I have had a surprisingly hard time finding time, for writing. Mostly, it is a combo of lack of accessable computers and doing stuff with friends. That should be at least calmed down a bit as I don't anticipate seeing anyone I know till I get to London next month. Maybe I'll have better access to computers, but I doubt it.
To get on with the trip, not really much in the way of cool stories happened in Prague; a lot happened in Munich; and Berlin was pleasant, though different than expected.
I can see why people love Prague though. It's beautiful and a bit wild still, though that streak is dying out. The city is really well kept from time and war. The buildings are well preserved in the old town and around the castle. The castle is across a large river from old town and sits atop a hill. I spent some time at it cause part of it is free. According to Jordan and Chelsea (I'll refer to them as J&C from now on) the real good parts aren't well known and inside (like a dungeon). As for the the free parts, you can walk through the interior, which was fun to try to imagine back in its hayday. It's not much of an architectual acsthetic interest because it looks like most palaces in the sense of style, but the chuch in the middle is quite unique - see FB.
The hostel I was at was a bit of a let down in the sense of meeting people. They had a "bar" in the basement, but people weren't all that social. I really went out of my way to talk to people, but most were not responsive. Because of this atmosphere, I paid to go on a Microbrew tour. I knew it'd be overpriced, but it was better than hanging out at the hostel. The tour, which I was late to, went to 2 microbrew pubs and one bar. The most important thing to come of it was a map with all the microbreweries in town. The tour itself was weak. The map was important because these places are impossible to find. Most are hidden in basements of what appear to be very small pubs from the street level. You'd never expect there to be a huge complex below. Every place that I went to, microbrew pub or just really cool bars, had this unique character, which really adds to the experience because you feel like you found something secret. So, if you can get your hands on a map of the places and have some friends, you can avoid a tour. The end result of my tour was having some people to hang out with afterwards. There were 2 Isreali girls, a woman from Brazil, and a couple from the US. The ladies wanted to go to the biggest club in Europe, which is a 5 story complex next to the famous Charles Bridge and waterfront. I was of course not interested and was able to convice them for a short time to go to the "Beer Museum", which had a pub with 30 Czech beers on tap.
Other than that and my last night, where I tried to meet up with some Ozzies from the hostel at a bar where you could pour your own beer and ended up at a club with some Brits, my time was unventful and I just enjoyed wandering the amazing streets. The streets that don't go anywhere and make no sense, but usually hide some gem. Oh, I did learn that weed is now legal in Czech. Well, except to sell, not that I was looking. Also, I learned that wheat beer was considered the highest quality beer, but shortages during wars caused Germany to make the beer laws and for most beers everywhere to be made with barley. Lastly, I had to try the original Budweiser company, which the one from the states blatently ripped off in every way except taste. It was good, but German beers are better, and of course it was better than the State's Bud. The reason they ripped it off was because immagrants associated the name and logo with good beer.
The trains here in Europe coninue to surprise me. Sometimes in good ways and sometimes in bad. The "direct" train from Prague to Munich fit into the latter category. At first things seemed fine, but due to construction on tracks that we were supposed to use, which I don't believe they were unaware of till that day, we had to switch cars. The strangest part was that when we switched cars, the other train was on the same platform and tracks that the original was. So, it seems to me that it wasn't neccesary. The only thing I could think of is that maybe only some trains are allowed on only some lines, and that our original one wasn't allowed on the new ones. Still, they had to have known about this for some time and they didn't do any sort of planning. The new train we got was a car or maybe two, short, meaning that there were less seats. The new car appeared to have lost all the seat reservations that people made and was a free-for-all. I lucked out and got a good seat. Everyone on the train was English speaking and was definitely the most Americans I've encountered; way more on this one train than in my entire trip combined. Anyway, people with reserved seats from the original train were trying to claim them on this one though the evidence was strong that they no longer applied - every reserved seat is always marked and since these cars were smaller some people with higher reserved numbers no longer even had a seat that existed to try and claim. I had a guy come and try to claim my seat, which was of course fun and surprisingly didn't end in a fist fight.
First, he asked if I had a reserved seat and I told him that they didn't exist. hen, he demanded to see my ticket, which I was damned if I was going to let him touch. I explained the issue and asked, well more told him, that I would sit in the seat until a conductor came by to resolve the matter. I was full willing to give up the seat if I was mistaken, but I had a pretty solid reason to believe I was right and I didn't want to stand in the aisle for the next four hours. He reluctantly conceded and went out of eyesight, though within earshot, and started talking shit. After about an hour it was clear that no one was going to come by to check tickets and that no one would resolve the issue. I felt that since it wasn't 100% clear as to who was right, that I could comprimise in some way. I approached him and told him that if he wanted he could take the seat the second half of the journey. By this time though, I think he understood that I was probably right about the lost reservations and since he was with other people that were going to also have to fight people in my compartment for their seats, he told me I could keep it. While I was out in the hall, I decided to pee. The guy told me there was only one working toilet on the train, and that it lacked toilet paper (I didn't need it though). On my way to the toilet, I saw why he'd figured it out and conceded; there were literally hundreds of people without seats crowed into any space available. So, it was a fun train ride.
I got to Munich in the afternoon and wasn't to meet my host family till around 8PM. So, I locked up my bags at the station and walked into the center to check some stuff out. After walking around, I thought I should check my email and found a coffee shop that had free wifi. Jo, the guy I shared a room with a couple times in Laos, had emailed me saying that he could show me around a bit. He came and picked me up and explained some of the significance of the tourist spots, like the HofBrau Haus and some of the 700 year old buildings, and he showed me some of the non-tourist spots of the center, like a place where a river comes out from under the city and creates a perpetual wave and there are tons of surfers that are surfing 24 hours a day on it. If you didn't have a local show you these spots, esp the surfer spot, you'd have no idea they existed. We also went to a beer garden for dinner. There were about 1,000+ people at this beer garden. Jo explained how everyone loved these beer gardens. I know I did. It had a real feeling of community. Many of the tables were long benches and strangers would sit with one another and gossip and make aquaintance for the evening. The food was good too. I would have had a 1/2 chicken, but Jo said the best were at Oktoberfest (aka Wiesn), so I had some good sausage and 'kraut.
Afterward, Jo dropped me off at my host family's flat. My host family was the mother and father of a friend (Nadja) I made on my second trip to San Diego. She was a friend of some of my brother's friends and we hit it off pretty well and we have kept somewhat in touch through the intertubes. Originally, I was hoping to stay at her place because it'd have been nice to hangout with her. She thought that maybe her boyfriend would not see it in the correct light, and offered her parents place. I gladly excepted on the condition that her parents knew, and were ok with, that I was going to Wiesn and would likely come back intoxicated on those nights. Her parents were really neat. Her mom, Maria, was an interpreter and travelled around Germany and sometimes elsewhere, doing official interpreting services. Because of this, she was only able to stay till Sunday night, which was sad cause I really enjoyed talking to her. Nadja's dad, Ilja, was originally from Stallingrad (now St. Petersburg), and spoke very limited English. He was a structual engineer and could be home often, so on a couple days we ate breakfast or lunch together. They were sooo kind to me, it was hard to believe.
Using Jo's secret insider handshake password advice, I was able to get into the Schottenhamel tent, which is the tent where the mayor gives a big speech and taps the first barrel to begin the festival. It was quite a site. I did have to wait three hours and beg a bouncer to let me in (cause he kept letting other people behind me in), but it was worth it. The energy was insane and there was almost nowhere to sit. I found a table where the people who reserved it hadn't shown up so I took that. Within a couple minutes others came and we had a table going. The table behind me had a few Americans who were visiting their colleagues from Germany and later when my table fizzled out, I joined them. That's the way it works. Everyone is there to have a good time. After hanging out at these two tables, I went down to a table infront of the band and joined them. I wanted to do that cause that area gets really roudy.
I left the tents around 6pm because I needed to meet up with J&C. This never happened. I think it was a combination of a few things, none the lesser for my having drank 3 or 4 Wiesn beers. When I got to the square I was a little early. Since I had been drinking and my memory was hazy at best, I asked someone where the glockenspiel was and they pointed to a cafe by that name. I didn't think J&C would have meant a cafe, but I was early and wanted to make sure I didn't get any emails from them. I went to the cafe and didn't see them, but the cafe didn't have Wifi, so I went back to the middle of the square. I did this rotation serval times, and at one time got a staff member in the cafe to let me use the computer. When I talked to them in Berlin, it sounded like we were no more than 50 meters away at anytime, but that we kept moving on eachother. I'd chack a spot they were, but they'd have just moved shortly prior. I even checked a dinner place they said they ate. I really have no idea how we missed. Unforetunately, I didn't have their hotel info and nor did anyone I could think to contact back home. I did receive an email that said when they'd be at Wiesn, the next day, but even if you know what tent people are in and what area of the tent, it can be extremely hard to find people. So, I didn't see them the next day either.
Instead, I went to meet up with Nadja. I didn't find her cause I was a little late to the Schützen Festzelt tent. I searched the tent, but nothing came of it. This tent had a shooting range in the back of it, which I thought was a bit dangerous. After searching, I thought I'd try to meet up with Jo at a tent he said he was going to go to at a certain time. I got there a little early and waited by the entrance he said, but never saw him. I gave up after a while and went to see what the Vintage Wiesn was like. Vintage W. is how the tents were supposed to be like back in the day. They aren't too different except that they are much nicer. They look really nice, people are dancing, it is much more low key (more my kinda thing), but still had the flare. I think they may have been my favorites out of the tents that I did go to. I was able to borrow a cell phone and text Jo that I was going to see if Nadja (they didn't know eachother) was at the original tent we'd agreed on. When I got to the tent it was even crazier than before and my hopes were dwindling. While the first day was fun, the prospect of hanging out with strangers the entire time was not appealing. As I was b-lining it for the toilet, Nadja and her boyfriend, Chris, were walking the opposite direction and grabbed me. This in itself was miraculous luck, but seconds after I sat down, Jo spied me. This was truly near impossible luck since no one had a solid idea when or where to meet. We all had a good time.
When I returned home that night, I saw that I had an email with J&C's contact info. I called them and woke them up and we made arrangements for them to pick me up the next day in a rental car and drive to some cool spots in Bavaria. The next day, probably due to Wiesn, they couldn't find the place and possibly they were calling the wrong phone #. So, we didn't meet up again. This actually may have been a good thing cause I felt sick. I didn't even leave the flat till after 3pm. When I did leave, I walked around and saw more of beautiful Munich. I have to say that I really loved Munich, though it may have helped my feelings to have friends there. I saw an awesome old palace, though I don't know what it was, but it was amazing. Plus, I stopped for dinner at the Augustiner Brau Haus. I stopped here because I wanted to try some of their beers based on the fact that this is what Munich, and much of Germany, considers the best beer. Jo was saying that when someone tells a friend to bring beer to a get together, this is the required beer to bring. It didn't disappoint. I tried a couple types, but my favorite was their original.
The next day I had the option to try to meet J&C in a town up North to see a death camp. Having seen one prior and not wishing to do so again and because it seemed unlikely we'd find eachother again, I opted out. Instead, I met up with Jo after work and went to BMW Land and the Olympic park. He works for the market firm for the park, and his office is in the Olympic stadium. BWM land had a lot of things to explain how the features work and wierd machines that I think clean the floor, but the coolest thing was that an elevator brought your car up and moved it to a viewing spot at the angle towards where you'd drive it out of the place. Olympic park was much nicer. Because Jo works there I was able to go up the needle (similar to the space needle) for free. Plus, he showed me one of the halls that was used in the games that is now used for concerts. And, we got to walk around the Olmpic stadium, through the back halls and secret places like staff party rooms, but also onto the field. Lastly, on our way to meet his friends at Wiesn, we stopped at a memorial at the University where a couple students threw anti-nazi leaflets out the window of the school during the late part of the war. They had been found by the nazis and killed because of it. On the ground, in between the stones that make up the walkway, are what look like the leaflets and have their faces and names on them.
I have to give a HUGE thank you to Jo. Not only did he give me insider tips for Wiesn, tour me around for 2 days, party at Wiesn with me 2 days, but he also got me a gift of some tradition gingerbread treats and some sort of juice that they drink everytime they go skiing. So, Thank you Jo if you ever read this!
Here are some things I learned while in Munich:
- There are about 14 main tents, plus two in the Vintage area, a few beer gardens, and a dozen tiny ones that are more food tents than for drinking. Each tent holds thousands of people. Plus, there are tens of thousands walking the fair grounds. I'd estimate that there are probably close to 200,000 people there at any given time.
- 98% of the people are dressed in traditional costumes. However, for the Munich people these are more than costumes, esp the liederhosen, which are handed down through generations. They are supposed to be made of deer leather to be good, and you're supposed to pee in them the first time to soften the leather. One guy told me his dad gave him his saying, "they have too much beer and sperm on them for me". The cheap outfits cost $150 minimum just for the pants. I didn't buy any.
- The beer in liters is not a gimmick either. At any beer haus or garden or many bars and restaurants, you have the option of .5L or 1L glasses. I never did see anybody using a decorated stein though.
- The beer brewed especially for Wiesn is only served here, which is only brewed by about 7 breweries (while each tent only serves one beer, there are a few tents that serve the same ones). They may be the same companies that you can find in the copies of Wiesn in the states, but it is NOT the same beer. Nor is any beer that calls itself an Oktoberfest beer remotely close in taste to the originals.
- The roasted chicken is amazing at Wiesn. A MUST
- Germans are constantly reminded of Hitler. At least once a week there is something on the news about nazis as well as all the constant reminders around the cities. In fact, it is punishable by law to have anything to do with nazis. I feel somewhat bad because it is obvious that they are sorry for it, even those too young to have anything to do with it. While it is important to keep these things in mind as to make sure we don't allow them again, I think it may be a little overkill on the amount of guilting we are doing. Remember, most of the Germans alive today weren't alive during this period and they aren't the only ones guilty of genocide on a mass scale. If you can't think of the other ones of the top of your head is it possible that maybe we are over doing it to people no longer associated with what happened then.
On to Berlin. I highly recommend getting a day train to Berlin from Munich. The Bavarian countryside is simply amazing. It just exudes a slower, happier, ascthetic way of life. Just this one train ride sparked another future travel idea - ride a bike through Bavaria and into the alps for a summer. When I got to Berlin, it was a stark contrast to Munich. It was hussle and bustle and confusion. The main station was huge and I couldn't find where to go right away. Also, I couldn't find the map I thought I had with me of Berlin. After some time, I did finally figure out how to get to my hostel. It required two connections and 30 minutes. If anything can be said about Berlin it's that it has the most extensive public transport I've ever seen. The city is massive with only Moscow and Bangcock on the same scale in my mind. There are trams, subways, buses, and trains connecting even the tiniest alley of the city and running something every 5 minutes. Still, with all that stuff, it does get slightly confusing of what you need to do with it. One thing that I liked about the city is that it has lots of the cool neighborhoods that remind me of Portland and that I love. I spent one afternoon in one before J&C showed up and found myself a restaurant/pub called Fargo. I also found that some beers are only made for special distribution, like in Portland and sometimes Seattle, so I had one of those which was really good. I visited a section of the Berlin wall that they left standing and allowed artists to paint. It was interesting to note that they only let the artists paint the east facing parts of the wall. There is a section with a park and a piece of the inner wall and it too has painting only on the east part. I also found that the major city park is one of the most beautiful city parks I've been to. And then a giant anti-pope protest because he was in town, though I never saw him.
By day one, I hadn't found I love Berlin. Everyone I talked to said their favorite European city was either Prague or Berlin. Belin doesn't have the beauty behind it, but it does have a lot going for it. Perhaps it was too much for me though, cause while I liked it ok, it never put the wind in my sails. Compared to Munich with it's smaller feel, homlier, outdoors, community, bike, beer garden things, maybe it was just too much.
I'm glad then, that J&C and I were able to meet up.
So for that, I'm grateful that they came. I'm not sure I'd have liked to stay an extra two days had they not come. We were staying at the same hostel so thankfully it would be hard to miss eachother. Though they had a really funny debaucle on the night they came in, we were able to connect right before I was going to leave them a note that I was getting dinner. It was soooo good to see them. Their first day we walked around to see some of the highlights and I took them to that park I loved. We had lunch there at a beer garden and then took a free row boat out on the lake. Later we visited the wall and a beer hall. I'd say most of our time when not visiting the important memorials, was spent going to eat, get coffee, or get beer (most important). It was mostly relaxing for them cause it wasn't as much running around as they had been doing so I think they really enjoyed it. Plus, it was great for me to see some of my best friends for home. It really lifted my spirits, though they had not been low, and probably helped in the transition process of what it will be like back home being around my friends and whatnot. I'm running short on time here, Elmar (a guy I met in Alter do Chao) and I are going to Maastricht in a few minutes, otherwise I'd have written more about my time with J&C. Suffice to say it was really nice and I'm glad that we were able to meet up after all the craziness in Munich with no hard feelings from either party.
Anyway, take care of yourselves out there.
D
To get on with the trip, not really much in the way of cool stories happened in Prague; a lot happened in Munich; and Berlin was pleasant, though different than expected.
I can see why people love Prague though. It's beautiful and a bit wild still, though that streak is dying out. The city is really well kept from time and war. The buildings are well preserved in the old town and around the castle. The castle is across a large river from old town and sits atop a hill. I spent some time at it cause part of it is free. According to Jordan and Chelsea (I'll refer to them as J&C from now on) the real good parts aren't well known and inside (like a dungeon). As for the the free parts, you can walk through the interior, which was fun to try to imagine back in its hayday. It's not much of an architectual acsthetic interest because it looks like most palaces in the sense of style, but the chuch in the middle is quite unique - see FB.
The hostel I was at was a bit of a let down in the sense of meeting people. They had a "bar" in the basement, but people weren't all that social. I really went out of my way to talk to people, but most were not responsive. Because of this atmosphere, I paid to go on a Microbrew tour. I knew it'd be overpriced, but it was better than hanging out at the hostel. The tour, which I was late to, went to 2 microbrew pubs and one bar. The most important thing to come of it was a map with all the microbreweries in town. The tour itself was weak. The map was important because these places are impossible to find. Most are hidden in basements of what appear to be very small pubs from the street level. You'd never expect there to be a huge complex below. Every place that I went to, microbrew pub or just really cool bars, had this unique character, which really adds to the experience because you feel like you found something secret. So, if you can get your hands on a map of the places and have some friends, you can avoid a tour. The end result of my tour was having some people to hang out with afterwards. There were 2 Isreali girls, a woman from Brazil, and a couple from the US. The ladies wanted to go to the biggest club in Europe, which is a 5 story complex next to the famous Charles Bridge and waterfront. I was of course not interested and was able to convice them for a short time to go to the "Beer Museum", which had a pub with 30 Czech beers on tap.
Other than that and my last night, where I tried to meet up with some Ozzies from the hostel at a bar where you could pour your own beer and ended up at a club with some Brits, my time was unventful and I just enjoyed wandering the amazing streets. The streets that don't go anywhere and make no sense, but usually hide some gem. Oh, I did learn that weed is now legal in Czech. Well, except to sell, not that I was looking. Also, I learned that wheat beer was considered the highest quality beer, but shortages during wars caused Germany to make the beer laws and for most beers everywhere to be made with barley. Lastly, I had to try the original Budweiser company, which the one from the states blatently ripped off in every way except taste. It was good, but German beers are better, and of course it was better than the State's Bud. The reason they ripped it off was because immagrants associated the name and logo with good beer.
The trains here in Europe coninue to surprise me. Sometimes in good ways and sometimes in bad. The "direct" train from Prague to Munich fit into the latter category. At first things seemed fine, but due to construction on tracks that we were supposed to use, which I don't believe they were unaware of till that day, we had to switch cars. The strangest part was that when we switched cars, the other train was on the same platform and tracks that the original was. So, it seems to me that it wasn't neccesary. The only thing I could think of is that maybe only some trains are allowed on only some lines, and that our original one wasn't allowed on the new ones. Still, they had to have known about this for some time and they didn't do any sort of planning. The new train we got was a car or maybe two, short, meaning that there were less seats. The new car appeared to have lost all the seat reservations that people made and was a free-for-all. I lucked out and got a good seat. Everyone on the train was English speaking and was definitely the most Americans I've encountered; way more on this one train than in my entire trip combined. Anyway, people with reserved seats from the original train were trying to claim them on this one though the evidence was strong that they no longer applied - every reserved seat is always marked and since these cars were smaller some people with higher reserved numbers no longer even had a seat that existed to try and claim. I had a guy come and try to claim my seat, which was of course fun and surprisingly didn't end in a fist fight.
First, he asked if I had a reserved seat and I told him that they didn't exist. hen, he demanded to see my ticket, which I was damned if I was going to let him touch. I explained the issue and asked, well more told him, that I would sit in the seat until a conductor came by to resolve the matter. I was full willing to give up the seat if I was mistaken, but I had a pretty solid reason to believe I was right and I didn't want to stand in the aisle for the next four hours. He reluctantly conceded and went out of eyesight, though within earshot, and started talking shit. After about an hour it was clear that no one was going to come by to check tickets and that no one would resolve the issue. I felt that since it wasn't 100% clear as to who was right, that I could comprimise in some way. I approached him and told him that if he wanted he could take the seat the second half of the journey. By this time though, I think he understood that I was probably right about the lost reservations and since he was with other people that were going to also have to fight people in my compartment for their seats, he told me I could keep it. While I was out in the hall, I decided to pee. The guy told me there was only one working toilet on the train, and that it lacked toilet paper (I didn't need it though). On my way to the toilet, I saw why he'd figured it out and conceded; there were literally hundreds of people without seats crowed into any space available. So, it was a fun train ride.
I got to Munich in the afternoon and wasn't to meet my host family till around 8PM. So, I locked up my bags at the station and walked into the center to check some stuff out. After walking around, I thought I should check my email and found a coffee shop that had free wifi. Jo, the guy I shared a room with a couple times in Laos, had emailed me saying that he could show me around a bit. He came and picked me up and explained some of the significance of the tourist spots, like the HofBrau Haus and some of the 700 year old buildings, and he showed me some of the non-tourist spots of the center, like a place where a river comes out from under the city and creates a perpetual wave and there are tons of surfers that are surfing 24 hours a day on it. If you didn't have a local show you these spots, esp the surfer spot, you'd have no idea they existed. We also went to a beer garden for dinner. There were about 1,000+ people at this beer garden. Jo explained how everyone loved these beer gardens. I know I did. It had a real feeling of community. Many of the tables were long benches and strangers would sit with one another and gossip and make aquaintance for the evening. The food was good too. I would have had a 1/2 chicken, but Jo said the best were at Oktoberfest (aka Wiesn), so I had some good sausage and 'kraut.
Afterward, Jo dropped me off at my host family's flat. My host family was the mother and father of a friend (Nadja) I made on my second trip to San Diego. She was a friend of some of my brother's friends and we hit it off pretty well and we have kept somewhat in touch through the intertubes. Originally, I was hoping to stay at her place because it'd have been nice to hangout with her. She thought that maybe her boyfriend would not see it in the correct light, and offered her parents place. I gladly excepted on the condition that her parents knew, and were ok with, that I was going to Wiesn and would likely come back intoxicated on those nights. Her parents were really neat. Her mom, Maria, was an interpreter and travelled around Germany and sometimes elsewhere, doing official interpreting services. Because of this, she was only able to stay till Sunday night, which was sad cause I really enjoyed talking to her. Nadja's dad, Ilja, was originally from Stallingrad (now St. Petersburg), and spoke very limited English. He was a structual engineer and could be home often, so on a couple days we ate breakfast or lunch together. They were sooo kind to me, it was hard to believe.
Using Jo's secret insider handshake password advice, I was able to get into the Schottenhamel tent, which is the tent where the mayor gives a big speech and taps the first barrel to begin the festival. It was quite a site. I did have to wait three hours and beg a bouncer to let me in (cause he kept letting other people behind me in), but it was worth it. The energy was insane and there was almost nowhere to sit. I found a table where the people who reserved it hadn't shown up so I took that. Within a couple minutes others came and we had a table going. The table behind me had a few Americans who were visiting their colleagues from Germany and later when my table fizzled out, I joined them. That's the way it works. Everyone is there to have a good time. After hanging out at these two tables, I went down to a table infront of the band and joined them. I wanted to do that cause that area gets really roudy.
I left the tents around 6pm because I needed to meet up with J&C. This never happened. I think it was a combination of a few things, none the lesser for my having drank 3 or 4 Wiesn beers. When I got to the square I was a little early. Since I had been drinking and my memory was hazy at best, I asked someone where the glockenspiel was and they pointed to a cafe by that name. I didn't think J&C would have meant a cafe, but I was early and wanted to make sure I didn't get any emails from them. I went to the cafe and didn't see them, but the cafe didn't have Wifi, so I went back to the middle of the square. I did this rotation serval times, and at one time got a staff member in the cafe to let me use the computer. When I talked to them in Berlin, it sounded like we were no more than 50 meters away at anytime, but that we kept moving on eachother. I'd chack a spot they were, but they'd have just moved shortly prior. I even checked a dinner place they said they ate. I really have no idea how we missed. Unforetunately, I didn't have their hotel info and nor did anyone I could think to contact back home. I did receive an email that said when they'd be at Wiesn, the next day, but even if you know what tent people are in and what area of the tent, it can be extremely hard to find people. So, I didn't see them the next day either.
Instead, I went to meet up with Nadja. I didn't find her cause I was a little late to the Schützen Festzelt tent. I searched the tent, but nothing came of it. This tent had a shooting range in the back of it, which I thought was a bit dangerous. After searching, I thought I'd try to meet up with Jo at a tent he said he was going to go to at a certain time. I got there a little early and waited by the entrance he said, but never saw him. I gave up after a while and went to see what the Vintage Wiesn was like. Vintage W. is how the tents were supposed to be like back in the day. They aren't too different except that they are much nicer. They look really nice, people are dancing, it is much more low key (more my kinda thing), but still had the flare. I think they may have been my favorites out of the tents that I did go to. I was able to borrow a cell phone and text Jo that I was going to see if Nadja (they didn't know eachother) was at the original tent we'd agreed on. When I got to the tent it was even crazier than before and my hopes were dwindling. While the first day was fun, the prospect of hanging out with strangers the entire time was not appealing. As I was b-lining it for the toilet, Nadja and her boyfriend, Chris, were walking the opposite direction and grabbed me. This in itself was miraculous luck, but seconds after I sat down, Jo spied me. This was truly near impossible luck since no one had a solid idea when or where to meet. We all had a good time.
When I returned home that night, I saw that I had an email with J&C's contact info. I called them and woke them up and we made arrangements for them to pick me up the next day in a rental car and drive to some cool spots in Bavaria. The next day, probably due to Wiesn, they couldn't find the place and possibly they were calling the wrong phone #. So, we didn't meet up again. This actually may have been a good thing cause I felt sick. I didn't even leave the flat till after 3pm. When I did leave, I walked around and saw more of beautiful Munich. I have to say that I really loved Munich, though it may have helped my feelings to have friends there. I saw an awesome old palace, though I don't know what it was, but it was amazing. Plus, I stopped for dinner at the Augustiner Brau Haus. I stopped here because I wanted to try some of their beers based on the fact that this is what Munich, and much of Germany, considers the best beer. Jo was saying that when someone tells a friend to bring beer to a get together, this is the required beer to bring. It didn't disappoint. I tried a couple types, but my favorite was their original.
The next day I had the option to try to meet J&C in a town up North to see a death camp. Having seen one prior and not wishing to do so again and because it seemed unlikely we'd find eachother again, I opted out. Instead, I met up with Jo after work and went to BMW Land and the Olympic park. He works for the market firm for the park, and his office is in the Olympic stadium. BWM land had a lot of things to explain how the features work and wierd machines that I think clean the floor, but the coolest thing was that an elevator brought your car up and moved it to a viewing spot at the angle towards where you'd drive it out of the place. Olympic park was much nicer. Because Jo works there I was able to go up the needle (similar to the space needle) for free. Plus, he showed me one of the halls that was used in the games that is now used for concerts. And, we got to walk around the Olmpic stadium, through the back halls and secret places like staff party rooms, but also onto the field. Lastly, on our way to meet his friends at Wiesn, we stopped at a memorial at the University where a couple students threw anti-nazi leaflets out the window of the school during the late part of the war. They had been found by the nazis and killed because of it. On the ground, in between the stones that make up the walkway, are what look like the leaflets and have their faces and names on them.
I have to give a HUGE thank you to Jo. Not only did he give me insider tips for Wiesn, tour me around for 2 days, party at Wiesn with me 2 days, but he also got me a gift of some tradition gingerbread treats and some sort of juice that they drink everytime they go skiing. So, Thank you Jo if you ever read this!
Here are some things I learned while in Munich:
- There are about 14 main tents, plus two in the Vintage area, a few beer gardens, and a dozen tiny ones that are more food tents than for drinking. Each tent holds thousands of people. Plus, there are tens of thousands walking the fair grounds. I'd estimate that there are probably close to 200,000 people there at any given time.
- 98% of the people are dressed in traditional costumes. However, for the Munich people these are more than costumes, esp the liederhosen, which are handed down through generations. They are supposed to be made of deer leather to be good, and you're supposed to pee in them the first time to soften the leather. One guy told me his dad gave him his saying, "they have too much beer and sperm on them for me". The cheap outfits cost $150 minimum just for the pants. I didn't buy any.
- The beer in liters is not a gimmick either. At any beer haus or garden or many bars and restaurants, you have the option of .5L or 1L glasses. I never did see anybody using a decorated stein though.
- The beer brewed especially for Wiesn is only served here, which is only brewed by about 7 breweries (while each tent only serves one beer, there are a few tents that serve the same ones). They may be the same companies that you can find in the copies of Wiesn in the states, but it is NOT the same beer. Nor is any beer that calls itself an Oktoberfest beer remotely close in taste to the originals.
- The roasted chicken is amazing at Wiesn. A MUST
- Germans are constantly reminded of Hitler. At least once a week there is something on the news about nazis as well as all the constant reminders around the cities. In fact, it is punishable by law to have anything to do with nazis. I feel somewhat bad because it is obvious that they are sorry for it, even those too young to have anything to do with it. While it is important to keep these things in mind as to make sure we don't allow them again, I think it may be a little overkill on the amount of guilting we are doing. Remember, most of the Germans alive today weren't alive during this period and they aren't the only ones guilty of genocide on a mass scale. If you can't think of the other ones of the top of your head is it possible that maybe we are over doing it to people no longer associated with what happened then.
On to Berlin. I highly recommend getting a day train to Berlin from Munich. The Bavarian countryside is simply amazing. It just exudes a slower, happier, ascthetic way of life. Just this one train ride sparked another future travel idea - ride a bike through Bavaria and into the alps for a summer. When I got to Berlin, it was a stark contrast to Munich. It was hussle and bustle and confusion. The main station was huge and I couldn't find where to go right away. Also, I couldn't find the map I thought I had with me of Berlin. After some time, I did finally figure out how to get to my hostel. It required two connections and 30 minutes. If anything can be said about Berlin it's that it has the most extensive public transport I've ever seen. The city is massive with only Moscow and Bangcock on the same scale in my mind. There are trams, subways, buses, and trains connecting even the tiniest alley of the city and running something every 5 minutes. Still, with all that stuff, it does get slightly confusing of what you need to do with it. One thing that I liked about the city is that it has lots of the cool neighborhoods that remind me of Portland and that I love. I spent one afternoon in one before J&C showed up and found myself a restaurant/pub called Fargo. I also found that some beers are only made for special distribution, like in Portland and sometimes Seattle, so I had one of those which was really good. I visited a section of the Berlin wall that they left standing and allowed artists to paint. It was interesting to note that they only let the artists paint the east facing parts of the wall. There is a section with a park and a piece of the inner wall and it too has painting only on the east part. I also found that the major city park is one of the most beautiful city parks I've been to. And then a giant anti-pope protest because he was in town, though I never saw him.
By day one, I hadn't found I love Berlin. Everyone I talked to said their favorite European city was either Prague or Berlin. Belin doesn't have the beauty behind it, but it does have a lot going for it. Perhaps it was too much for me though, cause while I liked it ok, it never put the wind in my sails. Compared to Munich with it's smaller feel, homlier, outdoors, community, bike, beer garden things, maybe it was just too much.
I'm glad then, that J&C and I were able to meet up.
So for that, I'm grateful that they came. I'm not sure I'd have liked to stay an extra two days had they not come. We were staying at the same hostel so thankfully it would be hard to miss eachother. Though they had a really funny debaucle on the night they came in, we were able to connect right before I was going to leave them a note that I was getting dinner. It was soooo good to see them. Their first day we walked around to see some of the highlights and I took them to that park I loved. We had lunch there at a beer garden and then took a free row boat out on the lake. Later we visited the wall and a beer hall. I'd say most of our time when not visiting the important memorials, was spent going to eat, get coffee, or get beer (most important). It was mostly relaxing for them cause it wasn't as much running around as they had been doing so I think they really enjoyed it. Plus, it was great for me to see some of my best friends for home. It really lifted my spirits, though they had not been low, and probably helped in the transition process of what it will be like back home being around my friends and whatnot. I'm running short on time here, Elmar (a guy I met in Alter do Chao) and I are going to Maastricht in a few minutes, otherwise I'd have written more about my time with J&C. Suffice to say it was really nice and I'm glad that we were able to meet up after all the craziness in Munich with no hard feelings from either party.
Anyway, take care of yourselves out there.
D
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