Munich - July 26, 2006

Well I'm back from the grand old continent and finally have some time to catch-up by blogging some photos from each of the countries I visited. This will take a few weeks I'm sure as I imagine I took over 10000 photos. I'll try and weed out the crap which'll leave 9900 to post.

Stayed tuned... for now, Germany: The Land of Big Beer Glasses!

Back to where I started in July, the capital of Bavaria and everyone's favourite land of lederhosen: Munich!

*As always, click the image to view it in its correct dimensions (that'll clear up any blurriness - unless of course you've been drinking Radler)

If you like churches (architecturally or otherwise) you're in luck. There's about 1000 per city in Europe and I photographed nearly all of them I think.

Disneyland-esque gates, towers, and castles abound.

Mmmmm.... beer. Until Belgium I thought there could be no better place on Earth for beer - and size-wise Germany still takes the crown. 2 of these in quick succession was generally enough to make me giggle (tee-hee). For those non-manly-men out there, drink radler (sp?) which is a mix of beer and lemonade. For some reason mixing lemonade into things is common... and surprisingly refreshing (but don't let the Germans hear that, I had a good time mocking their beer-guzzling image once I found out it was radler in their steins!)

The famous Munich beerhall Hofbrau Haus, viisted more by tourists than locals, but that didn't detour me! Don't let the flash fool you either, its much darker usually. The perfect place for a pint (scratch that, a litre) and a pretzel.

Beerology 101 - the composition of a beer.

Still keeping it together (I think this is after 24 hours of being awake). And no poor Patricia isn't sweating, she decided to run through the water fountain - don't ask.

A nicer shot from the entrance of the Hofbrau Haus.

A beer garden at night. I only wish one could see it in the day. From the moment I arrived in Germany I wanted to see a German beer garden. Everytime I saw a table or two with an umbrella I was sure it was a beer garden - which Patricia laughing assured me otherwise. See, like their beer, germans (or at least Bavarians) like their gardens large. Munich has one of the largest city parks in the world and so too, one of the largest beer gardens in the world. This place packed hundreds over an acre or two stretching in all directions - and despite that, we could barely find a table!

Some heavy-duty waitering is required and so its no surprise to see some mechanization. Even the strongest and bustiest German frau can only carry a dozen beers at her max, so incomes the mini-trucks.

Looking suprisingly clear-eyed and sober after 30+ hours awake and at least 3 litres of beer, Jason and pals sign off for the night!

Danke.