John and I made a quick stop in Bavaria prior to our flight to Ireland, so of course, it meant Munich.

Our goal for the day was to explore the Residenz, the palace, and to get John a beer due to his unpleasantly sober birthday.

The Residenz is a massive building, which houses the jewels of the royal/ducal family and attempts to present some history of the Bavarian ruling family. Almost none of the building is original, or dates to monarchal times, because Munich was so severely bombed that 80% of the city was destroyed. Only 50 square meters of the Residenz roof survived. At one time, all of Munich was to be abandoned, and plans were drawn up to start a new city nearby. Instead, serious reconstruction began and the city is beautiful again, although much of the stonework was replaced by trompe l`oeil painting. The Residenz is painted to represent the columns they once displayed.

To walk through all the sets of rooms took us just under four hours and left us footsore and awed. Each set of rooms was more opulent than the last, as the dynasty grew richer and the Rococo and Baroque artistic periods commenced. It is notable also for its tapestries and furniture, much of French design.

Afterward, John and I went to EurAide, the Eurail travel office located beside track 11 of the Munich Hauptbahnhof where the friendly staff sorted out our train reservations. The next step was to head to for food and then we refreshed ourselves at the pension. Our pension is really nice, featuring an in room breakfast and gorgeous Victorian furniture. Each room features comfy couches and elegant tables.

That evening, we headed for the Munich beerhall Höfbrauhaus, a massive tourist attraction/trap located close to Marienzplatz. It is famous for its beer, served in large glass steins of one litre capacity, and also for being the first podium at which Adolf Hitler addressed the German Workers´Party, later to become, of course, the Nazi party. We chatted with the other tourists, drank our beer and stumbled home, to sleep for the next day.