Free Tour of Munich
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Go Germany! Once again, there was a free tour offered through the same company that ran the one in Berlin. Upon reaching the meeting point in ‘Marien Platz’ we found ourselves staring up at the famed Glockenspiel of Munich City Hall. It was completed about 100 years ago and everyday at 11am, 12pm and 5pm, as the hour strikes the Glockenspiel tells the story of Marriage and Death… unfortunately the ‘beautiful bells’ haven’t been tuned since it’s completion, and consequently has been out of tune for over 30 years… hmm, dodgy! Fortunately we didn’t have to watch the whole thing and our guides whisked us off to tell us the background of Munich.
This was explained in one of the foyers inside the town hall, and was kinda similar to the Berlin Tour opening. Then the group was then split into two, and we started the tour. First stop of the tour was at Alter Hof, to tell of a story were a monkey once stole a baby that happened to be the heir to the throne – Ludwig the Bavarian. Now it is a really nice restaurant and is close to the most expensive area in Munich. Moving on we then went to the oldest beer hall in Bavaria, Hofbrauhaus. Then to a couple of cathedrals before lunch in a really nice Beer garden. We had a bit of time in the garden as there was a huge market and man was it busy. They were just constantly pouring beer the whole time we were there. After lunch was mainly peeking in the windows of the new palace, walking through the gardens, seeing the new town hall and hearing many stories along the way. We finished up just on the other side of Dodges alley, and had a grand finally of more royal Bavarian history.
We weren’t quite ready to go home yet as on the tour the guide had pointed out a church that you could walk up to the top of its clock tower. 321 steps later we gingerly stepped out to see a fantastic panoramic view of Munich.
That was about us for the day and we headed home after yet another ice cream, only to get really lost as we didn’t have our map and it took about three times the time it should have. But we did get to see the porno part of town again – what a thrill. That’s the last time we try to follow the tram tracks home…
Our tour guides
The New Palace
The Glockenspiel
Dragon - Symbolises the plague
The really over the top cathedral
posted by Maarty @ 12:00 pm,
