Day #17: Munich

There was a lot in store to see of Munich, and due to my schedule, I had to pack in all of what I wanted to see in Munich into one day. (The next two days were reserved for side trips.) So I started the day on a whirlwind walking tour. Advertised as a totally free tour, all you did was show up and tip the guide at the end, if you felt so inclined.

We started off in the Marienplatz, which is the home of the famous Munich Glockenspiel. Recently tabbed as the second most overrated tourist attraction in Europe, the glockenspiel pretty much lived up to that billing. After a five minute interlude of bells, the glockenspiel sprung into action. One the top part, a Bavarian knight defeated an Austrian knight. And on the bottom part, several coopers twirled around in a dance. Not much to see.

The rest of the tour was more entertaining, showing off much of the reconstructed old city, 90% of which was destroyed in World War II. Highlights included the old royal district, now an über pricey shopping district.

There was one lowlight for me though. When trying to pitch his company's other (for pay) tours, he mentioned the most important one was Dachau, the concentration camp tour. He said it was important because learning the past helps prevent making the same mistakes again. In fact, he said that after going on the Dachau tour, he was struck by how much it resembled Guantanamo Bay. In fact, he further informed us, in his opinion, Gitmo fit every part of a definition of a concentration camp. I did not feel like it be productive to argue with him right in the middle of Munich and thus derail the tour, but I did take his little diatribe into account when tip time came around... (As Michael Jordan once famously said when someone tried to urge him to be more politically active, Republicans buy shoes too.)

That tour took up most of the morning, and then it was off to the Residenz palace, home to the Wittlebach family that ruled Bavaria for over 700 years. First, they were dukes. Then after a few hundred years, they were made electors in the Holy Roman Empire. Finally, Napoleon made one a king in the 1800s. Point being, these people had money and power and their house showed it. Most impressive was the Antiquarium, a long dining hall that is lavishly decorated with busts of Roman emperors on the sides. (Hence the room name, antiques = antiquarium. It does not signify that any pet fish are involved as I was mistakenly thought as first!)



Finally, the evening was capped off by a tour of a brewery and Munich's most famous beer hall, Hofbrauhaus (Originally, the king's own private beer label and beer hall). Not bad for a day's worth of sightseeing.