München ist regnerish, Alex ist super cool

After Frankfurt, Morgan and I trained over to Munich where we spent four nights. There was no better way to be welcomed to Munich than getting off the train and having Alex there with open arms! He was with his other Canadian friend (yes he has more than one!!!) Christina.  She is a lovely Canadian, boasting from the land of Edmonton.  Christina and Alex met while studying in Bamfield, but Alex introduced her (as he introduces all his Canadian friends) as one he had banged.  Although truth may escape Alex from time to time, it was no lie that she was great company our first night in Munich, ending her own European adventure there. 

Alex took the three of us to StuStaCulum 2013, a student festival being held during our weekend here.  It was a student music festival with lively bands (I hear their lyrics are really good...) and ever-flowing beer.  Fun Fact: it isn't uncommon in Bavaria to be served litres of beer, which is just what we ordered.   After listening to some music, Alex introduced us to some of his friends and we went out for a few drinks at a local pub.  Alex's friend Fabian, "Fabi", took us to the closest stop to our hostel...unfortunately we didn't know where to go from there.  After several hours wandering around and a nice young man taking us back to where we were familiar with, we returned back to our hostel unscathed but also un-dry.  This has been some of the worst rain Germany has seen in almost 150 years. 

The next day, the unfortunate plight of jet lag caught up to us. We slept until 5:00pm!! But we got up, and headed out on the town to meet up with Alex and some more of his German friends.  His friends Martin, the aforementioned Fabian, and Martin's girlfriend Lina took us to a free concert and afterward took us out for some bier und currywurst. It was very delicious and we had a wonderful night.  

The following day we were left alone in Munich, as Alex had to return home in order to start his PhD.  With this, and many centimetres of rain, Morgan and I looked around the Marienplatz.  We witnessed the Glockenspiel am Rathausturn, visited the Deutches Museum, and ate a salty, buttery pretzel. Tip: a Canadian palette does not require fatty butter on a salty pretzel.  After our time in the city, we took our soaked booties to the hostel bar where we watched the Munich versus Stuttgart football match. It was riveting! Also, fans be cray cray. 

Our last full day in Munich was spent traveling to and from Füssen, not too far from Munich.  From here, we went and saw the spectacular Neuschwanstein palace and the Hohenschwangau palace. The castle that inspired Disney and the summer home of Ludwig II, respectively.

Neuschwanstein 

Neuschwanstein 

Hohenschwangau 

And even with the tumultuous rain and trek to the top, the breathtaking view and grandiose feats of architecture made it all worth it! Well, almost...we ended up pretty wet.

Neuschwanstein was definitely a sight to behold. There was amazing woodwork carvings throughout the palace.  The throne room was awe inspiring. Unfortunately, we were unable to take any pictures, but maybe it's googleable.  Google it.

Our last day in Munich was spent strolling around the Englisch Garten, a vast greenscape that stretches throughout much of Munich. We walked along the paths, encountered some waterfowl, and ran into this little dude-snail.  

Snail in the Englisch Garten

Afterwards, we just visited one of the main squares, Marienplatz, where a number of cathedrals, other old buildings, and shops can be found. We just spent some time here (admiring the cakes) before departing to the train station for our journey to Salzburg.

Cakes!!!!

Omnomnom

I look forward to further updates about Salzburg.

Tschüss!