Munich

We had a lazy start to the day and then travelled to Munich. A few hours of travelling on a plane with a panic attack about Kyle’s battery charger being in his packed luggage, then two trains later, we were in Basler Strasse with Irmgard and Marianne Landers. My old host family from 2005. It was so good to be home.

26th September
In the morning we had a lazy start to the day (again..by this point we were pretty exhausted from travel). We went for a walk around Forstenried West which was the area they lived in and Irmgard joined us. We saw the local catholic church and the oldest farm house in Munich (we think!). We stopped at a bakery and got a brezln which would be Kyle’s first one! Then back at Basler Strasse we had lunch and some slice from the bakery. We relaxed a bit more and then went to Implerstrasse station where we met up with Marianne. It was so nice to see her again! We walked around Marienplatz and took various photos while waiting for Manu (her boyfriend) to arrive. We also went to St. Johann Nepomuk which is a crazy baroque church with elaborate designs. We met up with Manu and had a drink and then dinner at a pub which was really nice and fresh food! After that we ventured over the road to a local jazz club where they were having a jam session. The musicians were amazing and it was nice to get some culture and live music into our systems! We left about 10pm and went back to Basler Strasse to bed.

27th September
The next morning we went to Odeonsplatz and looked at the Theatinekirche which was beautiful and themed white - all the plaster designs were white and it was magnificent. It was Kyle’s first experience in a church like this and it was so nice to be able to share it with Kyle. We walked around Odeonsplatz a bit more and then went to the famous Hofbrauhaus. There we had a very expensive lunch of German sausages, sauerkraut and brezln, and Kyle’s first “mass” beer. The Hofbrauhaus is the oldest beer hall in Munich and is famous as Hitler did a lot of his speeches there.
After that we kept walking (the weather was beautiful!) and went to St. Peter and climbed the hundreds of stairs to the lookout in the clock tower which was crowded but had the most amazing views but since the weather was so good we got some great shots.
We met up with Marianne and went to Luitpold park in Bruedermuehlstrasse where she lived. There was an artificial mound that we climbed to a lookout and this mound was made up of debris left over from the war so it was quite interesting. We went to her little flat and had dinner when Manu met us there. Then we headed off home.

28th September
Danielle’s Birthday! Kyle made me an electronic birthday card which was nice to wake up to! It was a day of surprises – Tim the German came and Kyle had no idea and it was so cool to see a familiar face again! A while later my friend Thomas joined us, who was also part of the German exchange I did 13 years ago – he also came to our wedding. Then the four of us made our way to the mountains via the autobahn (where we did 200km/h), and Brauneck – our destination. The countryside was very ‘Bavarian’ and we got on a cable-car up the mountain where a short walk later we were at our destination – a little hut with the most amazing views. An hour or so later Marianne arrived, with Manu, Steffi, Martina and Leon! Leon was a surprise for me! I had no idea that he was coming and he had arrived the night before and stayed at Marianne’s house. It was so nice to spend my birthday with a family member and I was very overwhelmed.
The group went for a walk up some tracks on the mountain and we spent the rest of the day drinking, talking and eating. It was the most amazing way to spend my 30th birthday.
(Lena and her boyfriend were supposed to come but unfortunately were very ill so had to stay at home).

29th September
In the morning we went for a walk to the summit. It was incredibly foggy and cold but was great to be in the mountain air! We took photos of what we could and then we went down the mountain via cable car again. Back at Irmgard’s house we had some lunch then met up with the others at Oktoberfest. It had gotten very warm and was so sunny. Oktoberfest was very crowded as it was a Saturday and beautiful weather but there was no way we were going to get into a tent and that was ok. We walked around in the carnival atmosphere and had some nice things to eat.
We then had a beer (for a quarter of the price as that at Oktoberfest) in a biergarten a few blocks from Oktoberfest and then were invited back to Martina’s place where her parents hosted us. Was nice to be with everyone! Martina then took Leon to the train station. Back at Irmgard’s place Kyle finally got the rugby (SA vs AUS) on the laptop using three devices, and watched it into the early hours of the day with Tim and Irmgard, with some nice snacks too!

30th September
Tim left in the morning and then Irmgard, Kyle and I went to Starnberger See. It was such a beautiful day and there were even people swimming which was quite unusual for this time of the year! We went around further to where King Ludwig II was found dead in the water all those years ago. There is a small chapel there to honour him.
After a trip back to Basler Strasse we met Marianne at the Englischer Garten’s and walked through the huge complex. It is so pretty and again, the weather was amazing. We had a drink at the Chinescher Turm and then walked further to where surfers go to practice. They take turns and ride the artificial waves created by the stones at the bottom of the flowing river/canal. We then had a short walk to the school I went to on my student exchange and took more photos!

1st October
This was our rest day. We finally just had time to relax.

2nd October
We got up early and went to Marienplatz where we did the 3 hour 3rd Reich Walking Tour through Munich. It was amazing to see that so much had gone on in this area. We then spent a lot of time at the Nationalist Museum which had information about the 3rd Reich. It was interesting but a lot of reading. On the 3rd Reich tour we saw Hitler’s old office – all artefacts that have anything to do with Hitler or the Nazis had been removed from the city. (and elsewhere in Germany I think).
That afternoon we met Steffi and went to Marianne’s work – a school for Japanese students. Then the four of us went to the Savannah Restaurant which was South African and it was delicious and a really fun night!

3rd October
Today we met up with Sebastian and his wife Sarah – Sebastian was also part of the exchange we did in high school. Marianne and Manu joined us at the restaurant and it was nice for Kyle to have met all of my German friends. We then went home to pack as we had a trip to Nuremburg to make. - Danielle