Munich Germany 2006 – Part 1

by | Tuesday, December 19, 2006 | Travel

After Britty and my two day stop in Cologne, we then headed to Munich for four nights. We booked a reasonably well priced hostel double room with hostelworld, and as it turned out, the hostel was in a really good location. We stayed at Wombats hostel, which is a very large, and well equipped place to stay. The room was really nice, we had a bathroom, there was a really cool bar (yes very cheap drinks by Munich standards), and the place had a pretty good atmosphere. We were also able to park the car under the hostel for 10 Euros a night. This is very cheap considering we payed 25 Euros for 1 and half days in Cologne.

Munich itself is a great city. Most people that have been there have told me this, and having witnessed it first hand, I can’t help but agree! Munich has an awesome public transportation system, and is really easy to get around. We had pretty good weather while in Munich with only 1 day of drenching rain. The 2 Euro umbrellas we bought were certainly worth the money!

On the first night Britty and myself headed straight toward the famous Hofbräuhaus for a 1L bier, and a meal. The food was very nice, and very filling, and I think it was almost the cheapest meal we had during the time spent in Munich. The Hofbräuhaus, even on a Monday was packed full of tourists. People singing, jumping around, and yelling to traditional Bavarian music. Of course there was also 100s of people consuming copious amounts of alcohol, and having a tremendous time.

Me tucking into a very tasty beer! A few of these and I think that would be the end of the night!

 

Britty helping me out with my beer before it got too hot! I still can’t drink hot beer!

 

Me at the entrance to the Hofbräuhaus.

The next day was Britty’s Birthday so we headed out to see some of the city. The weather wasn’t the best in the morning, but it did fine up in the afternoon. First stop was the Munich City Hall, and the Munich Christmas Markets. The idea was to find Britty a really awesome present. This didn’t quite work out because we couldn’t find anything Britty really wanted, so we decided to go to The Starnbergersee. The Starnbergersee is a lake just outside Munich. Many rich people have a place there, and in summer it is a hive of activity. Unfortunately in winter it isn’t so busy, but we still got the idea.

The beautiful Munich City Hall. The square was packed with shoppers at both the markets and the thousands of shops.

 

Another one of the Town Hall.

 

And to the right of the Town Hall.

 

At the Starnbergersee. We were both happy the sun came out.

 

And another one of us at the Starnbergersee.

Next day we decided to go to Dachau, the site of the first concentration camp during the reign of Hitler. It was a very interesting experience going out there, and well worth it. We spent a good two hours wandering around, however we could have spent much longer if the rain did not come in the afternoon.

When you first enter the area you see this sign. Some 30 000 people died, or were worked to death here.

 

The grey dirt, and the small buildings here were designed to house thousands of people detained by the Nazis.

 

Where the prisoners use to sleep.

 

And washing would have been fun. No wonder disease was a major problem here.

 

Going to the loo would have been comfortable. Maybe not so much fun!

 

In this building 1000s of bodies were burned. The fires run constantly during the worst times!

 

I can just imagine this job. Don’t really want to think about it too much though.

 

This was the gas chamber that was built on this site. It was never used, but the Nazis disguised this as a shower to ensure that people would not reject going in. The holes where the gas would have come out was disguised as a shower head. The room would have been more crowded than this!

That night we had a change of atmosphere and Britty and myself met up with a Friend that Britty had met in Australia during her working holiday. Sandra and Britta had met in Western Australia, and had not seen each other since the trip. We went to a nice but expensive restaurant. The food was very very good.

At the table in the restaurant. I think both Britty and Sandra enjoyed their cocktail.

 

This was the biggest burger of had ever tried to consume. It was so big, and so so tasty.

That just about does part one of our Munich Adventure. Stay tuned for part two.