It's been a while since I have done one of these but it's only right that I finish blogging about the rest of my travels. I have really enjoyed sharing with everyone my experiences up until now and have had some great feedback from you all. As my travels draw to a close, we head North to the beautiful Munich Germany where sausage is in abundance and beer it seems is the only beverage available on the somewhat unreadable menu.
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The beautiful view on route to Munich
Arriving into Munich after a long and tiresome trip from Rome, again took it's toll on our bodies. It was past dinner time by the time we had arrived and evidently we were starving. Luckily our hostel was only a two minute walk from the train station (well after we started to walk in the right direction) and what a welcome we received. In fact the first thing I noticed after arriving at this hostel was the amazing atmosphere. Not only were the staff very friendly, there were a lot of travellers wondering around, drinking at the bar, socialising and generally having a good time.
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After a quick rest in our room we headed out in search of one of the best authentic German restaurants in Munich, as recommended by our English hostel receptionist. The heavens had opened but it wasn't long before we stumbled across the thriving red brick restaurant with a name I won't even bother trying to pronounce. After being welcomed in by an old German fellow we took our seats near the entrance. Straight away it was clear that we were the minority in this German filled restaurant. Despite the food being delicious I have never felt so humiliated in my entire life. I must say before embarking on this journey I did have my concerns when it came to communicating with the locals as we were visiting so many diverse countries. So for my own knowledge and for sheer politeness, I decided to learn the basic terminology for each country. However, I hadn't quite prepared myself for what was in store that evening...
Despite this, our time in Munich was a pleasant one. The next morning after meeting our fantastic room mate from Hong Kong, we headed down to breakfast which again didn't fail to deliver - it was amazing. I love buffet breakfasts and made sure I made the most of the delights on offer. Fresh fruit, cereals, unlimited tea and a selection of breads and fillings to stock up on in preparation for the rest of the day. So off we went in search of some of Munich's finest sights. As this is quite a small city (or so we thought) it didn't take us long to walk around. We managed to get a fair amount done during our short stay in Munich Germany including walking around the beautiful English Gardens which were one of my highlights of the whole trip, and not forgetting the wonderful German market. I finally got to see what all the fuss was about when it came down to the German sausage and the Bavarian beer.
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| Munich Germany |
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| Munich central |
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| The English Gardens |
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A real German market
This was possibly one of the most chilled out days of the entire trip but it was definitely needed after endless hours of walking to and fro places. The town itself was fairly busy and they had all the shops you could dream of (a bit like Birmingham city centre) as my friend so elegantly put it. However, nothing about this city really amazed me and to tell you the truth and I was a bit disappointed. It just wasn't as vibrant as I had hoped and I felt it lacked any real sense of culture. Yet my faith in Munich was restored later that day when I decided to take a walk up one of Munich's finest church towers. Like every European city, churches are not hard to come by but at this stage I have to admit, I would have been glad to have seen the back of them! Walking up hundreds of steep old stairs to the top of a church tower would be a daunting experience for anyone. The never ending staircase defeated my friend who backed out halfway through after struggling to catch her breath but I was adamant on reaching the top. Like my friend I too have a fear of heights. I wouldn't say I have conquered this fear just yet but I am definitely on my way. After taking in the breathtaking views of the city, I felt content at last.
After a few more hours of exploring, we decided to head back to the hostel grabbing some food from a pizza take out on the way back. Not the most luxurious of meals but we had been indulging all day on different German foods and sometimes a good slice of pizza is definitely needed. Somehow our walk back to the hostel took us much longer than expected after we managed to get lost. However, after about an hour or so we managed to find our way and were up in time for our next journey to Prague the following day.
So there you have it, Munich Germany in a nutshell. Even though I was fairly disappointed, I think this is definitely one of Germany's up and coming cities. It certainly attracts a lot of youngsters but if you're after a sight seeing holiday, I personally wouldn't recommend it. Next time I come back to Germany I will definitely be heading further North to the capital, Berlin and to some of the quieter less touristy places to get a better idea of how the German's really live.
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