In the planning stages of the honeymoon, Monicca and I were faced with a dilemma. Since we could only go on leave for three weeks, we had to decide between Berlin and Munich . While Berlin is one of Europe's most vibrant, trendy, and hip countries, full of nationalities and almost New York-like in terms of vibe, we ultimately decided to go with Munich, seeing as how the city was perfectly in line with our theme to visit medieval European kingdoms. * Size-wise Munich is only a third of Berlin . So while it is a city of over 1.5 million people , locals (who are very warm and friendly) like to brag that it has maintained a charming, medieval-town feel. And we agree!

Having had the pleasure of exploring three kingdoms so far ( Polish , Magyar-Hungarian , and Austrian ), we decided to take a detour to Western Europe and explore an old kingdom in one of Europe's most historically fragmented states, Germania . At its peak, the German Confederation was a loose association of 39 Germanic states including the Kingdoms of Prussia (Berlin), Saxony (Dresden), Hanover (Hanover), Wurttemberg (Stuttgart), and Bavaria (Munich).  Since we could only choose one Germanic city, we went for the area with the most castles, traditional villages, sausages, and beer, the home of the Oktoberfest , Munich ! * Arriving at the Marienplatz which has been Bavaria's main square since 1158 !