Munich, where to start...
Munich had extreme highs and lows. We had our first huge party night, and then the next day we went to a WWII concentration camp.
On the way to Munich our tour manager told us Hitler's story and the history of the war. I have to mention that our tour manager was truly amazing. He has been doing Contiki tours for 8 years and has tons of experience. I really loved learning all the interesting history about all the places we visited and he was so good at telling it. I appreciated his knowledge and experience so much and feel that because of him the tour had an extra element that other tours might not have had. I love learning things and his knowledge just made all the cities a little bit more interesting.
We arrived in Munich with the history of the war behind us, and were super excited to get into the city and see the sites. We started with a walking tour through the city with a local guide, who - being Christmas day and all - had possibly had quite a large amount to drink before he started our tour, which was fine, it was a fun tour!
Munich is a strange city, it is old, as are most cities in Europe, but because of the war, large parts of it were destroyed and so there are lots of modern buildings, with a couple of really old buildings here and there. Like the castle. It was destroyed in the war but then they rebuilt it quickly after the war, because Germany was so poor after the war, they couldn't afford to rebuild it back to it's former glory so they faked it. They painting and 'old' building onto the facade of the new building. It was very strange.
I found the atmosphere in Munich to be very strange. I'm not German so I suppose I don't really have a say but I found it strange that the history is still so hush hush and obvious at the same time. Everyone knows what happened in Germany with the war, and the German's are very aware of it, even today still. Our walking guide had to get us to huddle together when he wanted to show us things that were considered slightly wrong to be talking about in public, things about the war and Hitler. But then at the same time all German school children MUST go visit a concentration camp before they leave school. The Germans believe that if you are not reminded about what happened, then it will happen again. So on the one hand, you can't mention the war without being frowned upon, and on the other, it is a forced part of all Germans lives. Again, I'm not German and I can't understand what it means to be a part of that nation, but this is just how I felt about it all.
It was FREEZING in Munich. I think most people just remember how cold it was during that walking tour. The tour was in the evening so by the time we finished it was dark and the wind was blowing and everyone was keen to just get somewhere warm...so we went to Hofbrauhaus, the most famous German beer hall.
I LOVED Hofbrauhaus. it wasn't anything like I imagined it to be...I'm not really sure what I was expecting...like a beer tent at a big sporting event? It was nothing like that. It is the beautiful old building filled with people, food, music, festivities and beer. Lots of beer. Hofbrauhaus beer is made from all natural ingredients with no preservatives and so it is supposed to not give you a hangover...we decided to test this theory, and test it properly.
Even though it was Christmas day it was packed. There were no open tables so we kind of just wondered around until we found enough space for the four of us (My sister, the two Somerset-West sisters and me). We sat down and ordered our beer and some real German food. I ordered pork knuckle, which was amazing. It was pretty nice to have a proper big dinner for Christmas dinner.
The beers in Hofbrauhaus are HUGE, 1 litre and so heavy you almost need two hands to pick it up. You also have to drink really fast so that the beer doesn't get warm and taste horrible, but we were ok with that. Every 15 minutes the Oompah band strikes up and everyone merrily sings along and at the end of the song you smash your glasses together with a Prost! and take another big gulp. What an evening! As the beer hall emptied out we moved to the tables where the rest of the Contiki groups were sitting and carried on the merriment.
After Hofbrauhaus
we made our way to a club, on Christmas night, and partied the night
away! It was definitely the most different Christmas I've ever had, but
we made lifelong friends that night and it will be a Christmas I will
remember for years to come.
Hofbrauhaus also carries a lot of history, it was originally the brewery of the German Royalty, hence the name Hofbrauhaus - Royal Court Brewery. Hitler used it as a political meeting hall, and even before the war he did a painting of the Hofbrauhaus. If you do ever go to Munich it is so worth your while to stop in at the Hofbrauhaus for a quick beer...or two.
The next morning we made our way to Dachau, the first concentration camp of the Second World War. It is very hard to put words down about this, I feel like it is something that needs to be felt. The air feels colder and emptier there, it's very quiet and I will always remember this place.
We left Munich and headed out of Germany into Austria. The natural-beer-with-no-hangover theory sort of worked, but I was glad to be able to catch a nap on the bus.
Next week, Austria...and the first snow!
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