My friend and I stopped by a cute cafe for some coffee and donuts before meeting up with a tour group in Marienplatz at 10:45. Our sassy tourguide who told us he had champagne humor and lived up to his bold statement took us on a 3 hour walk around the city's main attractions staring with the Glockenspiel. He comically narrated the story of the wedding, the joust, and the cooper's dance signifying the end of the plague as the figures came to life and the bells chimed through the square. We looked up at the golden statue of mary utop the huge block of stone guarded by bronze "teenage mutant ninja babies" that warded off any threat to the statue, and marveled at the neo-gothic architecture. We moved across town stopping by the stange Michael Jackson memorial that has overtaken the base of the statue of a not-so-famous composer, craning our necks to view the two tallest towers (which will forever remain so due to Munich law) in the city belonging to the Frauenkirche, and standing in the cobblestone square where Adolf Hitler almost lost his life but emerged with nothing but a dislocated shoulder in the Beer Hall Putsch. We learned that only 4 towers (the 2 in the Frauenkirche, the Glockenspiel, and the clock tower attached to the Church of the Holy Spirit) remained standing after WWII bombings that took out 90% of Munich's historic center, remnants of its former glory now only preserved in bronze. We walked across a path where Nazi resisters were killed for just taking a different route where there is now a glistening gold memorial strip of stones among the cobblestone, visited the upstairs hall of the Hofbräuhaus where many famous figures were regulars, and hesrd the tragic story of the failed sprinkler system that couldn't save the theater behind the sculture of Bavaria's first king and former duke Max Joseph, King Maximilian I. We strolled along to the backside of the St. Peter's church and even took a moment to look at the 14th century Swedish cannonball lodged into the side of the restored building and the crooked cross on top of the tower that has a legend to go alongside it about the holy beer stein and the two drunken Christian boys. 

What I found most interesting about and did not realize until going on the tour and learning about Munich's history is how involved this city was in the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party. Hitler began his public speaking in the various beer halls around the city (including the all-famous Hofbräuhaus), setting off his political career before joining the National German Socialist Democratic Party. An interesting side note that was mentioned as we passed by an ancient tower adorned with images of flags and crests was that Hitler loved the city of Munich and it's beauty, and spent a lot of his time painting postcards of various landmarks in the city with watercolor (he was rejected from art school twice because he couldn't capture the softness of human form, but he was apparently a genius at straight lines and architectural images -- sort of explains a lot more about his personality). Our tour guide suggested we look these postcard images up, and I must admit the images are very well-done, and it is strange to think I was in the same place looking at the same sights from the same angle that this terrifying man had often seen and clearly loved. The guide also pointed out that the Germans have put in a lot of effort to encourage discussion, interpretation, and learning from history and to keep an open mind about reflecting upon the events that occurred in the not-too-distant past. This is why while the occurrences of WWII will never be celebrated, the memory of them will be valiantly kept alive to teach of atrocities never to be committed again and encourage exploration of the issues at hand and human capacity for harm and resistance.

The tour dropped us off right in front of the Viktualienmarkt, the central market which is very different from the ones in Rome. This one is spacious and filled with sausage stands and barrel-tables to stand and drink your lunchtime beer at, some scattered fruit stands, craft shops featuring wood-carved animals and little home goods, and lots of meat vendors. We took a break and sat for some sausage and fries (I'm pretty sure my body is 50% potatoes and 50% meat) before setting our sights on the top of the Alter Peter, the clock tower adjoined to St. Peter's Church. We entered the narrow one-person width staircase and circled our way up 300 individual steps which spat us out on a gated balcony that provided us with a 360ª view of the city. Immediately next to us was Marienplatz and the Old Town Hall on one side, followed by the market and Church of the Holy Spirit on another, and an expansive view of the rest of the city outside of the historic center. It was a beautiful sight of orange rooftops and green, oxidized metal against the stark white buildings that really captured the feeling of the city.

We descended back through the same tiny staircase and paid visit to the actual churches of St. Peter and  the Holy Spirit, which were very different from the highly ornate, baroque churches I am so used to seeing in Rome. I did really like the origami bird installation at the second church, since I have never seen anything like it before... nevertheless inside of a religious building. The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering down the main street and taking quick break at the hostel until we realized our immense craving for a lighter meal and some oriental flavoring, and decided to walk through a lesser-traveled area of town to a pho restaurant. It was extremely strange after living in such a bustling, cramped city that the streets in Munich are so wide and clean, the cobblestone larger and more dramatic, the walls straight and not crumbling, and the lack of people walking around outside, especially walking out of the main squares where we had spent most of our time prior. We did eventually make our way back to a livelier area to listen to some live music (Jason Mraz covers, oh yes) at a little Irish pub next to Frauenkirche and enjoyed our radlers (beer + lemonade, genius combination) before heading back home in preparation for another day of travel ahead.