Oktoberfest
(http://www.oktoberfest.de/en/). the first oktoberfest took place on the 12 october 1810, to celebrate the marriage of prince ludwig of bavaria and princess therese of sachsen-hildburghausen. all citizens of munich were invited to a meadow wies'n situated in front of the city tower, subsequently renamed the theresienwiese in honor of the bride. in the early years of the fair, horse races were held, then as the event grew, agricultural conventions, which still take place every third year. but what about beer? after all, the bavarian hops crop has to go somewhere! in 1896 businessmen working with the breweries in munich built the first giant beer tents at oktoberfest, and drinking has been the primary focus since. each of the major breweries presides over its own large tent filled with traditional musicians leading the crowd in well-known drinking chants, incredibly strong barmaids hoisting ten or more huge maã 1-liter glass beer mugs that are heavy even when empty!, and a spate of drunken people all trying to get into the bathroom at once. in 2003, oktoberfest hosted 6.3 million visitors who drank 6.1 million liters of beer and ate the equivalent of 91 oxen, 383,000 sausages and 630,000 chickens.
Marienplatz
A large market that stretches across the shopping street, so you can mix christmas market shopping and eating with "normal" shopping. the market offers some delicious treats and some great souvenirs/gifts.