Munich

After 5 days in Paris, I stepped off the train in Munich and immediately I thought “Now these are my people…” This feeling came across me many times from this point forward. I loved Paris and everything, but if I could rewind and replay, I think I’d spend more time with my people.

I was only in Munich for 8 hours, but I still have a few notes:

1. I went inside a coffee shop, and ordered a latte. The guy at the counter asked me if I wanted it for here or “take away”. I opted for “take away” because I figured I’d wander around a little bit before the plaza filled up with tourists. I got my coffee, walked out and decided I needed to sit down for a minute to look at my map. I sat down at one of the coffee shop’s exterior tables, right outside their front door. The waitress came out and told me I had to move because I had gotten my coffee for “take away”. I asked if there was a price difference for take away coffee, and she said “No. It’s just that the outside tables are reserved for our guests who want to enjoy their coffee 'here'.” I was their only customer, inside or out. Please note, that after the train ride described in my previous blog entry, this was the second time in an 8 hour timeframe where I was asked to move to another location due to a beverage.

2. Yay there ARE fat people in Germany!

3. I thought I had signed up for a pub crawl. We were to meet in the front of the Munich town hall at 10:45. I arrived at 10:40. By 10:43, I realized that if, indeed, this was a pub crawl, I didn’t think that half of these people would make it to the second pub. It was a mix of "family vacationers" and the elderly, with a few others in between. I was a bit worried. At 10:44 I realized it was just an ordinary walking tour. Pouting ensued. The good news, I was told, was that the tour ends at Haufbrauhaus Brewery. The funny thing is that I met a couple on this tour that had made the same mistake. It only made sense to go to Haufbrau together at the end of the tour. As a side note, though, I did learn a lot on the tour and have no regrets about sticking with it. And I got beer and new friends at the end, so it was the best of all worlds!

4. Apparently I have vertigo. I do not like to stand too close to the edge of high buildings. Instead, I hold my camera out over the edge, take a picture, and view the scenery via my camera.

5. I have never seen men in gingham before. I never would have thought them to be as confident in wearing it as they are.

6. The closer you get to the actual Oktoberfest fairground site, the shorter the hemline on the ladies Dirndl’s.

7. Words cannot express how much I was tempted to change my plans and stay one night in Munich. I was having such a good time, and with each sip of my Weiss Beir, I knew in my heart and in every half-dead brain cell that I was in Munich during Oktoberfest, and I would be an idiot not to go! But somewhere, deep in the center of my brain, logic reminded me that I had a train ticket and a hotel reservation all lined up in Salzburg. It was so tempting though, and in the end, one of my only regrets on the trip. Sitting here sober as I write this, I know I could have gone back to the train station, opened my locker, pulled out my suitcase, dug around for my laptop, searched for an internet connection, emailed the hotel and hoped they read the email before the 6pm cancellation deadline, changed my train ticket to the next day, found new lodging and proceed to get my Oktoberfest on. Instead, I made it to my train just in time, found a comfy seat and promptly crashed out until arrival in Salzburg. Whew those two liters of bier at the Haufbrauhaus won for sure!