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We spent a total of three nights in the Munich area, and all three nights were in different accommodations...
Our train from Prague was unable to take us the whole way to Munich because of some track work being done in the Czech Republic near the German border. So, after taking a train part way, they loaded us on to buses for about half an hour to take us the rest of the way to the German border. Then we boarded another train that took us the rest of the way to Munich.... none of this is interesting.
The interesting part comes in when you note that when we got off the bus, we were running 15 minutes behind schedule. But somehow, we arrived in Munich on time. I guess that's the German rail system for you, but I still don't know how they did it. Perhaps the German's have the ability to manipulate the space-time continuum to their advantage? Maybe they hire Italian bus drivers? I don't know. At any rate, Germany sure knows how to run a rail system.
We actually stayed in Augsburg for our first night, which is half an hour west of Munich
Neuchwanstein
Inspiring Disney. One crazy man inspired another...by train. We were able to stay with Johanna and Curtis, friends of Vanessa, and therefore friends of mine by two degrees of separation. Actually, I had met them maybe... twice previously? Maybe two years ago? So we really didn't know each other. Luckily, they are awesome
The first challenge was meeting up at the train station, which was complicated by the two other curly haired guys sitting on the steps (our designated meeting place), so that threw them off for a moment. But we worked it out pretty fast. Then they took us into their home, fed us a delicious home cooked meal, fed us beer, and let us sleep on their couch and floor. We also went out to watch the local Irish pub (apparently they have those in Germany, as well as every other country in Europe...). Turkey won and, thanks to Germany's large Turkish population, there were lot's of cars and people celebrating and honking their horns and yelling in the streets. It was pretty wild.
The next day, instead of going to Munich, we took the advice of Jo and Curtis and headed for Füssen. Why? Because it happens to be the home of
Surfing in the Englischer Garten
Standing waves make for a steady surfing industry. Totally recession proof... Neuschwanstein, the castle that inspired the Disney castle, specifically the tower coming off of a tower. But more importantly, the low mountains make for great scenery. So we went for a hike up to the castle, electing to save the price of admission and just hike around outside. There were some pretty spectacular viewpoints.
Then we headed back to Munich to meet up with Jo and Curtis, since Jo had suggested we stay at her parents house in Munich for a night. Yeah, that's right. Two free nights in a row... Do they know anyone in Switzerland?
Before we met up with them we had to grab something to eat, and we happened to be in a part of town where there weren't a lot of options. In fact, the only quick option available was a Subway. Not exactly authentic German cuisine. And it was weird. 90% of the signage was in English (even the garbage cans said "Thank You"), and the people working there spoke perfect English. So we really weren't sure were we were.
Jo's parents, Elena and Walter, are officially awesome as well. We brought them a bottle of wine as a thank you.
Finally, we visited Munich. We caught another free walking tour... with two other people! The weather wasn't the greatest, so that probably kept the people away. But it never did quite rain, and the tour was quite good. We checked out the main sights, including a stop at a beer gardens, people surfing in the river on a standing wave, the overrated glockenspiel (people were easier to impress 500 years ago), various war memorials, and the monkey tower. What?
It seems that the king and his family had a lot of money. So, naturally, they bought a monkey. Wouldn't you? No problem so far.
Well, one day the monkey got into a crib and picked up a baby by its hair and dangled it out the window of a tower, Michael Jackson style. Ok, now we have a problem.
This particular baby was the future king. HUGE problem. So, pretty much the future of the monarchy was dangling out a window from a monkey. How did they solve this problem? The same way they solve every problem in Bavaria: Beer! They got the monkey drunk! So drunk, that he dropped the baby... out the window... and
someone caught it... and the monarchy was saved.
No one knows what happened to the monkey. Personally, I'd have sent him to another king as a gift. It's the ultimate Trojan Horse. No one suspects the monkey....
In reality, the monkey was probably exiled to America and joined a fraternity, which would explain a lot.
After the tour, we headed to the Deutsches Museum, which was recommended to us by Walter. It's a huge technology museum, and it was awesome! I think they had a part of the museum for the future careers of everyone we went to school with. We saw everything including railways, aviation, space exploration, bridges, hydraulic engineering, mining, oil and gas, alternative energy, chemistry, physics, nuclear physics, biology, and pharmacology. We spent about three hours there and decided that it was the best museum of the trip.
Oh, and they had a musical instruments room that included a theremin. And I played it, and it much more difficult than I expected. I have a greater respect for the eerie sounds made in horror movies.
After a long day, we headed out to "The Tent". What's "The Tent"?
Well, it's a
tent.
An enourmous tent with 250 beds.
It was wild.
And very cheap.
They have big bonfires every night, so we sat around chatting with people from all over the place. The only downside is sharing a room with 250 people means that somebody is snoring, or making noise, most of the time. But earplugs cut that right out. It's a good thing they gave us five blankets, because it gets chilly at night.
Next stop: Switzerland.
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