Munich and Near Disaster

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Munich

After a 12 hour night train I awoke in Munich and walked around for a while trying to get my bearings and locate hostels. I found three right next to the train station and ended up staying at one called Jeager's. It's the same spelling as the alcohol and the cost included a free shot at the bar in the lobby. More on that later. After locking up my bag I walked around the city for a while. This being noonish I came across a great market/beergarden area that was full of giant beers and lots of bratwurst being eaten by tourists and locals alike. Nearby I walked to the large church clock known as the glockenspiel. It was interesting but not amazing and is very much for stupid tourists.

Englischer Garten

I wandered further north toward a park called Englischer Garten that came highly recommend by my travel book and a local I met on the train. It reminded me of central park in NYC except this park was set up as a giant field with a flowing river running through the middle. It is accepted culture that people sunbathe nude here and I bet you can guess what sex and body type takes full advantage of this option. Walking into the park the first thing I saw was a fat naked guy laying like a lounge singer on a piano. He had very intentionally located himself so that his old balls and loose skin was unwillingly seen by all the incoming tourists. Other than the unexpected welcome gift the park was very nice and definitely worth seeing. There were probably a couple thousand of people playing soccer, frisbee, guitar, saxophone, and/or just relaxing in the sun with an occasional dip in the river. To top it off, right in the center of this park was a huge biergarten. For you American speakers I think biergarten roughly translates to beergarden, where copious amounts of alcohol is consumed. Though I did not drink at that particular one I made a point of experiencing a beergarden before I left.

Munich at Night

Back at the hostel I met a French guy, Sebastian, who was about to start a two month
internship in Munich and later a guy from Virginia, John. After getting our free drinks at the hostel bar, the three of us met some of Sebastian's friends at a nearby beergarden run by a local brewer. Imagine a wooden picnic table that seats 10, then imagine at least a hundred of those full of people sitting under treecover and Christmas lights drinking and occasionally singing. The bar served one beer (delicious) and served one size (massive) with the option of a rediculously large pretzel (uber-salty). This place was a lot of fun and I have decided I want to go to the actual Oktoberfest in Munich so mark it on your calender everybody. The beers were one liter (34 ounces) which the Virginia guy and I both had two. During his second John revealed to us he was actually 18 and had limited drinking experience. This made sense because not long after his announcement his head hit the table and did not leave until we did. Side note, German girls can put down some beer. It was impressive.

Fiasco

The most exciting thing didn't happen until the next morning. I awoke a little hungover in a 40 bed room of strangers and my money belt with my passport, money, and eurail pass was no where to be found. Fear, panic, and pooped pants do not adequately describe what I was feeling at this point. That belt was my lifeblood and losing it was devastating. After telling my parents to start canceling my credit cards I walked to the local American Embassy and sceduled a time later in the day to get a new passport later. Since I had some free time and no money I decided to search every bed and open locker in the hostel. Sure enough, in one of the unlocked lockers there was my beloved moneybelt
in all it's glory, minus the money. I have never been so happy to have been robbed. Losing just the money was the luckiest thing that could have happened. I get anxious and then relieved just thinking about that morning. I officially dodged a bullet. With my eurail intact I got the hell out of dodge and headed to Berlin.

Review

Overall I like the city a lot because it seemed to have maintained
most of it's small European town feel. There were plenty of pedestrain
only streets lined with cafes and shops and full of people. I really liked the atmosphere of Munich and the fact that each neighborhood has its own biergarten where people hang out on a regular basis. It seemed like one of those places where you would sit at a table next to strangers and have long conversations over a giant beer.

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Photos

Biergarten
This was just the lunchtime crowd on a weekday around noon. And this was a small garten.

Englischer Garten
Lots of people hang out here when the sun is out, but I didn't take many pictures so as to avoid being arresting or beaten up for photographing the nude people.

Nighttime Biergarten
None of my nighttime photos turned out so this is the best I can do to show how massive this place was. The big light in the back is where you got your beer.

Glockenspiel
This is the plaza in front of the church that holds the novelty. Its interesting to see if a bit dull.