Munich

Wow, what to say about Germany? It's gorgeous, green, with spectacular mountains and fields covered in dandelions. Such a change too, from Italy. Everything is so organized and on time. Italy's transportation system specifically seems chaotic in comparison. Anyhow, getting Munich took the better part of six hours. I checked into a hostel that was only a couple of blocks away from the train station, and then took a walk around to get my bearings. After dinner, I read up on Munich to figure out what to do for the next day (that's all I had and I wanted to see as much as I could).
The plan was, go for a walk and see the sights, then visit a beer garden.



















When the clock chimes, large crowds get together to watch the figurines move/dance.









Behind these little guys is the Residenz, a palace that is now a museum. It is currently undergoing restoration, and the entire front facade was covered by a screen with the palace's image painted onto it. I was tempted to go inside the museum, but it was such a warm sunny day, I decided to go explore the Englischer Garten instead.






There are a few statues throughout the city that people rub their hands on specific spots, and so the surface remains a brass gold color, but I'm not sure what the purpose is.







St. Kajetan-Theatinerkirche












Inside the church









The Hofgarten, a small garden behind the Residenz and just next to Englischer Garten. Apparently, couples come on Sundays for free swing dances by the small temple.



















Englischer Garten is the largest city park in the world. There are beer gardens, nude sunbathing areas, a Japanese tea garden, a Chinese pagoda, a Greek temple, musicians, a large artificial lake, you get the idea!












Some of the most proficient accordion players outside of Germany come from Central and South America (over a hundred years ago the German accordion was incorporated into Vallenato, a folkloric musical style from Colombia). I was surprised to hear Caribbean music playing in the park. It was fun, lots of people dancing...



My first trip to a beer garden, one of many in the park.









People enjoying the weather

























I met up with a couple of ladies from L.A., Katie and Stephanie from the hostel at Hofbrauhaus Beer Garden. On my way the I took a few more pics. There was some sort of a demonstration going on, but I wasn't sure what it was about.













Moving along, another well-rubbed statue...



The Hofbrauhaus









Katie and Stephanie had already been there a while...



We ate cheese and bread, no veggies here, before calling it a night. They were off to Italy, and I was headed to Füssen.


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