Munich

Beer & pretzels. They are delicious. However, in Munich, they are immaculate. Of the coutries to which I've been (on this trip), Germany takes the cake. The culture is rich, the sites are beautiful, the people are friendly, the food is tasty, and the beer is amazing. Actually, I feel like Germany has turned me into a total beer-snob now. It's just great!

Before I start talking about Munich though, I'd like to finish my last two entries. Before leaving Dublin, I saw the movie Zodiac, which actually turned out to be pretty good. It is based on true events from the 60's about a serial killer case. Now, with regards to Berlin: after I wrote the last blog, I wandered around trying to find a place to eat (preferrably traditional German). I found a nice little pub-like place, and I got some weinerschnitzel with some weissen beer and potatoes. It was SO tasty. I had always thought (until recently) that weinerschnitzel was some form of sausage or weiner, but it's really just breaded and friend meat. They made it nice and tasty, and I left Berlin very satisfied (except for the fact that about 15 minutes before I was leaving my hostel, I found a place RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET that had Judo... that was irritating, but I doubt they had practices on the weekends b/c it doesn't seem like too much of Europe does).

OK, now on to Munich. I got in at about 7:00 in the morning, checked in to my hostel, and then went downtown. It wasn't even 10:00 and I was wearing my Holland sweatshirt that I bought when a guy came up and said he would exchange me shirts right then and there. I said that I had just bought it two days prior, and he said, "OK, at least come have a beer with me and my friends. I'm Dutch, and they'll think it's funny if you come." Of course I went. I met a few people, drank a couple of beers, then showed a couple of magic tricks, at which point one of the guys started telling other tables about the tricks, and I had to perform them multiple times (one for a REAL Bavarian named Paul, who was apparently sitting at the VIP table with all his friends). Everyone seemed to enjoy them, and one of the best parts was that I didn't have to pay for a thing! I tried and offered, but they wouldn't let me. They were so friendly and welcoming. Afterward, one of them took me around for a bit (I had plans to go on a free tour at 11:45, so I couldn't spend too much time with them). He showed me a very famous market, bought me another beer, and we just chatted. On several occasions (probably because he'd been up all night drinking), he mentioned how, "Bavarian colors are blue and white, just like the sky. If you go into outer space and look back at the Earth, you'll see blue and white... that's Bavaria!" They were a very nice bunch of guys, and I had a great time with them.

Next, as I mentioned, I had a tour to go on. We walked around the main parts of Munich for about three hours, stopped for a beer and snack, and had overall a really great time talking and seeing the sights (I took about 80 pictures in Munich... it's really a beautiful place). When we stopped for the snack, I had something resembling a meatloaf sandwhich that they call 'Leberkassemel', and it was simply delicous). One of the things that I have seen now (actually 3 times before leaving) is the Glockenspiel, which is simply a giant cuckoo clock. Every day, at 11:00, 12:00, and 6:00 (it may be 5:00, I forget), the clockworks perform and the crowd is disappointed in the anticlimactic show. There are 3 main things that happen when the Glockenspiel plays (bells are sounding throughout the whole 'performance'): 1) the top layer spins, which represents a wedding (I forget who the wedding was between), at the end of which is a joust (of course the Bavarian knight wins) 2) after the top is done, the bottom layer of people dance with one and and one foot raised and the other hand on their hip while they spin in circles. This was the sign back in the old days to indicate that the plague was over, and 3) a golden bird flaps its wings and cuckoos 3 times.

After the tour, I ended up going to the English Garden with one of the girls that I met on the tour who had been studying abroad this past semester in Prague. She was from St. Paul, Minnesota, so we had at least some common ground. We just kinda wandered around and enjoyed the beautiful scenery (my camera ran out of batteries, so I didn't get any pictures). Essentially, the English Gardens is just a lake with trees and people, but they also had a biergarten (of course, we stopped to get a beer and a big pretzel). We walked back to the hostel, and I then got ready for a big night of going to the Hoffbrauhaus alone and enjoying a beer and pretzel by myself. While I was playing with my Rubick's cube, a couple asked me to join them and talk for a bit. I beleive that one was from South America and the other from Spain. We had a nice conversation, then I went home. The rest of the next day was simply filled with walking around and enjoying the sights. I had quite a bad allergic reaction to the flowers around, but I still enjoyed myself while walking through the parks.

Before I left, I decided that I needed to try some German sausages. I had them and some saurkraut at the German restaurant where I drank the first morning, then got ready for the night train to Rome. I wasn't even going to head to Rome until Dominik, my Austrian friend, told me that I HAD to go to Rome... how wonderful can it be, really? Guess I'll find out. Brost!

Want some pictures of München (Munich), click here!