Munich, Germany

We had a 3:15am wake-up call to get ready to fly to Munich. After 3 days of little sleep and constant movement (and probably too much beer) we knew this day would be a tough one. 41 of us sat in the airport, miserable and ready to skip the city all together and head to Prague.
The culture difference was much more evident in Munich. Worse than everything being in German was the knowledge that everyone could tell that we were American tourists. We toured Munich by both bus and foot. I would like to say the bus tour was great because we saw a lot, but it was nice to be in a heated area where we could all doze off. On the bus tour I saw a poster for "Flirt & the City" which I thought was a good parallel for the conservative city.
When we finally did get out of the bus, the entire city changed. Suddenly we were surrounded by centuries old buildings towering over squares and narrow streets. Buildings from lifetimes ago were now converted to Cartier, and the biggest Gucci I have ever seen. Seeing the New City Hall and the Cathedral was breathtaking. I've never seen such grand buildings and they fit so naturally into the center of the city. The statues were still intact sitting at the top. The weathering and wearing of the building was uneven which added the a new dimension to it's beauty. I can't describe what I loved about the building so much, but I could have stood there all day and it wouldn't have been enough. The pictures hardly do it justice.
A group of us went out to dinner where we had cheeses and got charged for the pretzels that replace the bread basket. We went to the Hofbrauhaus, a traditional German beer hall most famous for hosting Oktoberfest every year. It was packed with locals and tourists, sharing tables and toasts in whatever language they could. Some tables were singing (we joined in for "If You're Happy & You Know It), and others were just talking and laughing. Two German women in their beer-maid outfits heard us speaking English and came over to speak to them. They are going to Las Vegas in March for a convention and they wanted to practice. (The women were sure to clarify that they know that LV is not an accurate representation of the US as a whole."I know I've been to Las Vegas, but never to the United States.") They were very excitable and thoroughly entertained by our conversation. We spoke to some more locals and we talked about the cultural and language differences. They asked us to do impressions of the German people - I was making a silent stern face before they realized that that was my impression. They laughed. I'm glad my humor translates.