Walking, buildings and Hitler.

Synopsis of day: Think I might go for a walk.

Highlight of the day: The continental breakfast at the hotel was a true smorgasbord of options, and I’m pretty excited to think I’ve got lots of safe and healthy choices for several days (I was worried about accessing food after yesterday which made this quite a relief).

Lowlight of the day: Being awake since 3.00am wasn’t that great, but even that wasn’t too dreadful because I’d got almost enough sleep by that point anyway, though it has made me more soporific this evening.

Favourite photo:

Memorial to the White Rose Resistance Movement 

at the Franz Maximilian University.

Derek’s selfie of choice:

This market stall is determined to kill me.

Shameless selfie:

Chilling with a gargoyle in the New Gothic Town Hall

Historical Fact of the Day:  I spent most of the day learning or being reminded of historical facts. Let’s go with Munich has an awful lot of buildings associated with the Third Reich.

Cultural-shock moment: Many of the shops don’t open until 10am, and even Maccas didn’t open until 8am (I was scoping cheap internet which was a fail). This feels rather late, and I was amongst the first ready for breakfast at 7.30. It appears starting the day happens a little later here.

New food consumed: Lunch was had at the Schelling Salon, which Hitler was apparently banned from as a result of some awkward non-payments. I followed the lead of my guide and had a Bavarian meatloaf with salad, and tea with rum.

Best purchase of the day: I’m so glad I got myself another glass of Glühwein. I realise this makes it sound like 1. I’m obsessed or 2. My alcohol intake is significantly above normal. Both are quite true.

Random act of crazy:  Bless those crazy surfers in the English Garden. If I hadn’t seen it on ‘The Amazing Race’ before I think I would have disbelieved it was possible.

Something I want to remember: The facades of the buildings and the grandeur of this place.

The day was intended to be the walking tour of Hitler’s Third Reich, and to double as an orientation to the city. The weather was colder than yesterday but I’ve got the right gear and it wasn’t an issue at all. I definitely prefer the cold to the heat.

There were eight people in our walking tour – five from Australia – and two took the extended option – a French girl and myself. Our guide Alexander was engaging and helped me remember a lot from my HSC study and contextualise it.

We started in the Marienplatz where there was a sign about the liberation of Munich in ’45, then headed around the city in search of a number of important sites or buildings. I appreciated the simplicity of the design for the War Memorial, and just generally orienting myself to where things were.

War Memorial in front of the State Government

Lunch at the Schelling Salon was part of the extended trip and was a more relaxed atmosphere and a chance to ask questions about Germany. I didn’t take that many photos during the day, and just participated in the experience. It took most of the day, and as I wound my way back through the streets around dusk, I revelled in how safe the city feels and look forward to spending a few more days here.