The bus ride went off without a hitch. I was upset not to have a free seat beside me, but I must have a nice face, because another lady flying solo chose to sit by me. I was grateful for some extra space when she got off the bus at our first stop seemingly in the middle of nowhere. I was lost in my imagination as we drove along the highways, I listened to music and gazed out the window looking at the snow-lined tarmac. We arrive after another short stop right on time at 00:20. I’d dozed off only a little so I was tired. Once off the bus, it wasn’t hard to navigate to the hostel around the corner. After some initial struggles with getting through the door, I finally got some attention from reception, they buzzed me in, checked me in and I was up to my room. Only top bunks available again! I think I kept it pretty quiet as I put my bags in a corner, threw a jumper on and crawled into bed, grateful for crisp, clean white sheets and a tidy dorm. Of the six beds inside the room, I think I was the only female occupying one.

In the morning, there were flecks of snow falling and by the time I’d finished breakfast and made lunch, it was windy flurries of snow. Haing perused the brochure stand before leaving the hostel, I found that there was a free tour running at 10:45am from the middle of the city. The city being a half hour walk away, I had time enough to make it. I had an extra pair of pants on than I did in Prague, so I felt better equipped to stand outside for two hours. There’s just something about walking tours that brings about snow.

I walked through the main shopping mall to get to the meeting place of Mary’s Tower where the people gathered and a man with an umbrella made it obvious I was in the right place. The rout started right on time and our guide, Kilian, started rambling away. First about himself, a mechanical engineer who’d done some travelling, then come back to his home city to be a tour guide (maybe that will be my fate?), then about the tour (including a lot of spruiking for tours you can pay for), then finally about the city of Munich. This lasted until 11am when the most over-rated tourist attraction in Munich got underway. Another clock performance atop the old town hall that stood in front of us. It was much better than the Prague equivalent because it told a story from history, but was still laughably pathetic. The wind had picked up and Kilian feared for the wellbeing of his followers so he took us into the square of the old town hall where he talked some more.

This trend continued throughout the whole tour, meaning that we didn’t actually walk too far. We stopped by a statue of Romeo’s Juliet, who has a golden breast due to the amount of people that rub it for good fortune in love. You’re supposed to put a flower in the crook of her left arm for that, but trends will develop. I forgot to rub the boob, so I’m guess I’ll be single for life.

We spent at least half an hour in a tourist information centre so we could be warm while Kilian talked about the history of the city. It was a bit lecture-style and was wasted on me. I have no memory capacity for dates and names so I would have rather been outside looking at stuff. During our fifteen minute break, I went back to the tourist info centre to ask about the BMW museum, pleased with myself to have made productive use of the time instead of hiding away in a café with the rest of the group.

After the break, we walked to the Opera House, the Munich Residence, where we got kicked out, then ended at the square in front of Theatine Church. Here, I quietly faded away again and into the church. I hung out here for a bit, then ventured back out into the snow to do a recap of some of the walking tour points. First, I went back to the opera house to get a better view of the Maximillian statue, where I heard another tour guide give a much better rendition than Kilian had of the house’s history with humour and enthusiasm. I visited the Onion Church (not actually called that, but it has onion-shaped towers hence the nickname) where I saw the footprint embedded within one of the tiles, rumoured to be the footprint of the devil. I was glad to have learnt that on the tour since there was no signage within the church explaining as much.

I went back to the old town hall to walk around inside, where people who work there have become oblivious to the marvellous gothic architecture they are housed in every day. I even found a stained glass mosaic about America?! I had a closer look at the square within the hall before going back out into Marienplatz and to St. Peter’s Church. I’m still being impressed with these churches.

Munich gets the prize for the city with the most scaffolding. The architecture of the churches, halls and theatres is mysteriously beautiful, hidden behind ugle walls of mesh and metal. I’m sure this is strategically done throughout the winter when only the stupid like me wish to visit.

I left the centre of town to go and see the university building up close. Kilian had pointed it out to us and explained that the best students get to study and live there for free. University is free in Germany, but accommodation too? And it wasn’t a crummy student dorm, but an elaborate old-style building at the head of a main street. I was disappointed I couldn’t go inside for a sneak-peek, making do with the view from the outside.

On my way there, I spotted another gothic structure so looped around to go back and see that, walking through a quiet snow-covered park that cross the river on my way. The church was St. Lukas and the inside was dull, but it didn’t fade the impression of the building’s exterior.

I head back towards the city, the snow still falling gently in the strong wind, until I was back at the Munich Residence. It was just past 3pm and I’d spent the entire day outside so needed some warm inside time. I chose the residence because I figure it would be the museum with the most impressive-looking rooms. I was too late to buy a ticket for the whole Palace so settled for paying 11EUR for the Treasury and the Residence. The Treasury was something I didn’t need to see. Lots of crown jewels and pretty things from the ages, things I’d become thoroughly sick of looking at. I listened to my free audio guide in bits and pieces as I went, discovering that if you listened to every piece of audio for the Treasury, you’d be in the small display of six rooms for five hours! Some people really do love history.

Keen to get on to the Residence, I left the Treasury for the main event. The place is absolutely huge. Usually you can get access to 130 rooms, but even with just under half of them closed for restoration, it is a sizeable walk through the maze of decorated living spaces. The highlight was the second room, an assembly hall, which is also the oldest in the building. The space was massive and they spared no detail for the paintings on every patch of wall and ceiling. There were busts of famous people along each wall to make sure no one ever felt alone in this grand space. I hope they still use this room for something other than people looking at it. It would be a wonderful sight to see long tables within it and people filling seats creating party ambience. I went from room to room, listening to less and less audio guide as I went, happy just to look at the wallpaper that matched bed sheets, and ridiculously decorated furniture. Most of the building and its contents were damaged or destroyed during the war, but they’d made the most of what they had left.

I was tired and thoroughly sick of walking by the time I was done. Definitely no more history museums for me, no matter how cold it is outside. I was ready for a rest so I head home. I bought a crepe from a Christmas market just before I left the city, craving something sweet after many days of bland rice and bread. I was soon disappointed that I had, for 5EUR, it was soggy and 100% not worth it. On my way back, I was asked for directions for the third time today! I couldn’t help the first two people who rattled off questions in German, but I was able to help this lady since she was only around the corner from her destination. I was kind of happy with myself I was able to blend in. Maybe Alex really is my brother, making me part-German.

Back at the hostel, it was way too warm in the room, even for the five minutes I was in there to grab my laptop. I went straight back out into the cold and walked around the corner to a brewhouse Kilian had mentioned. Augustiner Keller was a huge two-storey house, authentic in every way as far as I could tell. I walked in and had to ask a waiter how it worked since no one had welcomed me. Did I just sit down wherever I liked? He waved me away as if I was stupid which pissed me off, but eventually a waiter found me and directed me to a perfect people-watching table on a mezzanine floor that overlooked the rest of the restaurant. I didn’t need my laptop for entertainment, I just looked out at the people below me. Families, tourists, couples, the works. Lots of kids had lit-up toys from the nearby circus. Within minutes I had a 0.5L glass of beer in my hand (I didn’t quite feel confident enough to do the full stein) and a few minutes later, a quarter-knuckle of pork with a huge potato dumpling and cabbage salad. The dumpling and salad are nothing to write about, but the knuckle was devine, with good pork crackling, but not as good as Mum’s.

I lingered a little after I’d finished my meal and beer, just watching, then with a full tummy I enjoyed the cold outside on the walk home. I went straight to bed and watched another historic F1 race before going to sleep. Me and my bunk mate were disrupted by two late arrivals who did pretty well at keeping the noise down as they settled, but as soon as the new top bunk man he snored so loud I swear he was going to choke. I’m never going to a hostel again without packing earplugs. I miss my van.

Munich Fact: One third of all the beer brewed in Munich is consumed over two weeks, at a little festival called “Oktoberfest”. Something around 7 million litres!