Day 15 Post office, shitty morning, Third Reich tour and another castle

Katie & Sharon wanted to go to the post office and send off their hordes of stuff. Found a free WiFi hot spot outside the post office and sent off the previous blogs. Katie, Jason, Terri & Greg went off and did a Third Reich tour of the town. Sharon and I wasted our time by looking for things to purchase without much luck. Went to maccas for free WiFi and coffee to send off more blogs and check emails. With time running out we headed off to our meeting place to wait. We reach the allotted time for waiting and sent the others a text message when they did not arrive. They were still on their tour and asked us to meet them at the Central Train station. There is 1.3 million people in Munchen they were all in the Mall that day. Finally pushed through the crowds and made our way to the station and found the rest buying up old bank notes. The 4 of them had a great Third Reich tour.
Had lunch of Burritos and caught the tram to Nimphemburg Palce of King Louis Joseph, King Ludwig the 1st, King Maximilian and King Ludwig the 2nd, and all of their families and courtiers.

The palace was larger than any of us expected complete with frozen ponds and white swans. We went for a tour through a small part of the palace and out to the gardens. The gardens were styled on Versailles not as vast but still a lot of forest that Katie, Jason & myself wandered through while the others were having a break at the cafe in the gardens. We caught the tram back to the centre of Munchen another walk through the Christmas gardens and to our meeting place to join a beer tour for a 3 1/2. It must of been a good group of people as it lasted for 5 1/2 hours.

We started at Augustener which first brewed in 1386. Had a pint each except Sharon and our guide explained the history of beer to us. Next Paulaners for a light meal and a couple more pints of their beers. This was a functioning micro brewery and had a tour of the premises with the guide explaining all the steps of brewing. I did learn something new the Germans when they brew either a lager or a wheat beer they are brewed at the correct temperatures which I expected Lager being 6-8 degrees wheat beer at 18 degrees. But they are only in the fermenting vat for a short time and then transferred to another vat that is set to 2.5 degrees and left for 5 weeks. The vat releases small amounts of co2 but holds most in the beer and no added co2. So all the German beer is lightly natural carbonated. Next stop was the world famous Hofbrauhaus. This beer house has been going since 1589 by the Duke of Baveria and it is well known for Adolf Hitler having his first major public speaking from here. Adolf was a  teetotaler and apparently he waited for the crowds in the beer house which can hold 2000 people at the time to get rather merry and then he started out quiet and built to his rallying crescendo. So with the help of steins and his famous rallying cry the future was set. Our guide Roy who happens to be from Melbourne mentioned in the past the beer house was that popular you would never leave your seat in case someone else sat down. So they never left when requiring to relieve themselves that just urinated on the floor. When you go into the toilets they have a stainless steel sink in a cubicle which is chest height. This if for puking in after drinking lots of 1 litre steins. If you are a regular drinker here and have been continuously coming at the same day for more than five years you get your own coasters and table. If anyone else is sitting on your table when you arrive they have to vacate. Jason, Katie, Greg & myself all ordered 1 lite steins the smallest they have. Jason was proud of himself he finished before his uncle Greg. Katie could not drink hers so she shared it between Greg and Jason. Jason foolishly challenged Greg to a sculling contest he lost but was very merry afterwards. After a great beer drinking night headed back to the hotel with a very loud Jason, oh well Katie's problem tonight.