Munich

Walking down the cobblestone streets, I took in the beautiful architecture, wild flowers, rich history, and beer. Munich is such a vibrant city. Not only is it the capital of Bavaria, but it's sometimes's known as Germany's secret capital. Most people know Munich because it has the country's biggest folk festival, Oktoberfest, which is held in Theresienwiese. I have to buy a dirndl (traditional dress) before then. :)

I arrived on Friday night after a much needed escape. I had been feeling depressed, lonely, and home sick and was ready for a change of scenery. I guess its normal to feel this way after a huge change of routine. Patience and trusting in the present moment is what I repeatedly uttered to myself.

I went sightseeing on Saturday, but due to the pouring rain we were not able to visit Schloss Nymphenburg, a baroque palace in Munich, or Englischer garten. We walked around Marienplatz, which in Medieval times used to be a salt and corn market, but today is a central square full of shops and cafes. Later in the evening, we decided to do a food and beer tour and it was amazing!






We started off at the Beer and Oktoberfest museum where we sampled 3 different types of beers and learned about the history of beer in Germany. Because water was scarce and unsanitary in the 6th century, Benedictine monastaries began to brew their own beer. Beer was supposed to be nutritious (liquid bread) and plentiful making it easy to feed families, children, poor and wealthy people. These monks would even use it as a way to pay taxes or pay for other services and supplies. It was also believed that the more beer one drank, the easier one could reach enlightment. Most monks used to drink about 4 liters a day!! I don't think they knew what the difference between drunk and enlightenment was haha... There are 6 Big breweries in Munich: Löwenbräu, Hofbräuhaus, Augustinerbräu, Paulaner, Hacker-Pschorr Bräu, Spaten. 
It was also so interesting to learn about the history of Oktoberfest. It used to be a festival held to celebrate the marriage of King Ludwig and Therese von SaxeHildburghausen. A few years later it became an autumn fair and today a festival that hosts up to 6 million people. 

After the museum, we went to a restaurant where we were served a platter of meats, cheeses, bratwursts, pretzels and a liter of beer. We then ended the tour at the biggest biergarten in Munich, Hofbräuhaus. It was filled with hundreds of people, great folk music, and lots of beer.  

On Sunday, we took a 2 hr train down to Neuschwanstein with a tour group. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.  The landscape and castle were majestic and the weather was perfect. I  highly recommend it!

It was an awesome end to the weekend. After witnessing so much beauty around me I could only smile and feel excited to be living in such a beautiful country. Despite the fact that sometimes the feeling of missing my loved ones outweighs many things, I am taking this as an  opportunity to develop into my best self, gain experience in my field, and explore/appreciate the wonders that surround me everyday.