Day 35: Prague - Munich

Ouch!  My head is killing me.  That one glass of wine just kept filling up, I swear!

Crawled down to breakfast to find the place heaving; so many people all pushing each other to get to the food.  It was one of the most disgraceful shows of human selfishness I'd seen, and all this in a 4.5 star hotel!

Was able to force down some bacon and sausage, then crawled outside to wait for the bus.  I slept and dozed on the bus until we got to Munich, so missed the countryside completely.  At least I didn't have to deal with the headache.

Stopped at Nymphenburge Palace to get some photos of the gardens.  The view as you come down the road of the palace is fantastic, as you drive along a river that splits into a number of lakes (I don't know where it then goes!).

The gardens out the back are wonderful, especially when viewed from the balcony.  Didn't have the time for a proper look as we had to head into Munich city.

Got into the Marian Platz to see the old town hall and to get our bearings.  It was as we were about to go for a walk and shop that Elisha informs me I have a large tear in the back of my shorts.  So once again, we split up to do our own things.  Since summer is now over, finding a pair of shorts was not easy.  After spending over 1 hour and getting by with my very poor German skills, I did managed to finally find a pair that fit (after being told by one shop assistant that they had earlier had their shorts on sale from €32 all the way down to €3 - of course, they all went very quickly).

As it was now 16:20, it was time to get a spot to see the clock on the town hall.

The clock is known as the Glockenspiel and for good reason.  At midday and at 17:00, the clock starts chiming a tune on a huge Glockenspiel inside the building.  This may not sound like a big deal until you realise that after a few minutes, 2 shows are performed by mechanical figurines.  The first show commemorates the wedding of Duke Wilheim V, complete with jousting, whilst the second shows figurines celebrating the end of the plague.  When you also consider it was all built over 400 years ago, it really is amazing.

Got back to our hotel to freshen up before heading to the Hofbrauhaus for dinner and another show.

The dinner was a serve yourself buffet meal, and was bloody hectic with 500 - 800 people crowded in the beer hall.  It was not only crowded, but also extremely hot.  So the 1 litre stein of the local dark bear came in quite handy.  Now these things are bloody heavy.  Not only do you have 1 litre of beer, but the glass they come in is very heavy, so when drinking, you are trying to raise over 2.5 kg to your mouth.  After nearly breaking my wrist trying to use the glass like any other normal glass, I found that if you put your hand through the handle and grasp the glass it is a lot easier.

Somehow, Elisha & I, Paul & Sue, and Midge & Jack managed to get seats at the very front of the stage, providing us with exceptional views of the entertainment, which consisted of singing, Bavarian slap dancing, wood cutting (to music and dance) and of course, yodelling and was absolutely superb.

The end of the show consisted of the guys jumping up on top of the tables and cracking whips above our heads in time to the music.  The warning to "stay in your seats" was taken very seriously I can tell you.  The idea of being whacked over the head by a whip just doesn't sound like something I want to try.

We lost a couple of people in Munich as they are starting other tours, but the saddest was Mustaffa has to take one day off after 6 days of driving - of course, this ended up being tonight and with only 1 day of driving to go anyway, he was heading to Weisbadan just outside of Frankfurt, which is kinda ironic as that is where we end our tour.  So after driving 410 km from Prague to Munich, he drove another 480 km from Munich to Weisbadan - I don't know how he does it.

Farewell Mustaffa, you are a champ.