1st Day in Munich

This is our last night in Munich so we better update everyone with what we have been doing. Tomorrow we are going to Rothenburg which is a pretty small town, and we will not have internet access. After that we spend the night in Frankfurt and then head home on Thursday. Our 17 days have just flown by!

We arrived in Munich on a clear and sunny Saturday. We are staying at the Euro Youth Hostel, but you don't have to be a "youth" to stay here. :) The hostel is located right across from the train station on a quiet street with other hotels and hostels. We are only a 10- 15 minute walk to the city center. Our first day here we were craving something not Bavarian, so we found a nice little pizza place on the corner. Then we took a walk around town with no real intention of seeing anything in particular. I didn't think we would be gone for very long, so I didn't bring my camera or anything..but luckily Jason did! We ended up walking around all evening because around every corner we found something interesting going on.

As we walked to the main square, called Marienplatz, we were immediately swallowed up into a large crowd. There was what at first looked like a wedding procession with couples in traditional Bavarian costumes parading hand-in-hand down the main street, which is a major upscale shopping area surrounded by churches and Neo-Gothic buildings. The parade circled the square and then began traditional dancing around the fountain. It was a nice welcome to Munich!

Under trees, in alley ways, and under bridges we would continue to find musicians and street performances. Music was everywhere! We soon found ourselves in the middle of a beer garden festival in the Viktualienmarkt square. There were lots of beer drinkers and an ooompha band playing 90's hits. It was a bit much for us to jump right into, so we admired the May Pole and continued our wanderings. There were a several recommended restaurants from our Rick Steve's guide book I wanted to check out. We found a couple, but they were so filled with locals speaking German we were intimidated and kept going.

we then found ourselves heading toward the Residenz, the palace of the Wittelbachs' who ruled Bavaria for nearly 700 years. We strolled through the English Gardens at sunset and admired the statues and flowers. As we were leaving we caught a very romantic musical performance by a passionate Gypsy woman singing and dancing with an accordion and a older gentleman playing a violin. Even not knowing the language, it was very moving.

The weather was beautiful, and the streets were packed with people. There was so much to absorb, but we had to head back to the hostel. We were getting up early to visit the former concentration camp of Dachau in the morning. The perfect end to the evening was a band playing classical music in front of one of the department stores. They had a grand piano, cellos, violins, and a flute player. I don't know how they got the piano out there but we had to stop and listen for awhile. They played a sort of "greatest hits" mix of classical music- all pieces easily recognizable by the crowd.