München

The day began like the others, grey and cold. But  between the giant Munich houses, neogothic and barock churches it was warm enough. The 30 years war between 1618 and 1648 - a time when only a few Maori lived in NZ - left the city with many unique features and beer related stories, like how the invading Swedes drank the Hofbräuhaus (Royal brewery, now owned by the peole of Bavaria) empty instead of destroying the city. Then World War 2 destroyed 80% of the buildings, but they were all rebuilt to the original plans, making the city of Munich look still as it did 100 years ago. Even a cannon ball embedded in the Frauenkirche (woman’s church built in the 1400’s) during the 30 years war was put back in place. We learnt that many of the Bavarian Kings were called Ludwig during their reign, now there is a Ludwig's church, a Ludwig street, a Ludwig-Maximilian University and a Field marshalls hall. The Field marshall statue on the left was not Bavarian and the Field marshalls on the right was a coward, this is a Bavarian joke. The lion on the left (looking towards the royal residence) has his mouth slightly open, indicating that if you do not agree with something the royals say then it is possible to argue, while the lion of the right (looking towards the church) has his mouth shut, indicating that arguing with the church is not a good idea. This shows how open and just the royal family of Bavaria were.

 After the interesting guided tour of the city we met at the Fischbrunnen and discussed our plans. Most of us went to the Hofbräuhaus to enjoy the music and atmosphere but later we all ate somewhere else. Then we took the bus back to our Hostel, with the expert driver Renee driving of course. (by Elaisa)