Unfortunately, we would be staying only one night in Munich so we were under a bit of pressure to try see the city in a short space of time.

We arrived in central station at 12.30 and joined a free walking tour from marienplatz, the main square in Munich, at 2pm. Our guide was a tiny South African man who lived in Munich with his German wife. He told us about Mary's column in marienplatz; the glockenspiel clock; the new town hall; the old town hall (which is newer than the new town hall); the Beer House of the Bier Halle Putsch; the house where Kristallnacht began (now, creepily, it's a toy museum); churches; the main market in Munich; beer gardens (and the history behind how they became a Bavarian institution); the royal residence in Munich; and the square where Hitler made many political speeches. 85% of Munich was destroyed by bombing in WWII and has been rebuilt in the same style as before.

After our Munich history lesson, it was time to experience a different aspect of German culture. The beer gardens. Not just any beer garden, but the biggest in Munich with 5,000 seats. And not just any 5,000 seat beer garden, but a 5,000 seat beer garden on the night of Germany's first World Cup game! We arrived at Augustine-Keller an hour before kick off and literally every seat was already taken. We found a spot on the ground and parked ourselves. This garden serves the best beer in Germany (so we were told by the Bavarian version of McLovin who is our new pal) - Augustine. Everyone had brought picnics (as long as you buy beer, it's okay to take food in) and it was all very civilised, but the atmosphere was still electric. When Germany began scoring goals, and the more steins of beer that were drunk, the livelier the place got. We stayed here for the rest of the night as it was so packed and everyone was friendly and having a right laugh at our accents.

We had a lot of fun in Munich, only disappointment is that we couldn't stay longer!