While we were there we got chatting to people who lived around the corner, American tourists, the atmosphere was just so friendly and welcoming. You basically just sit down whereever there is space on a bench, and chances are you'll get chatting away to whoever is next to you. 

This quote summed up the atmosphere for me - 'Thirst is worst than homesickness' - grab a beer and join in no matter where you're from!

Traditional music to accompany us as we drank and chatted

We drank the Mass (1 litre), needless to say it took a while to get through one of those! (well, some got through them quicker than others ;))

We also explored the English Garden, which is one of the biggest public parks in Europe. It was so vast and spacious it didn't feel like we were in a city any more. It also felt super Autumal which was really nice.

On our last day we went to Schloss Nymphenburg, which was the summer residence for Bavarian royalty. It was a lovely sunny day so we didn't go in, instead wandering around the extensive grounds. Again, felt like we had left the city completely!

Such a wonderful weekend, and it was great to see our friends again :)

Hope you're enjoying Autumn, whereever you are!