Travel Blog: European Trip (Day 7)
View from St. Peters Church
The Sports Chief Photography/Garett
It was 7:00 a.m. Our alarm had just gone off and we were rolling out of bed Friday morning to begin our last day on the trip. Throughout our trip, we had done so much traveling across southern Germany, western Austria, and northern Italy. But for our last day, we planned to stay right where we were and explore the city of Munich all day. After another good breakfast, we made our way to the subway located 100 feet from our hotel, and hopped on the next train to the Odeonsplatz stop located right beside the main city square.
Our plan was pretty simple that day. We just wanted to explore Munich and see what Germany’s third largest city had to offer. We had our walking shoes on and our cameras ready to capture all the memorable sights we came across. The first sight was Feldherrnhalle, which is a building built in 1841 to honor the Bavarian Army, but later used as a monumental site for the Nazi Party. Hitler used it as a sacred site for members of the Nazi Party that had died for their cause, and also gave speeches on the large front steps.
Feldherrnhalle
The Sports Chief Photography/Garett
Next we walked the short distance to Marienplatz, which is Munich’s main city square and has been so since the 1100s. The architecture of these buildings were simply amazing, especially the city hall building. We just happened to be in Marienplatz at the right time because the famous Glockenspiel was set to give us a show. Glockenspiel is part of the city hall building and only twice a day, bells chime and German figures re-enact old stories by dancing and spinning around, and a joust takes place in which a Bavarian knight knocks the Lothringen knight off his horse. It was very cool seeing the large crowds (locals and tourists) gather together in the square and watch it all unfold with anticipating eyes. It was also funny hearing everyone gasp a little, then react favorably when the Bavarian knight won his joust.
We continued our venture throughout the city, taking pictures of everything and going into many little shops. We walked through the market area, which was huge and very cool to see. Every type of produce you can imagine was sold there, along with many locally hand-crafted items. The best thing about walking through the market area, though, was the smells. Germans are very well-known for their pork, and all you could smell was the abundance of various sausages that were being cooked all around you. But none of us were hungry yet, so we decided to wait and come back later.
Beer Garden in Munich
The Sports Chief Photography/Garett
One thing we had on our agenda was to climb the steps of St. Peter’s Church and take in the best views of the city at the top observation deck. So we left the market area and made our way there. After paying a very inexpensive fee (I think 2 Euros), we climbed the 299 steps to the top of the tower. You could tell how old the church was just by climbing the steps to the top. They were old-looking and VERY narrow. So narrow in fact that if people were coming down the steps, you had to stop at the nearest level and let them go by. They were only wide enough for one person. As crowded as the steps were though, the balcony at the top was even more so. I was in a crowd of people so thick that I couldn’t move. It took probably about 20 minutes to walk halfway around the observation deck, which required only around 20-30 steps. It was so frustrating being crammed up there and at a standstill (think Times Square on New Year’s Eve) that once I got halfway around to the only other door, I walked back inside and began my descent down the old wooden stairs.
The views at the top were very cool, though. You could see so much of Munich, including the bustling square below. I took some pictures and enjoyed gazing out to the horizon, but the crowd at the top just wasn’t worth spending any more time up there than I did. One by one we all made our way down, stopping many times to let people pass through, as people did the same for us. It was then lunch time, so we walked back to the market in anticipation of those delicious smells from earlier.
View from St. Peters Church
The Sports Chief Photography/Garett
The problem, though, was that now the place was very crowded. We were going to sit down in the beer garden and order a sausage and a beer. But apparently everyone else had the same idea. Instead of waiting, we decided to go to the famous Hofbrauhaus and grab lunch. That place is crowded at all times of day, but we figured we could wait for a table since it was on our agenda anyway.
When we arrived at the Hofbrauhaus, to our surprise we didn’t have to wait to get a table. At this point in the trip we had learned that, contrary to the U.S., you just walk to any empty table you want and sit down instead of waiting to be seated. We sat down at one of the many big, long tables and flagged down the waiter. While we looked over the food menu, we customarily ordered a liter of the Hofbrau beer. A few minutes later we ordered our food from a menu with a huge selection, most of which we had no clue what it was. Three of us ended up ordering some type of sausage that I cannot remember its name. We thought we were playing it safe from the foreign menu, but to our surprise, the waiter brought out sausages that were as white as milk.
Liter of Hofbrau Original Beer at Hofbrauhaus
The Sports Chief Photography/Garett
We uncovered the sausages, took them out of its steaming hot water and onto our plates. But also to our surprise, they were very delicious. We didn’t know what to expect with them being white, but it turned out we all loved them. They were very juicy and had great flavor. After our meal we made a quick stop at the Hofbrauhaus gift shop. Just as we had customarily ordered the liter of beer, we customarily bought a liter glass from the gift shop to take home with us. Next up on our agenda was to continue exploring.
After more wandering the city of Munich and feeling like we had seen pretty much everything we wanted to see, we made our last sight-seeing stop at a place called the Residenz. It was the former “residence” of the Wittelsbach monarchs for centuries, and was built in the 14th century. A “palace” would be the more appropriate term for it because the place was astoundingly huge. It has 130 rooms for visitors to explore and is almost overwhelming. It was a little oddly shaped to be so large, though. It wasn’t tall, but instead was very long. It seemed to go on forever with room after room after room. As we explored each room, we listened to an electronic device we were given at the entrance that told us all about the history of every room, after typing in the individual room codes. After possibly two hours inside the Residenz, we decided to call it a day. There were so many rooms that it would’ve taken much longer than that to see them all and hear their histories.
Inside The Residenz
The Sports Chief Photography/Garett
While we were all impressed with the Residenz, we got a little tired of exploring every single room. Perhaps it was just the extremely busy week-long trip that was beginning to wear on us, but we were just starting to feel flat worn out. Each room, no matter how magnificent and extravagant it was, began to feel the same. With our fatigue beginning to really kick in, we decided to hop on the subway and go back to the hotel. We needed to find dinner, pack up our suitcases, and prepare for an early morning flight back to Charlotte, North Carolina.
5 a.m. came early the next morning. Tired would be an understatement, but we had a rental car to return and a flight to catch, so we got to it. After a flight delay of over an hour, we finally boarded our plane. I found it interesting that the flight to Munich only took about 8 ½ hours, but the return flight took about 10 hours. I guess it’s due to flying against the wind. But with the long, 10-hour flight ahead of us and a week-long European trip behind us, we were excited to be coming back home. We all really enjoyed the trip and seeing so many new and impressive sights, but there’s no place like home. And we all wanted a good hamburger.
Seeing different parts of the world is something I think everyone should do. We all had such a great time experiencing different sights, cultures, food, people, etc. I believe it’s important for people to get different perspectives of life. This trip allowed us to do just that. None of us had ever been out of the country, so the new things we were able to experience were far different than anything we had ever experienced. Going forward we will have great stories and beautiful pictures to share with people for the rest of our lives. Now to figure out where our next international trip will be…
Feldherrnhalle Steps
The Sports Chief Photography/Garett
Ratskeller Restaurant in Munich
The Sports Chief Photography/Garett
Munich, Germany
The Sports Chief Photography/Garett
View of the City Hall building in Marienplatz Square
The Sports Chief Photography/Garett
Market in Munich
The Sports Chief Photography/Garett
Band in Hofbrauhaus taking a break
The Sports Chief Photography/Garett
Hofbrauhaus
The Sports Chief Photography/Garett
Inside The Residenz
The Sports Chief Photography/Garett
Inside The Residenz
The Sports Chief Photography/Garett