I started Saturday with a hot breakfast at the hostel with the girls in my dorm. When we had finished we checked the time of the free city tour. The tour left at 10:45, which meant we had an hour to kill. I decided to use that time to go shopping :)
I'd planned to buy a good coat in London, but it was 70 degrees and I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I looked for one while in Madrid and Dublin, but they were all so expensive. On my last trip while in Europe I finally found one! I bought it and went back to the hostel happy to have a real coat to wear on our walking tour in the cold!
Feeling much warmer with another layer on, I went downstairs to wait for our tour guide. She showed up a couple of minutes late but was very enthusiastic and a good tour guide. We were a group of nine, and started out in Karlsplatz square. Throughout the tour our guide told us interesting historical facts about the various landmarks. For example: Karlsplatz was named after a guy named...you guessed it, Karl. He was a duke who tried to sell Bavaria to Austria. The people of Bavaria didn't really appreciate that and began plotting against him. So he fled North, taking much of Bavaria's wealth with him. With Karl gone, other countries began attacking Bavaria. Munich was failing financially. The people of Munich realized their mistake and sent him a letter asking Karl to come back. He did, and upon realizing that the people still didn't really like him all that much, started making some major changes to the city. He knocked down the old city walls so that the city could expand. He named the place at the entrance to the city Karlsplatz. Although, since the people didn't like him they renamed it Stacchus. It's still referred to by either name.
From there we walked into the "old city". We stopped to hear the history of St. Michael's church and went inside to have a look around. Then we left the wide pedestrian street and turned down a side street, stopping quickly to rub the nose of a statue of a boar (it's supposed to bring you good luck). We then went to the largest church in Munich, and were told the tale of how the devil supposedly helped build it. Inside we got to see his "footprint" in the floor near the church entrance.
From there we walked to Marienplatz. It was 12:00, so we watched the figures in the Glockenspeil put on their show. Then, after a quick walk through St. Peter's church, we stopped at the Viktualienmarkt (A year round food market) for lunch.
It was so cold outside. My fingers, though I was wearing gloves, were frozen. And I was really hungry. Everyone went there separate ways to find food and agreed to meet up at the gluwein stand in half an hour.
Aunt Amy had mentioned a soup kitchen at the Viktualienmarkt, and hot soup sounded amazing after being in the cold for so long. So I began wandering the many rows of food stalls looking for the place. I found it a few minutes later and got in line. I didn't know what anything on the menu was, so I turned to the people behind me speaking German and asked if they spoke English. They did, so I asked what their favorite soup was. The lady told me to order the gulaschsuppe. Once I'd ordered I simply held the bowl for awhile to warm up my hands. The soup was delicious, and I got to eat it under a tent that blocked the wind, and next to a warm heater. By the time I met up with the tour group again I was feeling much better.
Our tour continued on to the Hofbrauhaus Beer hall. I'd already seen the place Friday night, but it was neat to learn a bit about it. From there we walked to Max-Josephplatz, named after Maximillian I Joseph. He was Karl's son, and he also the first King of Bavaria. Here we saw the National Theater and the Royal residence. We walked along the street next to the Royal Residence and stopped next to its entrance, where our guide told us a bit of history of the square and church we were looking at. We finished with a brief history of Oktoberfest (A King got married and the party was so successful they decided to have another one the year after, and the party became an annual event).
I thought the tour was great. I got to see a lot of the old city and learn a lot of it's history at the same time. What really impressed me about Munich is that even though so many of the buildings and churches I saw were damaged or destroyed in the war, the people rebuilt them in their original architectural style. Most of Munich's buildings really aren't that old, but they still look old, which is cool. :)
After the tour I got a hot chocolate and walked around the main Christmas market for a few minutes, but eventually decided to go back to the hostel and warm up. When I got back and sat down i realized how tired I was. I felt like taking a nap, but instead spent an hour listening to music and resting up. At 5:00 I went back out for dinner and more Christmas market shopping.
I continued walking through the market. I bought a few more souvenirs and gifts to bring home as I made my way back towards the Royal Residence. I went into the Residence Christmas Village and again looked around at all they were selling. I bought some knodel from a stand there. It was a large, sweet bread roll or dumpling covered in cream and cinnamon sugar. German food is all so good!
After that I made the long trek back to the hostel. I'd wanted to ice skate at the rink in Karlsplatz, but it would've cost me fifteen euros and I wasn't going to pay close to twenty bucks just to ice skate by myself. Plus, I was SO COLD. My three "roommates" were there when I got back. They were heading down to the hostel bar so I went along with them. We were all freezing, so though we felt a bit silly we used our complimentary drink coupons to order hot chocolate. We drank our hot chocolate and talked about all sorts of things, including the fact that Australia doesn't celebrate Halloween and that Americans are the only ones who learn it's called the "French and Indian War" rather than the "Seven years War ". I'm glad I ended up meeting such fun people here. It was a nice end to a great day in Munich :)
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