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We arrived in Munich on May 10th, at around 3:30PM. Typically, when we're departing for a new city, I (Rob) will write out the directions to get to our hostel from the train station. This time, however, I completely forgot. I knew that the hostel was supposedly south of the train station, and within walking distance, but I had no clue what street to go down or even the address.
So , we did the obvious and tracked down the nearest tourist information centre. We gave him the name of the hostel and asked for directions, and he told us to go out the rear of the station, cross the street, and within 100 meters we will find it. It turns out, it was literally directly across the street. I got lucky that time!
Most of our time in Munich was spent exploring the lively streets, drinking the most unbelievable German beers, eating fresh bread and cheese, drinking more beer, and sometimes ending off the day with a cold beer. When we weren't salivating over the delicious varieties of wheat beers, we were usually talking about how amazing the beer was the night before.
We also visited one
of the quit-essential beer halls. Munich is known for their large beer halls and beer gardens, and their slightly intimidating 1L beer steins. The first beer hall we went to was completely saturated with tourists and Asian tour groups. It didn't have a real authentic feel to it at all, but we still enjoyed our first 1L beer.
Later that night on our way back to the hostel, we were frantically searching for a place for Sarah to pee. You see, here in Europe, you cannot simply walk into an establishment and use their bathrooms. They will either make you pay for it, or they'll just refuse you. At one point, Sarah said "we're going into this next place no matter what." So, we did, and we couldn't have been happier!
It was this small little pub, with a classy feel to it that was surprisingly very welcoming. There wasn't a single tourist in there, either! We sat at the bar and ordered a wheat beer. For those of you who aren't quite sure what a wheat beer is, it's like Rickard's White. It's made with wheat, obviously, and is quite a bit heavier than your typical lager
or pilsner. Rickard's White is an amazing beer, however, the Germans have mastered this in a way that Rickard's cannot even compare to.
Anyway, after ordering the beer, the bartender took quite an interest in us and our travels. After talking to her for a while, we came to the conclusion that they probably don't get a lot of tourists in here, as she genuinely cared to talk to us. When going to the more touristy places, such as bars, restaurants, etc., you don't quite get the same cheery service being a tourist.
We were telling her how much we love the German wheat beers, and she recommended we try the "dark wheat beer". It had the same dark and roasted type flavor of a dark beer, but the thick body of a wheat beer. After the first sip, we were both immediately hooked.
The following day, we had planned on going to the Englischer Garten and visiting the largest beer gardens in Europe. When we awoke to a cloudy sky and light rain, we knew that we'd have to change our plans. We decided we would spend the morning booking hostels, in hopes that it would
stop raining in the afternoon.
Here is where the s*** really hits the fan...
When Sarah tried to turn on the computer, there was nothing. We knew that the battery was fully charged, so we became quite worried when not even a single light would come on. After a few tries of plugging it in, taking out the battery, putting it back in, etc., we managed to bring it to life! We quickly grabbed our memory stick to upload all of our pictures on to it. After we got the pictures loaded up, we shut the computer down and went out for breakfast.
Upon returning, still raining, we decided now to book some hostels and do some emails. Once again, the computer would not respond. We tried everything at least twice, but still nothing. So, we loaded up and went out in search of the nearest computer repair shop.
After one failed attempt, we managed to find someone who knew what they were talking about. He inspected it for a while and took it apart, poked and prodded, and eventually turned to us and said "Diz computah... iz kaput!"
He then told us that the motherboard
was completely shot, and to replace it would be upwards of 300 euros.
I immediately fell to the floor, reached for the sky and yelled "no!!!"....... Ok, that's obviously not true, but that's what I felt like doing!
Before I could even finish grieving the loss of my long-time friend, I had already decided on my next purchase... a used computer.
The technician brought out a used model and offered me a reasonable price to take the hard drive from my computer, and put it in the used one. I agreed and said we would be back to pick it up in a few hours.
Later that day after picking up the computer, we headed back to the hostel to test it out and make sure everything was in working condition. The first thing we tried was the wireless, and of course, it didn't work.
So, we went back and showed them what the problem was. We stood around pacing back and forth while the technician tried to fix the many problems. Eventually the store was closing, so they told us that he would take it home with him that night and have it ready for the following
Dusseldorf Common Room
Len's teaching me some things on the harmonica, while getting dreads from Sarah.morning.
While walking back to the hostel, I decided that if I was going to be spending that amount of money, I would much rather a new computer that was guaranteed to be in working condition. It would cost me a little more than expected, but I would have the comfort of knowing it was completely new and had a warantee.
We ran back to the store to tell the manager that I no longer wanted the used computer. He told us "no problem. We open at 10:00AM, but you can come at 9:30AM and we will be here and you can decide then." We weren't quite sure how to take his response, as he seemed like one heck of a shady character!
That night, after booking nearly all of our Spain hostels, we decided to reward ourselves with another 1L stein of delectable German beer. We headed out to one of the less touristy beer halls in town, as we wanted a more authentic experience.
A couple of beers later, we headed back to the hostel for some much needed rest.
We arrived at the computer store at 9:30AM sharp, and alas, nobody would
First night in Dusseldorf
Sarah, Liam, Richard and Colin. let us in. We knocked on the doors for a good ten minutes, and finally an employee heeded our calls. He then told us that he would not let us in until 10:00AM, and that my computer would be ready then. Needless to say, we were more than a little annoyed with this. We were planning on catching a train to Dusseldorf that morning, but now there was a possibility of us having to push it back even more.
We came back at 10:00AM and the technician told us he was still having problems. He said that some of the data from my hard drive was corrupt, and it would not let him install the necessary drivers. I immediately told him that I no longer wanted the used one, and that I would pay a little extra for a new model, to which he had absolutely no problems.
I finally picked out a new computer, told them to install the english version of Windows XP but nothing from my old drive, and said we'd be back in a little over an hour.
We went out for a hearty breakfast at the nearest Pizza Hut, and awaited my
Goof balls
Sarah not wanting to walk new toy! While eating "breakfast", we realized that we had about 45 minutes until our train left for Dusseldorf. In this time, we still had to make it back to the computer store, finalize everything, grab our bags from the hostel, then make our way to the train station... here we go again!
We quickly dashed back to the computer store, where he was installing the final touches on my brand new Lenovo laptop. When he was close to being finished, we then realized our train left in less than 20 minutes. Sarah ran back to the hostel to get our bags ready, while I had to wait a couple more minutes until it was ready.
Once he was finished, I threw it in my bag and sprinted back to the hostel. Sarah and I quickly put our bags on, and made a "mad dash" for the train station. Looking at the watch, we now had 12 minutes.
Gasping for air as we walk through the doors of the station, our next mission would be to find what platform we were on. We finally found the correct platform, hopped on the train, and wiped the sweat from our
foreheads as we took our seats.
We arrived in Dusseldorf a few hours later, very excited to be meeting up with our dear friends, Colin and Liam. For those of you who don't recognize these names, both Sarah and I worked with Colin at HMV, and it was through him that we became friends with Liam.
We couldn't wait to see some familiar faces and share some stories. Shortly after checking into our hostel, we made friends with a few other travelers: Len, a long-haired Kiwi hippie; Keith, who's BARELY Canadian... a.k.a. a Newfie; and Richard, a hilarious Brit from Essex.
As we all hung out in the common area comparing travel stories and playing a 1970's arcade style version of Pong, both Sarah and I waited impatiently for our Saskatoon friends. Every time we heard new people at the reception, we listened intently to hear if it was them.
They finally arrived, and following a few hugs and introductions, they joined us for the festivities in the common area. We spent most of the early evening drinking beer, listening to music, and getting to know each other. Len, admiring Sarah's dreads, asked if she would
Pong!
I got so into this game and got SO close to beating it! make two dreads in his hair. She excitedly agreed, grabbed her tools, and went right to work.
Later that night, we headed back to the bar district, and didn't end up getting home until very late.
After sleeping in a little later than usual, and "filling up" on the complimentary breakfast of sliced bread, jam, and coffee, the four of us decided to spend the afternoon having a picnic in the park. As we were getting the necessary groceries and wine, we ran into Len and Max, a Canadian from Edmonton who had arrived that morning, and invited them to join us (Both Keith and Richard left earlier that day).
After our picnic, we hung out at the hostel where I nearly beat the first level of Pong after playing for a few hours, and then we all eventually made our way back to the bar district of Dusseldorf.
That night, the beer was flowing, shots were bought, and greasy food was consumed. After a few drinks at a few different bars, we eventually made our way back to the hostel to catch some sleep.
Sadly, the next morning we all had to say our
goodbyes and go our separate ways. It was great to see Colin and Liam, but it was really unfortunate we didn't have more time to spend with them. However, it was better to spend 2 days with them than nothing at all. Besides, we'll see them again in a couple of months back in Saskatoon!
After a few more hugs, we said our goodbyes at the train station, and went to our respective platforms.
That brings us to where we are now, which is on a train going to Bruges, Belgium. We are both incredibly excited for more fries and mayonnaise, Belgian chocolates, Belgian beer which is supposedly better than that of Germany, and a few days to simply relax.
Thank you to all of you who continue to read our blogs. We really appreciate all of the comments and emails we get in response!
After proof-reading this, both Sarah and I have come to realize that stories about beer halls, picnics and playing too much pong are not nearly as interesting as reading about the Taj Mahal, or the time I nearly died from diarrhea in India, unless you were there. Please trust us that
Skipping in the rain
Liam, myself and Colin. we had a lot of fun, but we don't think reading about it will be nearly as much fun for you. You kind of had to be there to really enjoy it.
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robandsarah
Robert and Sarah
Atta boy, Mike!
Traveling is great, but there's nothing quite like beer and video games, that's for sure! Have a good long weekend, man and we'll be in touch. Thanks for the post!