Footpath etiquette aside, Germany has some bang-on spots. Take Munich, for example.

Ever wondered what would happen if you got a native Irishman to give you a meticulous run-down of 800 years of Munich’s history? It goes a little something like this: “So you see, the old Rathaus is newer than the new Rathaus and the new Rathaus is older than the old Rathaus” (something about the old Rathaus having to be rebuilt after the war due to Allied bombing).

Around the corner from the old/new Rathaus in Munich is the Altehof, or old palace (which actually is old), where King Ludwig was kidnapped by a monkey several hundred years ago. No, really. He was sleeping in his crib - he was of course a baby at the time - when a monkey tossed him over its shoulder and swung out the window to the balcony, from which he jumped onto a small tower jutting out of the palace wall, still clutching the future king (goodness knows what a monkey was doing roaming the palace. Evidently it was the done thing at the time).

So the good people below had to figure out a way to coax the monkey down. Given that bananas weren’t invented yet, and being Bavarians, they did what they do best - fetched the beer. Eventually, when the monkey was drunk enough and tottering around on the tower, little Ludwig fell from his grasp into the waiting arms of the people below.

Only in Germany.