What a fabulous couple of days we’ve had in Munich. We weren’t able to stay right in town as there is some beer festival going on.. so we were I guess in one of the suburbs of Munich but just a quick train trip into the CBD.

A few of us haven’t been to Munich and so we did a great free walking tour with Tom. He was really informative, a bit of fun and gave us the scoop on Oktoberfest.

Right in the heart of Munich you will find Marienplatz Square. It’s a bustling spot that is the meeting spot for lots of tour groups (including our own). If your group is meeting up just before 11.00 it is probably so that you have the opportunity to see the Rathaus Glockenspiel in action. The Rathaus-Glockenspiel is a mechanical clock with 43 bells and 32 life size figures. It re-enacts two stories from Munich’s history twice a day.

Just around the corner is St. Peter’s Church. St. Peter’s is Munich’s oldest Church dating back to 1158.

This church seems like a normal, gorgeous, and over-the-top place. However, when you go a little way up the left aisle, you find the resting place of Saint Munditia. She rests in her glass coffin.

She is wearing a transparent body stocking. It looks like she’s going to the Met Gala. The stocking is covered in jewels. Tom (the tour guide) wasn’t sure if the jewels were real or not.. it’s creepy right – or is it just me. I was less worried about the jewels and more her nakedness. Yes, I know she’s a skeleton. But she is a Saint, and we are in a church. I just thought about the rule that shoulders and knees can’t be exposed. If this is your permanent residence, a transparent body stocking wouldn’t meet the requirement. Anyway, back to the facts…Saint Munditia was discovered in the Roman catacombs and transferred to St. Peter’s in 1675. She is believed to have been beheaded in 310 AD.

After visiting St. Peter’s at Tom’s recommendation and to get us ready for Oktoberfest we went to a couple of great beer halls.

Both were really fabulous! Now that we’ve tasted a couple of the local brews we’re ready for the main event Oktoberfest 🍻.

The population of Munich is 1.6 million people, during Oktoberfest it hits 6 million. To be completely honest, I didn’t know much about this beer festival. I knew it was big and rowdy. However, I was unaware that there are strict regulations on what is served at Oktoberfest. Beers must contain only malted barley, yeast, hops and water – this is referred to as a purity law. There are only six Munich brewed beers sold these are: Paulaner, Augustiner, Hacker-Pschorr, Spaten, Lowenbrau and Hofbrauhaus.

Servers come to your table and when you order it’s all one size – big!

It was crowdy, loud, expensive and so much fun!

It’s been real Munchen, we’ve had a great time 🍻🍻🍻.