Everyone loves to talk about Munich’s beer halls, especially the Haufbrahaus. This is a classic, and very touristy beer hall with quite a bit of history behind it, but don’t overlook the local halls. I loved the traditional music, delicious food, amazing liters of beer, and you can’t forget the very fashionable Bavarian men wearing their unmistakable suspendered attire complete with a feather in the hat. Take a trip to the Augustiner just outside of Marienplatz if you want a large beer hall with a more local feel. Both served amazing beer, but I would say that’s a safe bet no matter what beer hall you happen to stumble into.

Munich has fewer sites to see, being a smaller city than Berlin, and more of a small town culture or atmosphere to it. I mean that in the sense that it felt like a more close knit community. There are multiple markets spread throughout the town, and the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Dear Lady) holds mass for Europe’s second largest Catholic city behind the Vatican. There is an interesting story behind the church as well. Built in only 20 years during the 15th century, quite a feat given the technology and shear size of this building, it’s construction was said to have been aided by the Devil himself. The story begins with an architect who is constructing this church at a strenuous pace in order to have it completed for the king as fast as possible, but the project begins to run out of money. The Devil gets word of this and visits the church, entering from the west facing door way. He sees no windows and a rather dark church, leading him to believe this church will be used to worship him, not God. He takes human form, meets with the architect and makes a deal that if no more windows are created, he will help finish the construction. If new windows are installed, the architect’s sole belongs to the Devil. Upon completion, the Devil enters the church, is immediately blinded by light and begins searching for the architect. The Devil tells him that the deal was broken and his sole belongs to him now, but the architect is quick to interject. When the deal was made, the Devil was standing at the west entrance, where no windows can be seen due to the placement of the main columns. Knowing he had been beaten at his own game, the Devil raises hit foot in a fit of rage and pounds it on the ground leaving his footprint forever (check out my pics to see this massive footprint). A fun tale, with the actual footprint being that of the architect’s, a kind of signature for his masterpiece.

Just nest to the church is the center and heart of Munich, Marienplatz. I love this square not only for it’s architecture and over-hyped, yet entertaining glockenspiel (check out my video), but also the crowds of people walking to and from various markets and cafes really makes it feel as if the city has come to life. If you want a break from the bustling crowds near the city center, you can head north to catch a breath of fresh air in the Englischer Garten. Once again this is a former royal hunting ground, full of lush fields of grass, a couple of slow moving streams and a large collection of foliage to hide you from the sun on a warm day. A great open space, but it’s not until you really head outside of Munich that you get a feel for the wilderness.

A day trip I made with some friends from a free tour, the journey to see King Ludwig II’s Neuschwantstein Castle was undoubtedly worth the 11 euro train ride. About 2 hours away, this castle tucked in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps was the inspiration behind the Walt Disney Castle. Castles aside, just taking that first glance at the snow covered peaks made me feel as if I was back in Colorado for a moment. Then I caught a glimpse of the castle out of the corner of my eye and quickly snapped back to reality, I was in the Alps. There are two castles on this site, Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau, both former homes to the young King Ludwig II. Although Neuschwanstein was never completed because of the king’s death, it’s still worth touring for 9 euro. Be sure to make the hike to the Marienbrucke (Mary Bridge), for not only a fun hike, but the best possible view of the castle. Once we started out train ride home, the sky began to clear and the clouds were placing themselves in perfect position for an absolutely amazing sunset. It only seemed a fitting end to such a fairy tale type of day.

As I mentioned before, Munich is not the large city with tons of tourist attractions you’ll be running around all day to catch a glimpse of. It’s that subtle, smaller town feel that really pulled me in. I loved Munich… nothing like mountains, castles, bockwursts, pretzels and delicious beer to get your attention. If you are ever in the area, Munich is a must stop for anyone looking to relax with a cold liter of German beer.

So, I’ll be changing a few things with how I operate the site.  I’ve been taking into account what you guys love most… THE PICTURES! I’ve noticed that page gets more hits than any other.  I’m glad you’re enjoying my photos so I’ll be sure to keep them coming in grand fashion.  I also have been on the road long enough to share some of my Hobodrifting knowledge with you all.  I am going to start a little tips and tricks series with some fun stories and info on how to get by in the world of travel.  The posts about each city or area are going to be more of a journal type entry just to give you a sense of how my crazy brain works as I tour Europe.  Let me know if you want to see anything else incorporated into HoboDrifter.com

Well, I’m leaving Munich within the hour and am heading to Prague!  My first mission is to find a bar to watch the Super Bowl!!  Then I can officially enjoy what the city has to offer.  I captured some new videos while in Germany, so I hope to get those to you soon, Munich pics will be up soon also, and as always I will continue to update my site when I get a hot minute.  See you all soon in the Czech Republic!

When the Berlin Wall fell 21 years ago this coming November, a city and a country were finally reunited, physically, culturally and emotionally. Families that had been divided for two decades were finally allowed to see their loved ones. Those that had been cast behind the iron curtain of the east were once again free men and women. Such a large number of events in human history have been funneled through Germany in just the last century. These reasons are why I absolutely loved my visit to Berlin.

I’m taking a different route in the way I write about my trips to each city or country. I’ll continue to point out and briefly discuss the sites I’ve seen, but anyone can grab a travel book and read about the sites they should see. I’m going to chat more about what I really enjoyed, maybe some delicious food I happened to stuff my face with, an interesting event that occurred, anything that may help describe what my specific journey felt like. On that note, Berlin was my favorite city thus far. From the second I left the train station (Hauptbohnhof), I was walking the streets of the former East Berlin trying to get a sense of people, the buildings, the overall feeling. Graffiti runs ramped throughout much of the city, primarily on the older looking buildings, something you would expect to see prior to WWII. I was told by my tour guide that roughly 80% of Berlin was destroyed during WWII. That fact has allowed Berlin to grow into one of the more modern looking cities in Europe today. There are the few pieces throughout the city that you should visit that have survived the last few centuries, and there are also the more modern elements that you should visit to get the true feel of the city.

One tip I would offer to anyone is to take a tour (preferably a free one), at any city you are at. It’s a great way to pair some interesting historical facts with all the photos you take. It also adds a whole new element and feel to the city, once you understand (more or less) what you are looking at. With that said, one icon of Berlin that is a great starting point is the Brandenburg Gate, right in the heart of the city. Leading up to the gate, and a major pedestrian through fare, is Unter den Linden. There are tons of shops, restaurants, cafes and just a fun atmosphere to be around. The area surrounding the gate has multiple embassies (including the U.S. in case you get lost), hotels, and an interesting bank, the DZ bank, completed by Frank Gehry. Just taking a moment within this plaza is a great experience, there’s so much to look at. Once you walk through the Brandenburg Gate, you encounter 3 choices. To the right, the Reichstag, the primary government building that is free to enter. Highly recommended and worth the wait to see the city from the amazing glass dome on top. You can check out what I’m talking about in my videos section, look for the Reichstag tour. If you go straight ahead from the gate you enter into the Tiergarten, a massive park in the middle of the city, once home to the royal hunting grounds. Finally, turn left from Brandenburg gate and you’ll encounter an brilliant memorial, the Memorial to the Jewish Victims of the Holocaust.

A simple design, it is 2,711 concrete blocks that vary in size aligned in a grid. If you haven’t seen my pictures of this memorial please check them out, unfortunately they don’t do it justice. As you walk through, a sense of anxiety slowly comes over you as the massive concrete blocks become taller and taller. Your vision is tunneled, making it hard to see if your next step will cause you to bump into someone traveling in the direction perpendicular to yourself. You stop in the middle, and the sounds of the street have become muzzled, as you peripheral vision occasionally picks up sudden flashes of people moving between blocks. Those who are claustrophobic may take on a whole new level of fear as they merge towards the center. It’s relatively easy to lose your sense of direction, knowing only that if you continue to walk you will eventually start to emerge from this concrete forest. As the height of the blocks continues to shrink, you can finally see over the tops and decipher where you are within the city block. It truly is an amazing experience to take the 5 minutes to walk through this memorial. I described how I felt to the best of my ability, hoping that it has painted a better picture for you.

The only other site that I would highly recommend is the Eastside Gallery on the souteast side of town. It’s a gallery of artwork along a standing section of the Berlin Wall. It’s quite long and filled with original art designs from artists all of the world. Set along the Spree river, it offers you a great chance to see the significance of the Berlin Wall to those members of the artistic community.

There are other sites to check out in Berlin, Museum Island is a great place to check out multiple museums on a Thursday for free. I was told the best one on the island is the Pergamon, so be sure to check that one out if you can. The Checkpoint Charlie area has tons of interesting information posted on boards throughout a couple city blocks. Right around this area is a Sony Plaza with very new architecture that offers a different look into how Berlin has evolved into a modern city that was once split in two. Outside of the built world, the food is hearty and dominated by wursts and large pastries. The people were very helpful and courteous, a great city to people watch in as well.

Berlin has been at the heart of so much controversy within the last century and just to be a part of it for a short while is hard to describe. The rise and fall of the Third Reich, the confinement of the people of an entire portion of a city and country, and now the reforming and rebuilding of a modern city are just the main parts of what makes Berlin so deeply woven into human history. Needless to say, I enjoyed my stay in Berlin to the fullest and can wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone.