US Military Encounter and München; Home of Enrico, Oktoberfest and Hitler

INTRO
My departure from Berlin was a bit impromptu, arranged the morning after a successful pub crawl and complicated by train schedules and an extended adios to random friends made the night before. I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to Ty but I knew we'd be seeing each other again sometime in the next decade back on the GLEN BROOK DRIVE cal-de-sac.

Munich was highly recommended by friends and my preconceived NOTIONS were that it'd be completely different from Berlin. It was.

Approaching the city, the fall scenery improved as we descended on the Bavaria region of Germany. Stops in several other big towns/little cities along the way put me in contact with new travelers from the US and Australia.

US MILITARY ENCOUNTER
A US military soldier about my age, on leave from his post in IRAQ, sat down near an Australian guy and me. The young military man from Mississippi was taking advantage of a state issued "free ticket" to the destination of his choice and he'd never been to Europe and said "why not". He was on a EURail pass just like us; curious to see Europe for the first time, so we were in the same boat, sort of.

He shared with us without being coaxed as we had with him. He was originally contracted to work in Iraq to use his engineering skills on OIL drilling sites. As it turned out he was moved to work as a watchguard at a HIGH SECURITY PRISON on the American base. He admitted to witnessing death, destruction, lying and stealing, but nonchalantly stated that it was an unavoidable part of war. His tough voice told us that he'd seen a lot, but his innocent curiosity resembled ours and I was unable to imagine myself in his shoes despite our similarities.

He said he had a few days before he'd be heading back to the base. Over his break he'd received news of multiple fatalities both of prisoners and fellow guards at his post. After a mutual silence fell on our conversation the soldier ordered a beer and said, "you gotta live it up while you still can", with a smile and then tried to get some sleep. I sat in the train and imagined what this guy must be going through as we sped through the German countryside towards Munich. I caught my connecting train and wished my two trainmates safe travels, but knew that one of the three of us needed it a lot more than the other two.


ENRICO
Cool young guy from Venice, Italy studying for his Ph.D. in "high energy theory and physics", actually trying to figure out the origin of PARTICLES and the makeup of the planet! My last couchsurfing host was just as hospitable as the rest and let me into his home at midnight as I frantically sought a place to stay. 4 for 4! Didn't paid for a single night of lodging in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin or Munich!

Enrico lent me his bike, as he had to work all day. I treated myself to a strudel and unexpected international taste tests at a local cafe. A small seafood salad, tortellini and mushrooms stuffed with cheese composed my mini-picnic in the city center of "Marienplatz" (see photo) and then biked through the English Garden, BEER gardens and the 1972 Olympic village (remodeled for this year's World Cup).

The most impressive site of all though was the ominous Königsplatz, the NAZI party headquarters known as "Hauptstadt der Bewegung" (capital of the movement) and HITLER's home base. I passed through the site at night through the ominous lighting and abandoned buildings (see photo).

After my haunting stroll I met up with my host Enrico as he emerged from a late night haven for Munich's INTELLECTUALS on the Technical University of Munich campus. Enrico introduced me to some of his physicist friends and although I was at first intimidated by their intellect I soon found that they had no problem holding a casual conversation with a "physically challenged" American traveler, in ENGLISH nonetheless. We feasted on arms and legs, greens and sweets, but the best of all was the German weissbier (wheat beer) that was sampled in the traditional German restaurant.

After a fulfilling meal we both left bar laughing, but had just one PROBLEM. There was only one bike. Enrico offered to drive and have me post up on the frame while he navigated the streets of Munich to his nearby apartment. We were within eyesight of the apt. when a police car turned around and asked us to pull over. Enrico informed me that he'd been stopped for biking at night before and that they were actually kind of rough with him. I kept my mouth shut and let Enrico do the speaking, as he was the "driver". After some fancy ANTI-BREATHALIZER techniques, the likes and some sarcastic comments the police reluctantly let us go with a warning. This was my queue. I expressed my gratitude and disbelief to the lucky host and packed my bags to get an early start on the next day.

NEXT STOP: Nikhil Kekre's Swingin' Pad in Picturesque ZURICH, SWITZERLAND

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