With a population of 1.3 million, Munich is the third largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. The centre of the city is built on the grounds of a former monastery which explains why its name comes from the old German word for 'monk'! Besides a great reputation for beer -most notably enjoyed in the Hofbrauhaus or during Octoberfest, Munich is a cultural centre. It is home to the Bavarian State Opera, three orchestras and over 150 museums. It is also the most wealthy city in Germany. We saw some amazing things on our bus tour including the Nymphenburg Palace, the birth place of Crazy King Ludwig II the architecturally incredible Olympic grounds, and we even made a quick stop in the very cool looking BMW delivery centre where we all dreamed about being able to afford a luxury car ourselves! Our tour ended in Munich's main square directly in front of the city hall and the famous Marien tower and its famous glockenspiel. After our guided tour it was time for us to strike out and explore on our own. Next on the agenda was a stop at the former concentration camp in Dachau about 10 miles ouside of Munich. In June of 1933, the abandoned grounds of a munitions factory became the site of the first camp established by the Nazi party. In total, over 200,000 prisoners from more than 30 countries were imprisoned here and it became the model for all camps later established. Together with the much larger Auschwitz, Dachau has come to symbolize the Nazi concentration camps to many people. It also holds a significant place in public memory because it was the second camp to be liberated and therefore one of the first places where the West was exposed to the reality of Nazi brutality through firsthand journalist accounts. We ended our day on a high (literally) by going to the top of Munich's Olympic tower and looking down at all we explored earlier in the day.