ASIANOVERLAND.NET WINTER EUROPEAN DAY 43/216:  MUNICH, GERMANY

“23/1/81 Munich

Bavaria was conquered by the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC, and became a duchy in the 6th century AD following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. It was later incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire, became an independent kingdom, and joined the Prussian-led German Empire in 1871. Bavaria became a state of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949.

Bavaria has a unique culture, mainly because of the state's large Catholic population and conservative traditions. Bavarians have traditionally been proud of their culture, language, cuisine, architecture, festivals such as Oktoberfest and Alpine symbolism.

The punters need a cultural experience before the hedonism of Octoberfest, so we visit the Deutsches Museum, officially the German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology, the world's largest museum of science and technology, with about 28,000 exhibited objects from 50 fields of science and technology. The antique aeroplanes and motor vehicles have to be seen to believed ...

The Oktoberfest is the world's largest beer festival, held annually in Munich since 1810, officially running from mid- or late September to the first Sunday in October, but in practice it’s every day in Munich, with beer, bratwurst, oom pah pah music, lederhosen and decadence. Of course, we visit many Munich breweries and beer halls, and have another raucous night at the Oktoberfest beer halls.

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