Soaking in the Beer Gardens

Well the train ride was… let’s just say interesting. Things were going great with the first two people that we met. Both spoke English, one was from Australia but moved to Holland to teach Japanese history, and the other owned a language school in Germany. We talked for an hour before deciding it was time to hit the sheets at 10:30. Although we didn’t fall asleep right away, we were just starting to drift off around 11:40, when a German couple came on the train in Cologne. The man was the top bunk, and was pushing 300 pounds. The woman was petite, and seemed to be quiet and mind her own business. Although he was being extremely loud to get into to the bed, the problems were just beginning. The man was perhaps the worst snorer the world has ever heard, and also had a gas problem. We wouldn’t be surprised if people back in the United States could hear this man snoring. The poor Australian man below him kept banging the bunk trying to get the man to stop snoring, but it would only last for a few breaths. It took several hours, but we both eventually fell asleep. We woke again as the man got down to depart sometime around 6am, which gave us one hour of restful sleep before we got to Munich.

We took a cab and got to the Arabella Sheraten at 8:30 in the morning. Luckily our room was ready, so we got upstairs and jumped in bed for a two hour nap before leaving to go see Munich. We went downstairs to ask the concierge where the main sights were that we wanted to see. He told us that mostly everything on our list was in Marienplatz, the main city center in Munich. The weather in Munich was beautiful, in the mid 80s. After taking about 15 minutes, we finally found the subway and bought a 9 euro couples all day pass. This saved us a lot of money. The first thing we saw in Marienplaz was the City Hall, which was in a beautiful gothic building that we thought was St. Peters Church at first. After City Hall we walked a block down to St. Peters Church which was so much different than any other catholic church we’ve seen in Europe. It was very bright inside, with gold, white, and pink detailing. The church had to be rebuilt after it was bombed and destroyed in December of 1944 during World War 2. They showed pictures of the reconstruction and progress.

After St. Peters Church, we walked to Viktualien Market, which was one of our favorite sights in Munich. It was similar to a farmers market with permanent buildings. They had fresh fish, meat, cheese, wine, flowers, vegetables, fruit, and beer. They also had restaurants and a beer garden. After tasting some home made dips, sauces, and assortments of olives, we decided to get lunch and sit in the beer garden under the trees. We bought popcorn shrimp and chips and a fish and ships stand, and also ordered half liters of beer. While enjoying our lunch and beautiful surroundings, we spotted a girl we knew from USC and her family. We knew Stacy would be traveling Europe with her family the same time we were, but we never expected to be in the same city at the same time and cross paths. Her family sat down next to us and we chatted for about 45 minutes about our travels and experiences. It’s been so funny to run in to not only one, but two of our friends during our European travels. After parting ways with Stacy and her family, we decided to walk to town in search for the Hofbrauhaus, a local beer brewery.

We quickly found it on in a quaint cobblestone courtyard, and walked in to the beer hall to order a liter to split. Stacy had told us that they make a delicious drink that’s beer and lemonade mixed together. We followed her suggestion and also ordered a salted pretzel which is very popular to eat with your beer in Germany. The beer was amazing, and we were so happy we followed her recommendation. The Hofbrauhaus beer hall was very historic with 400 year old tables. Rebuilt after the bombings of World War 2, it mimics the old style beer halls of the 17th century. After finishing at the Hofbrauhaus, we set out to visit the Englischer Garten.

The garden is world famous for its man made river that runs through it, and at the mouth of the river is a giant wave that surfers come out to ride. Because of the beautiful weather, there were hundreds of people sun bathing in the park and taking swims in the river. We walked over to the wave to check out the surfers. It was one of the coolest things we’ve ever seen. There were about 20 surfers in wet suits all waiting in line for their chance to ride the wave. Some stayed up for a minute or two, while others wiped out immediately. For a second we felt as though we’d never left southern California. We took some pictures and video footage of it, and started on our journey back to the hotel. After getting off at our metro stop, we found a grocery store and grabbed a baguette, salami, and cheese. Our dinner cost us a total of 9 euros and some change. We’ve continually found ways to be economical on our trip. We’ve just finished our delicious dinner, and we’ll let you know how the rest of Munich is!