Not one Bavarian Creme in the place!

The first stop on our road trip was Munich, the capital of the Free State of Bavaria. Here we stayed in a high-rise hotel, which was awesome because we were able to catch a 45 minute fireworks display from our window, randomly one night. Overall the city was very accessible, we were able to use the trams and underground pretty easily, but for the most part we were able to cover most of the old town on foot. At the beginning of our journey it was very exciting to see such fantastic Neo-Gothic architecture, so we spend most of our time looking at the Rathaus (pictured), and hanging around the main square.

On the tower of the Rathaus, one can find the Glockenspiel, which three times a day rings out elaborate melodies while wooden figures dance and march around. It was much more impressive than Prague's Astromical Clock which just has a few saints pass by a window. On the other hand the clock is several hundred years older than the Glockenspiel, so I should give it fair dues.

In the evening we visited the Hofbräuhaus, a historic beer hall and brewery. It was crowded, sweaty, and noisy, but one could not help getting swept up into the merriment, especially after two 1-liter steins of Hofbräu.