Bavarian Weekend (Train train went away)

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Bavarian Weekend

As soon as I arrived in the city's hauptbanhof, Munich (or München) already lived up to ist world legacy, indeed proving that they are, for real, the home to the Oktoberfest. Getting off the train and arriving late at night, I grabbed a quick bite at a jampacked local snack store where everyone is eating differents wursts, sandwiches and drinking, you guessed it right -- beer of course, coffee being a distant second. Teenagers, workers, ladies, moms, granpas and even some grandmas, everyone is holding a can or a bottle of beer. I was even half ashamed when I went to get a cola (which occupied a small portion of the ref) when everyone else was getting a beer. My mind just goes "there are more time for beer, but not now".

After a quick currywurst and cola meal, which only cost me 2.85 Euros (or 170 PHP) where in zurich the same meal costs 8.1 CHF(364.50), I boarded the train heading to Ingolstadt, where I will be spending my weekend. After an hour and no-view-because-it-is dark-ride, i arrived at the Hbf and immediately saw my aunt and uncle waiting for me. We still have to drive half an hour to get to their house, and even if ist dark, I can sense the view is good, I can see the shadows of the forests, the openness of the fields and can also smell the scent of fresh air. There are animal crossing signs and soon enough we saw a dead fox in the middle of the street. They said that the car's headlight blinds these animals. A few minutes I was welcomed into their very simple yet modern home, situated in a village surrounded by vast fields. Almost everything in the house is made by my uncle, from the tables, to the beds, cabinets and many more. It was a fusion of Bavarian and Filipino culture, the decors are souvenirs items from the Philippines and there is the beer mug collection of my uncle. Before sleeping, (it was already midnight) i was offered a bottle of beer which I refused to, so my uncle drank alone and made me promise that we will drink "Bavaria" beer the next day. Tired I was, slept and woke up to a new day.

I woke up to the sounds of footsteps in the backyard, where my uncle is feeding the ducks and the hens. They are growing the ducks for Christmas and the hens, for the eggs. Once in a while they harvest the eggs and sell it to the neighborhood. After breakfast I was toured around the whole backyard, There is a rest area, which my uncle also made adorned with salakot as lamps and shell decors on the corners. There's also his on-going project, the garden house which will house a jacuzzi in the backyard. There are truckload worth of woods neatly stacked in one corner, used for cooking and heating (oil is rarely used because it is expensive). There are also fruit trees - apples, plums, cherries as well as chestnuts. They harvested a day before and got loads now stored in the garage. I was lucky, that the weather was nice and friendly, the sun is out and it is not windy. We drove to the town and true enough, the everwhere the view is magnificent - farmville and frontierville coming into life. After a few fields, we would enter into a forest, then vast fields again, lakes and greeneries, fresh air!

We went into the town called Keilheim, and our first stop was the Befreiungshalle (Hall of Liberation). Ist history traces back to King Ludwig I of Bavaria ordering it to be built to commemorate the victories against the Napoleon during the Wars of Liberation during the 17th century. It is a huge circular yellowy golden hall upon Mount Michelsburg overlooking the Danube river. We then went to the town plaza, where more than a hundred stalls were put up offering different foods and products. We had lunch at a Bavarian restaurant, and I order a "standard size" meal of Shweine-braten, a bavarian specialty with knödel (a german specialty made of potato) and a side salad (which can pass as main course in content). I had a cola once again against most of everyone's beer. After lunch we then went to the Kloster Weltenburg, where lots of tourist flock during the summer. It is situated on a peninsula on the Donau (Danube) river. It is a monastery, founded by Irish monks in about 620, making it the oldest monastery in Bavaria. Just beside the monastary is the Weltenburg Abbey Brewery, also dubbed as the "oldest monastery brewery in the world", being operational since 1050. That time I was convinced to have a beer, I just said that I wanted a sweet beer, not the pilsen or the bitter one. I learned from my uncle that some beers have malt (the stuff they have in Ovaltine or Milo), which make it taste sweet. I also learned from him that in Bavaria alone, there are more than 50 different breweries, all having different but good tastes. After a mug of beer (a big mug i must say), we had a walk by the Danube river and left to meet another aunt of mine, who lives not far away where we had dinner.


We had a good Filipino feast during dinner - monggo, tocino and fried chicken. It's nice to know that they can avail all the ingredients to cook these foods, things I miss in Manila. We tried to plan where to go the next day and decided to stroll around Ingolstadt, if our time permits. During this dinner, they let me try different types of sweet beers - from different breweries. They all taste good! We all had good time talking about family matters, German life, Swiss living over cold bottle(s) of beer (and soda).

I woke up the next morning at 9am , oh… 8am... courtesy of the daylight saving time. My uncle drove me to the places he goes to during summer. He showed me the lakes where they can go swimming (now I know why he likes Philippine beaches). The lakes where they go fishing and at one point caught a fish as long as their bathtub. We walked through the chilly and fresh forest, whre Fig, Pine and Nail trees are in abundance. During less colder seasons, most of the locals also go through this forest to look for edible mushrooms, which they cook into a special Bavarian specialty. At nighttime, hunters stay at the forest to look for foxes, wild boars and other animals. We also stopped by newly harvested farms, where they harvested sugar beets and a crop, as he say it, vital to beer making. Our last stop was a prey where you can have a good view of the farms, forests as well as some lakes. After nature, we dropped by the local Guesthouse and restaurant, where my unclde goes to every Sunday and meet his friends and… drink beer. Just before lunch we came back home and had a German lunch - different sausages, sauerkraut(pickled cabbage), potato salads, lasagna (oops Italian) and Leberkase (Bavarian meat loaf). We then headed to Ingolstadt after eating and had a stroll around town, before heading to the train station and waiting for the departure time. While waiting, my uncles, again, had beer.

The train train went away
Everything went well from Ingolstadt to Munich. I arrived early and took advantage the time to look for some stuffs and explore the Banhof. My train details says that from Munich, I will change trains at Buchloe which will bring me back to Zurich. But then, the unwanted. A few minutes before my train leaves, i went to the Gleis (platform) but did not see any train there. Most of the people were talking to the train official who said that there are no trains coming, instead we must board a bus that will take us to the next train station, Pukkheim which will bring us to Buchloe. Good, but the problem is, buses are slower than trains! With that happening, i will surely missing the train to Zurich. So from Pukkheim, we took the train to Buchloe, and indeed, missed the train. Crap. To add to the frustatraion, there only 3 of us who will go to Zurich, and the conductor cant speak good English. Go thing these two moms and an old guy ,a language teacher offered me company and served as my translators. Finally, the conductor offered a route that we can use. From Buchloe, we go down at Lindau (a train station in the middle of Lake Constance; where the language teacher lives), transfer trains going to Bregenz (now my phone welcomed me to Austria), then ride going to St. Margarethen (i think the borders of Switzerland, Austria and Germany) , then from St Margerethen, to St Gallen. But again, bad luck fell as the rails to St Gallen were under repair, prompting us to ride a bus. And again, made us late to catch the last 12 am train to Winterthur, which is already near Zurich. That happening, my two companions decided to ride a taxi to their home, to which I cant join them. It was just 12am and the next train is to leave at 4:30 in the morning.I had no choice but to spend the night at the station. Had there been a train official there, I will ask them to give me a hotel accomodation. There are lots of bars in St Gallen, as evident in the drunk teenagers walking in the streets, and that was what worries me. I went inside the train station and alone, spent the night in the cold and dark waiting room. Some more teenagers stayed in the waiting room and slept, while I sat there sleeping and hugging to my belongings, not letting me have a deep sleep. The train arrived and left just in time and thank God, I arrived home safe and complete, a quarter past 6am, or 7 hours later than what was expected.

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Photos

Just 2 euros
cheaper compared to Zurich

Beer
...there and everywhere

Befreiungshalle
Hall of Liberation

Befreiungshalle
Hall of Liberation

Befreiungshalle
Hall of Liberation

Befreiungshalle
Hall of Liberation

Befreiungshalle
Hall of Liberation

Befreiungshalle
Hall of Liberation

Comments

[liliram]

You made it!
Hi Charlz. Reading through your blog reminded me of the time I went around the border connecting Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Yes, those are all too familiar places...Winterthur, Bregenz, Lake Constance, etc. Good thing you made it back to Zurich, though 7 hours later. Good luck to you and keep writing.

[charlz1838]

re: you made it!
Yup it was exciting as well. Thanks for always reading my entries!