Highlights of that trip: Sampling unfilitered, unpasteurized Pilsner Urquell (Which I learned was a pale lager...and delicious)...going into the old storage cellars that were kept at 5 degrees centigrade (I was in shorts....i almost froze. I also stepped into a puddle. The 2 australian guys that were on the tour with my friend Chris and I thought it was hilarous. It just made me colder)...and yet again, getting on the wrong train car. yet it our defense, it shouldn't have mattered. no one was in the first class car so we weren't taking anyone's seats.
But I digress...
So I went to Munich June 22-24. I was meeting my friend Jr. at the last leg of his 10ish (I don't remember how long he was gone) day excursion around Europe. Originally I wasn't going to be the only person going to meet him, but everyone else backed out. I went because I wanted to go to Germany again, and wanted to go somewhere for my birthday (yes I know I went about a week after it..it was the closest I could plan a trip to it), and experience a "beer hall."
And boy howdy was it a memorable trip.
It all started with me waking up at 5:30 in the AM, to leave around 6:30, to catch a 7:30 bus to Munich. I almost missed the bus though because I could not figure out which one went to Munich, because none of the buses were labeled. And the bus station wasn't very clear on where the bus would be. So I was one of the last people on the bus...and because I couldn't fall asleep til atleast 3 that morning, and no one was sitting next to me, so I passed out for like 2 hours. I'm not the type to fall asleep on public transportation, but I had nothing else better to do.
So I get to "Munich," and meet up with my pal Jr. and soon realize that we have a 20 minute train ride to get to our hostel, which was near the main train station, which is at first where I thought we were. But we got it all figured out, got to our hostel, (Which was called 4 You Munchen, and almost the best hostel I stayed at...almost), waited around til we could get into our rooms (we were in separate ones), and then went to find food. In the midst of all of this, Jr. met another American in his room, Lisa, who was traveling Europe by herself so she joined us in our food-finding mission. She hung out with us for the rest of the time we were in Munich, and a good time was had by all.
We had walked for like 15 minutes and were not finding anything, and then it dawned on all of us that we were right by a train station...that had food. So we all got brats, and I got fries, and we went to go sit by the Burger King that was on the second level, got thrown out, and then went outside. BUT, when we went outside, it was pouring, and I was finding it difficult to eat with a brat in one hand, and fries in another, so we were forced to go back in and stand at a table right by where we got our food like 20 minutes before then.
Magically delicious. (sidebar: why are people who sell cooked hot dogs/ sausages incapable of finding buns and/or rolls that fit the size of said sausage. I have never understood that. I'm just saying)
By this time, It was about 5 in the PM, and raining, so we went back to our hostel, and killed some time til "Happy Hour" started at the bar in the basement of our hostel. You see, when we checked in, because we had booked our hostel online, we got a special wristband that allowed us to have "Happy Hour" pricing for the duration of our stay in the hostel. At first I thought it meant that we got free booze the whole time, but hey, discounted beer means less Euros I will blow through, so it was ok.
Apparently at our hostel if you hang around in one place long enough, more people want to join you, so there eventually was a group of 5 of us (Me, my friend Jr, our new friend Lisa, a guy from Canada, and a guy from Australia), and we all decided to go to one of the beer halls that wasn't too far from our hostel. It was called the AUGUSTINER BRÄUSTUBEN. If I remember correctly, our very own pope likes the beer from this particular brewery, since you know...he lived in Munich back when he was archbishop and all that jazz, but more about that later...
Anyways...
A Mass (that is 1 liter, or 30ish ounces) of Augustiner- Patricia tested,Pope approved.Because we were drinking, I was hungry...
I wanted something small, and tasty, so I got a sausage salad. I kid you not. It had onion, sliced pickle, and sliced up sausage (it kinda looked like a white version of salami). Oh...and rye bread. It was delicious. Some one else got a mushroom dumpling or something, which I had briefly debated, but once I tried it, I knew that I had ordered the wrong thing. The dumpling tasted like Thanksgiving.... yum.So we went back to the hostel (somehow)...hung out for a while longer...and then all pretty much stumbled back to our rooms. Only when I get there, and try to close and lock the locker that had all of my stuff in it so no one would steal my stuff in the middle of the night, someone's toe got in the way of the door...because of course the locker that corresponded to my bed was right next to another bed. I thought about moving the foot...but I didn't want to wake anyone up, so I just left it. I pretty much went to bed not quite sober, pissed, and a little scared that someone was going to steal my shit.
The next day, we woke up to relentless rain, and were going to go on a free walking tour of Munich. BUT before that, I had one of the best continental breakfasts of my life. You see, one of the reasons why we picked the hostel, besides the location, and the fact that it had a bar, was that breakfast was included with our stay, which makes our lives easier. (easier because that's one less thing we have to try and find and pay for, and hope its halfway decent). They had all the usuals, and lunch meat and cheese. In Europe, its very common to start the say off with lunch meats, which I am a huge fan of because I hate most breakfast foods.
After we had eaten our money's worth...we head out to the meeting spot for the tour, which was about 4 blocks away. And by the time we got there...I was well on my way to being drenched.
The famous Munich Glockenspiel. Apparently, there is a list somewhere that rates it as the 2nd most overrated tourist attraction in Europe. Number 1...the Astronomical Clock in Prague. Seriously...all the Astronomical Clock does is a few things go around in a circle, and a little skeleton rings a bell. it lasts about 45 seconds. And there were always hundreds of people crowded around it.
When we got to the meeting spot, there was some sort of demonstration going on (my best guess was something about workers rights). You can't tell from the picture, but it was pouring.
One of the first dry places we went to. The Frauenkirche, or Chuch of Our Lady. Pope Benedict was the cardinal here before he was pope. You may also remember this church from the WW2 era, because Allied pilots were told not to bomb the twin towers of this church because they used the towers as a marker to tell them they were over Munich.
The famous Hofbrauhaus. We passed by it on our tour (we went back there later in the evening...)
Hitler did something somewhat noteable in one of those windows.
A subtle reminder of WW2 in Munich. Unlike Berlin, whose memorials were blatant, Munich chose to acknowledge what happened in a different way. The gold line represents those who passively resisted the Nazis. If citizens has continues straight instead of turning to the left, they were expected to salute a plaque on the wall that marked Hitlers first assasination attempt in the 1920s. We were shown only a couple of memorials like these, but apparently they are scattered all over Munich.
Apparently...this is a "Traditional Bavarian Stew" We got a special deal which was all we could eat stew and a beer for 7 Euros. This thing was delicious. I had almost 2 bowls, and my friend Jr. had 3. My only complaint was that it was wicked salty. But completely worth the 7 Euros.
After this...we walked back to our hostel. It wasn't raining QUITE as hard at this point... but we were both beyond soaked...and then we get to this...
YES...it was raining...and there was a fountain on. I thought about running through it...but I thought I was already wet enough.We got back..tracked down our new friend Lisa...and made plans to meet down in the bar in about an hour so we could go to the Hofbrauhaus.
Hofbrauhaus...it was packed when we got there...and we had to sit all the way in the back.
Another Mass!!At the Hofbrauhaus...I consumed what will probably be the best brat of my life. Which makes me sad, but I guess that just means that I have to go back to Germany some day...
The next day...kinda got to a late start... but we got where needed to ontime. And then the bus to take us back to Prague was late. And then a bus came...and left like 5 minutes later. And then our bus showed up...and there were about ten people on it all together by the time it left Munich.
Sadly...this isn't my most informative post, but I did go on this trip over a month ago. so I don't quite remember EVERYTHING that happened. This has also taken me like 3 weeks to write, which I apologize for, but it just dawned on me why these last few posts have taken me so long to write out...
...with this post, pretty much comes the end of my time in Europe (I didn't leave for another week after I got back from Munich...but still. By this point, the end was in sight). By still writing these, I was able to devote most of my thought processes to those few days I was on each trip, and got to mentally relive all that I had seen and done. Now, I can't really do that. I've got to get back to business as usual, and prepare myself for that next chapter in life...finding a job. oh...and graduating.
So on that note...I hope you all enjoyed reading these little stories as much as I enjoyed writing them.
I might update this from time to time about my goings concerning my LAST year in college if you feel like checking back here at some point in the future. Something wacky and weird always happens to me.
Its true. I wouldn't be me if they didn't happen.
YAY...I actually finished something this summer!!
The next day...kinda got to a late start... but we got where needed to ontime. And then the bus to take us back to Prague was late. And then a bus came...and left like 5 minutes later. And then our bus showed up...and there were about ten people on it all together by the time it left Munich.
Sadly...this isn't my most informative post, but I did go on this trip over a month ago. so I don't quite remember EVERYTHING that happened. This has also taken me like 3 weeks to write, which I apologize for, but it just dawned on me why these last few posts have taken me so long to write out...
...with this post, pretty much comes the end of my time in Europe (I didn't leave for another week after I got back from Munich...but still. By this point, the end was in sight). By still writing these, I was able to devote most of my thought processes to those few days I was on each trip, and got to mentally relive all that I had seen and done. Now, I can't really do that. I've got to get back to business as usual, and prepare myself for that next chapter in life...finding a job. oh...and graduating.
So on that note...I hope you all enjoyed reading these little stories as much as I enjoyed writing them.
I might update this from time to time about my goings concerning my LAST year in college if you feel like checking back here at some point in the future. Something wacky and weird always happens to me.
Its true. I wouldn't be me if they didn't happen.
YAY...I actually finished something this summer!!
:)
No comments:
Post a Comment