Last Day in Munich

Soooo today was my last day in Munich.

If you ever come to Munich, three days is definitely enough, in my opinion. I did two day trips (one of which only took half a day) and then one and a half days in Munich and I honestly feel like I exhausted the city. The only thing I didn’t do that I sort of wanted to was a science museum, which is supposedly pretty cool, but it’s a full day and I’ve been to the Museum of Science and Industry approximately 1,000 times in my life so it’s not like I’m unfamiliar with the concept.

I finally got around to a walking tour of Munich today (just one sponsored by my hostel). My tour guide spent the vast majority of the tour explaining why Munich is far superior to Berlin, which I totally disagree with. His main point was that Munich and Berlin are these polar opposites, and everywhere else in Germany falls somewhere between them on the line, and I think that argument is probably legitimate. However, I was on the totally opposite side of the pole from him. He broke down the differences by saying that Munich is old, stodgy, rich and conservative, while Berlin is young, hip, broke and liberal. (The same dinner – a bratwurst, fries, and a beer – cost me 16 euro in Munich and 7 in Berlin.) It honestly seems a total no-brainer to me which one anyone under the age of 50 would prefer, but he just went on and on about how great Munich is (and he was in his mid-20s and of African descent, so it’s not like he is what you would think of as the “typical” Bavarian). I mean, Munich is fine. I don’t dislike it, but I’m not having a love affair with it.

Munich is very much “stereotypically” German. They’re into beer, sausages and lederhosen (although they apparently have some kind of knock-out business sector now…. I read that independently, our tour guide didn’t really get into it). Today we saw some Nazi history (Hitler started in Munich… I feel like if Hitler started in MY hometown, I would NOT play up the fact that the city was politically conservative, I’d want to dial down that emphasis as much as humanly possible), the Glockenspiel (like a big clock that plays music and wooden characters dance), the main square, etc. I mean, it was fine. I suppose “bland” is the word I’m really looking for.

After that, I went to the Olympic Stadium (where the 1972 Games were held). Again… fine. Lovely landscaping, pleasantly manicured lawns, an impressive stadium, a nice memorial to the Jewish athletes who were taken hostage… fine. Although I did go into the swimming pool (Schwimhalle! Say it out loud, it’s fun), which made me SUPER nostalgic for (real) competitive swimming. I’d really like to go to the Olympics once in my life, even if I only go to the swimming events. London 2012, anyone?

Concluding my extraordinarily Munich day, at night I went to the Hofbrahaus (the largest beer hall in Germany and I’m fairly certain the world). We also went here on our tour because Hitler formed the Nazi party here (but it was NOT the site of the Putsch…that was destroyed in the war and never rebuilt). But going at night was quite a different experience, obvs.

I went with these three girls I met at my hostel, two Australians named Lara and Kate and one Argentinean girl named Agostina. We German’ed it up and got sausages and sauerkraut and noodles and beer. It was good times, but EVERYONE there (as I’m sure you can imagine) was a tourist. After that, we just went back to our hostel’s bar. Agostina has zero accent when she speaks English – she claims it’s because she learned how to speak English from American TV shows, which I suppose makes a lot of sense – so when she talks, she sounds totally American. We had a great time convincing some people from Florida that she was from New Jersey. They were totally nice and pleasant. Then they left, and some ACTUAL people from New Jersey sat down and started talking with us! We were excited to play our game with them, although they were telling us a lot about themselves without asking any reciprocal questions. They were total stereotypical Jersey guidos – I wondered if they were trying their hardest to be exactly like Pauly D and the Situation. We were getting antsy to try out Agostina’s accent on them, so finally Agostina said, “So, three guesses as to where I’m from?” and one of them responded, “Oh, don’t care, don’t care and uh… don’t care.” THANKS AMERICA. I’m glad you have turned these shining examples of your citizenry loose on Europe.

Agostina was going to Prague today as well, so we took the “Albert Einstein Express” together. I’m on it right now, actually (no internet but I’m typing this into a word document and I’ll copy/paste it into the blog when I’m somewhere with internet). Anyway, this train is hysterical. It goes about 50 km an hour and takes SIX HOURS to reach Prague (you could do it in 2 ½ if you had a car and were going a normal speed). There’s no like, rows of seats like you think of on a train – it’s all individual compartments, which I actually really enjoy. Anyway, I bought some food before getting on the train, but Agostina said she’d just buy from the restaurant car. She went searching and couldn’t find anything, but there are signs saying “Café” with a cup of coffee so she asked the security guy where the food was. He had very little English, but he conveyed to her that once we cross the Czech border, there will be a buffet.

…what?

We have no clue what this means. There’s no empty car where a buffet could be set up. Do we exit the train and have a buffet on the Czech platform? Is food loaded onto the train by Czech people? Did he just have no idea what he was talking about? We wait in fervent anticipation.

I’m also pretty sure we’re going through the Black Forest right now. I’ve always wanted to see it because my mom’s mom’s family comes from somewhere near here and it’s where the Grimm Brothers collected all their fairy tales. Guess I can now cross that off my list.

SIDENOTE: I realized today why I’ve met so many Australians. It’s their summer break! Duh!