Munich

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After our one night in Salzburg, on Saturday morning we hopped on a bus to take us back over to the other side of the city, where Salzburg's train station was. From here we caught a train to Munich, which seemed a surprisingly simple procedure, given that we were crossing country borders. Our hotel in Munich (the "Four Points") was walking distance from the train station, and one of the more comfortable places that we'd stayed at. Saturday afternoon in Munich was spent familiarising ourselves with the area surrounding our hotel, and taking care of the all-important weekly laundromat visit.

The next day, which was our only full day in Munich, we did our usual guided bus tour of the city, giving us a chance to see all the major sights of central Munich - the three medieval gates that remain standing in the city centre, the Residenz palace complex, and the impressive architecture in Königsplatz (King's Square), to name a few. After the tour finished, we walked through two of the city's main squares, Karlsplatz and Marienplatz, the second of which we loitered in for a while to catch the 12:00 "performance" of the famous Glockenspiel, a clock tower with 43 bells and 32 life-sized figures which move around, telling stories of Munich's history, after the clock chimes.

After watching this, we walked back to have a closer look at parts of the Residenz, relaxing for awhile in the Kaiserhof (Emperor's Courtyard) to listen to the live music that was playing as part of the festival that happened to be taking place there. We walked through the Hofgarten (the Court Gardens of the Residenz), through to Englischergarten, a huge public park that stretches right out to the edges of the city. One of the more interesting sights to see here is the surfers taking turns to surf on a wave at the mouth of the stream that runs through the gardens.

We had a late lunch in the Englischergarten at the huge "Chinesischer Turm" (Chinese Tower), an enormous pagoda surrounded by a 7000-seat beer garden. After looking a little more around the gardens, we then made the long walk back to our hotel.

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Photos

Inner city
Near the royal residences. The statue in the centre of the road is of King Maximillian.

Karlstor
There are three remaining gateways in central Munich still standing from medieval times. This one, Karlstor, is the western gate, and forms the entrance to Karlsplatz.

Rathaus-Glockenspiel
A famous clocktower in Marienplatz which, when it chimes, re-enacts two stories from the 16th century.

Kaiserhof
In the Kaiserhof, or Emperor's Court, where a festival was taking place. (We weren't too impressed with the architechtural design in here... the walls look a little fake!)

Near the Hofgarten
An arcade just near the Court Gardens of the Residenz palace complex, with wall paintings relating to the history of Bavaria.

Staatskanzlei
The state chancellery.

Surfer
A popular part of the stream running through the Englischer Garten, where surfers line up to surf on the wave for as long as they can.

Chinesischer Turm
A pagoda in the Englischer Garten, surrounded by a 7000 seat beer garden. A band plays from the second level of the pagoda.

Beer garden
The Chinesischer Turm's beer garden