Day 2 in Germany proved to be very eventful and fun. I met a great guy named Brix on the train the previous day and we had agreed to meet at the free walking tour at 10am. A perfect plan, and so much more fun to share the experience with a new travelling buddy, thanks Brix for a fun day out!

I was very impressed with the tour of the city, you learn so much more than wandering around aimlessly yourself. Well that’s what I tend to do. Walk around in circles in the main square and still manage to get lost at times! I learnt so many cool facts from my friendly and informative tour guide Ben from Munich free city walking tours.

What it all comes down to in Bavaria, is beer. Beer has been an integral part of history, 300’000L of the stuff given to the Swedes during their brief occupation, enabled the Germans to reclaim their city with pride. Beer helped to extinguish a fire in a central building, also sufficiently quenching the thirst of the many men helping to quell the flames.

Bavarians love their traditional dress. There are many stores around town where you can buy the lederhosen “leather pants” and dirndl “traditional dress”. I liked the little shorts with braces, paired with a busty top, that would look awesome. I did see quite a few men around town too wearing their leather pants, hats and checkered shirts. On the day of Oktoberfest it is virtually mandatory to wear it, you will feel very left out if you don’t! Like the only kid who didn’t dress up at the dress up party, sad face…

I want to also mention, there is a very important way that you need to tie the dresses up ladies! Apparently, tying the bow at the left means you are single, on the right means married, on the back means widowed, and on a rare day you may see the bow tied at the front centre, indicating a virgin. So be very careful where you tie your bows!

I learnt many other interesting facts, the past reigning Kings ranged from castle and fairy tale loving pansy boys, to raging chauvinists/misogynists. One King Ludwig had so many mistresses, he had all his conquests painted in portrait, and hung all around the castle, for his distraught wife to view as she glided pissed off to breakfast every morning. She probably was so mad at him she didn’t have sex with him anymore which no doubt perpetuated the problem. According to my wise Mum;

“If you don’t sleep with your husband, someone else will.”

Thanks for that awesome advice, how true it is right? I wouldn’t know, I don’t have a husband and I like having sex!

So this King died of syphillis, most probably… I did wonder how many of his conquests were not painted? Hilarious. Not for his wife though…

In the afternoon we made our way to the English Gardens, a most magical part of the inner city hub of Munich, and most definitely my favourite part of the city. An easy stroll from Marianplatz, you can find your self in an expansive green space, complete with green trees, and fast flowing river channels, where people surf! Literally they bring their surf boards in this man made rocky part near a bridge, and surf the waves for seconds at a time. There are all levels from pro to easy, along different parts of the river. After a long walk around, enjoying the ambience on a very warm day, we cooled off in the chilly water. It was heavenly!

Nibbling on some berries and cherries we dried off on the banks, then jumped in again, it is not every day you get to swim and float around with ducks, in the middle of a city! Very cool experience, I highly recommend.

Wandering back into the city we made our way to the beer garden, and sampled some pork knuckle. Ripping off chunks of freshly cooked meat, cannibal style, was somehow enjoyable, especially the crunchy crackling, my Mum used to love crackling.

The day had been very eventful and it was time to make my way home, back to my hostel for a well earned rest; ready for the next day of adventure! My next country I will visit is Turkey! Stay tuned for many new posts on this very beautiful country.

Love Anita xx

Hope you liked my post on the English Gardens, these were by far the best part of Munich I think. What is your favourite part of Munich?