Spending Time with Monika

When Pop and I went to China several years ago, we had a private guide and driver the entire time to show us the sights and explain what we were seeing.  We took a day trip to Munich, and because we didn’t know much about the city, I booked a private guide for half the day.

In doing our research for the trip, Monika Hank was a recommended guide for private tours.  I corresponded with her back in January as we only had one specific day in Munich and I wanted to be sure she was available.  This was a surprise for Mom and Pop as we did not tell them in advance what we were doing other than spending the day in Munich.  We took the train in from Füssen rather than driving to avoid parking headaches and to have no worries about driving home after visiting the beer garden.

With Monika at the end of the tour.

Monika met us at the train station and showed us all of the major sights and explained a  lot of Bavarian history. She is one proud Bavarian.  The folks that live in this region of Germany consider themselves Bavarian first and German second.  They have a strong cultural identity, including their own unique dialect of German that those who speak the language well instantly know you’re from Bavaria.

Munich is an easy city to get around and  a lot of the interesting cultural and historic sights are situated in and around Marienplatz, Munich’s main square in the heart of the historic center of the city.  You can easily see the sights yourself and not need the services of a tour guide.  However, she gave us insight and showed us parts we wouldn’t find as easily in the guidebooks.  Because our time was limited and we had to make Munich a whirlwind tour, she made for a very memorable day.