Remember when I thought 5:30 was bad? Well, today’s wake up call blared into my ear at 4:30 a.m. As in, it was still yesterday in America when I started today. We ate our final breakfast at the Suite Novotel in Berlin and headed to the airport and on to Munich! I was surprised that some of the streets looked quite familiar from last year’s visit. After a brief struggle of elevators vs. luggage, we headed out for a walking tour from our hotel by the main train station (the Hauptbanhof) toward Marienplatz, learning as much about churches and historical significance as one can on an empty stomach. We saw the tallest church in Munich, which towers above everything, not just unintentionally, but by law. Munich was actually founded by monks, and the religious significance is honored in this way. Then, we were unleashed for a quick lunch where I tried spatzle, kind of like a cheesy potato pasta, and it was excellent!
We reconvened for a visit to Munich’s tourism office, where we met with Isabella Schopp, a member of the PR department for a quick look into what they do to market the city of the biergarten and the weiswurstl. I was surprised to learn that she is only one year older than I am and already in such a high-influence position. We got a little bit of background on Munich and what makes it such a draw for tourists, namely Oktoberfest; surprising, no? But they do host quite a few other festivals throughout the year, as well, one called Music All Night, which I would love to attend. She also told us that 80% of the locals in Munich have bikes and use them as their main mode of transportation, which is visually represented in the hundreds of bikes that are chained up along the 
streets. Some decorated, most with baskets. They also chose to market Young Munich as a main point for this year’s strategy. Although it is a town steeped in tradition, it is home to about 104,000 students and the nightlife is a big draw, as well.
We all met again for dinner at the Cafe im Marienplatz, where I tried a platter of meats that I would never have expected myself to. Also, the décor was intriguing in that the stained glass windows on the walls all depicted scenes of prostitution, so that was interesting. I also tried a Rus’n, which is the wheat bier mixed with lemonade and is DELICIOUS.
As you can imagine, by that point, we were completely exhausted and went straight to bed…
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