Munich

Word up!

Today was my tourist day in Munich, and it was filled prominently with museums, but also with one of the famed Free Tours in Europe. But first, of course, a summary of last night. I spent it in the hostel, taking with some of my new hostel friends, including a Londoner, a Canadian, and an Iowan. It was quite the mix, and once again we had a very upbeat discussion that included politics and the Israeli\Palestinian conflict. I guess it never gets boring over here!

This morning, I snagged a chocolate croissant (which has become my breakfast of choice) and went to my first destination- the Deutsche Museum. This huge museum, located on a small island in the middle of the river that runs outside of Munich, focused on science and technology. In it, they had everything from dozens of planes and helicopters to an entire mock-mine underground. I really liked the section on the development of marine travel, including how huge sailing ships got in the past. Another interesting tidbit was a Lufthansa jet plane cut in half to see how the cylinder is allocated for passengers and cargo- interesting as well.

Then it was a 45 minute walk to the next museum, the Neu Pinakothen museum, which is one in a series of three museums that cost one euro on Sunday. It's art was focused mainly on impressionists and semi-contemporary artists. I really liked the Van Gogh that they had on display, as well as some of the landscapes. There is also an old art museum and a modern art one in the complex, but I've seen too much of the former and I can only handle small amounts of the latter. By then it was around 2PM, so I started my trek to the meeting place for my tour.

Along the way, though, I felt compelled to stop at the Hofbräuhaus, the legendary beer hall here where the Nazi party was founded, but more importantly where almost 5 years of beer drinking has taken place. It's essentially a big room filled with picnic table-style tables and lots of big glasses to drink beer. Not an enjoyer of the taste of beer, I contented myself with observation.

I returned to Marienplatz, where the free tour started. Now, I feel obligated to let the reader know what the deal is with this free tour nonsense. A company called Sandson's New Europe has tours in about 12 European cities that are led by qualified guides through the city's sites and history. They are able to do them for free because the guides work off of tips from their audience. Also, the tour does paid tours, like the one I did to Dachau.

I managed to get the same Canadian guide, Rickey, that I had for the Dachau tour, which was fine. Over the next three hours I learned about all the major sights of Munich as well as the general history of the city. One of the more interesting parts was our visit to the recently constructed Synagogue in the city and the history behind its creation. Apparently, at it's founding ceremony, a group of Neo-Nazi's armed with explosives attempted to disrupt it, but their plot was foiled.

It would take forever to summarize the whole tour, but suffice it to say that after it, I felt like I had really "done" Munich, and I am now ready to head to Zurich tomorrow. Onwards and Upwards, as they say!