Time for a bit more exploring this week, including venturing down to the main Oktoberfest site. We decided that we needed to see a bit more of the real Munich and take in some of the sites so we walked in to the city along one of the main roads, seeing a lot more of the historical sites on the way (and trying to guess what they might be). One place we made it to that we did know was the Alter Hof, the original castle of Munich. Not that you'd guess by looking at it anymore - it's been continually built around and altered but the museum inside helped us work it out (and it was freeee!). St. Peter's church was a recommended visit because it's tower gives brilliant views of the city including the Rathaus with it's funky glockenspiel (see Thursday for more on that). Christine got a good laugh going up the tower because that's when she found out that James is scared of steps with gaps in between, and when James found out he is bothered by heights after all!
Tuesday was a write-off. Last night we tried a coupe of random dingy bars because we liked the music we could hear. Turns out we managed to spend a few hours drinking in a gay bar without even realising! At least we met a few friendly people, had a laugh and learned not to go drinking after only eating a cheese sandwich all day!
Finally...it's Oktoberfest day! The reason we wanted to come to Munich this particular time was to find out what all the fuss was about. It was huuuge! Each brewery had its own massive tent with thousands of people inside as well a funfair outside. We went for the Augustiner tent as that had been our favourite beer so far. The verdict...Oktoberfest needs to be enjoyed with a big group. It was partly down to where we had to sit (behind the band) and partly down to the beer tasting suspiciously unlike the Augustiner we'd had before but our Hofbrauhaus experience a few days ago was much more enjoyable. We did have fun on a few spinny rides though (wish you were there Metters?).
Thursday was our last day so we decided to do some proper cultural stuff. We found a free audio tour of the history of National Socialism in the city so started off with that but a combination of torrential rain and the fact it assumed we had more knowledge about the subject already meant we gave up on that one and followed one based on monuments and memorials around the city instead. Definitely a good choice, it was much easier to follow but still had all the important bits in. James even started remembering some of his GCSE history! Like Berlin there were some very moving parts and it makes you really angry that that Fascist groups like the EDL and Neo-Nazis are growing. We can't let history repeat itself!
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