I arrived in Munich around 11pm last night. Nathan, who had been traveling on his own for the past week or so, had arrived a bit earlier and was waiting for me at the Hauptbahnhof. It was storming like crazy, so I was pretty happy we had booked a hostel just a block away from the train station. We're staying at Jaegers, which is a fairly neat and clean hostel, but definitely my first "party hostel" that has a bar. I haven't been getting much sleep lately...basically a few hours ever night since Nathan arrived on the 6th...so we decided it would be a smarter decision to stay in for the night so that I could catch up on my sleep and be ready for a full day touring Munich. Plus, like I said before, it was raining like cats and dogs, and neither Nathan nor I were too keen on going out into the storm.

Our free walking tour didn't start until 10:45, so we were able to sleep in a bit and have a leisurely breakfast before heading out for the day. Nathan had been traveling alone for the past week because I was in Poland, and he had a lot of funny stories to tell me! Honestly, I was really glad to see that he was still alive ;]

I have heard a lot about how great the free walking New Europe tours are, and our Munich one did not disappoint. We saw most of the main sites of Munich, beginning with the Glockenspiel (which holds the #2 spot for most hyped up but disappointing tourist attraction). The Glockenspiel is a part of the New Town Hall, which was constructed in the early 1900s. The Old Town Hall was rebuilt after it was destroyed in WWII. Yes, you did the math right; the Old Town Hall is actually newer than the New Town Hall. Our tour guide was absolutely hilarious and told us that the better "show" was watching all the tourists watch the Glockenspiel play, especially those with the big expensive and heavy cameras. She was right; it was hilarious!

After the Glockenspiel, we visited the Frauenkirche and then walked to Odeonsplatz. On November 8, 1923 Hitler and his armed followers marched to this square attempting to over throw the government (this was the day after the Beer Hall Putsch). The police met Hitler in this square and a fight broke out, killing 16 Nazis. When the Nazis did gain power, Hitler built a memorial to the "Nazi martyrs" and made it obligatory for those passing the memorial to greet the SS guarding it with the "Heil Hitler" salute. There is a line of golden bricks on the alley behind Odeonsplatz (known as "Dodger's Alley), and our guide explained that this was to commemorate those who purposely did not walk past the memorial because they did not want to Heil Hitler. Those who took this round about risked being sent to a Concentration Camp such as Dachau.

After Odeonsplatz we saw the outside of the Royal Residence and National Theater before heading to the Hofbräuhaus, the infamous beer hall. Our tour guide warned us, however, that the Hobräuhaus was a big tourist trap and local Germans normally stay far away from it. Nevertheless, a trip to Munich is not complete without a trip to the Hofbräuhaus, so we decided we would go there anyway.

After seeing the outside of the Hobräuhaus, we continued on to the Church of St. Peter and the May Pole near the Viktualienmarkt. Our tour guide explained the "stealing Maypole" tradition; if someone steals a town's Maypole, the only way for them to get it back is to throw the thief a party. Well, the Maypole is Munich is huge, but nevertheless someone was able to figure out how to steal it! I can't even fathom how one would go about doing that, but instead of having a party thrown in their honor, the thieves decided to ask for a permanent table at Oktoberfest every year. And the city of Munich granted their wish. Not too shabby ;]

The tour ended by the Maypole and Nathan and I were both starving, so we decided to head to the Biergarten nearby for a bite to eat and our first Bavarian Beers. I knew I wouldn't be up for any more sightseeing if I had a full liter, so I got a half and a big pretzel instead. Even half a liter was a lot to drink! I don't know how Nathan did it... But the beer was pretty good (I was pretty excited they were serving Augustiner on tap today) and the pretzel was amazing. After our quick break, we continued on to do some independent sightseeing. Our first stop was to climb St. Peter's Church to get a view of the city. It was quite pretty, and I was relieved that the steps weren't quite as scary as the ones in the Duomo in Florence were! Unfortunately it wasn't too clear, but we were still able to catch a glimpse of the Alps in the distance =]

We met a couple of Canadians from Quebec who were planning on going to the Hofbräuhaus later, too, so we decided to meet up with them there around 8. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but in hindsight Nathan and I probably should have just gone on our own. The guys were very nice, but they had met a group of girls from Massachusetts on the night train from Paris to Munich who joined us, too. To give you an idea of what they were like, let's just say that they showed up to the Hofbräuhaus at 8 in mini skirts, high heels, etc. and when I asked them how they liked Paris, one said "the Eiffel Tour was cool, I guess, but we mainly just partied." I couldn't believe how immature and obnoxious they were being—they were so loud and annoying that one of the waiters even came over to our table to ask us if that is how we would act at a restaurant at home, and keep in mind we were in a beer hall! It was sooo embarrassing! I couldn't have been more thrilled when they finally decided to leave...

Nathan and I stayed at the Hofbräuhaus for another beer after the Canadians left to go to the club with the obnoxious Americans. After that, we headed back to our hostel. We're going to the town of Füssen tomorrow to see Neuschwanstein (Cinderella Castle in Disney World is a copy). It's about an hour away by train, but we think it'll be a fun day trip. We're also going with a New Europe tour... this one isn't free, but the one today was so informative that I think it will be worth it!