Cemetaries, Rivers and Parks

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We slept in a little today. This trip has been about sleeping in, actually. It’s been pretty nice. I actually feel pretty well rested for once. This was our last day with Erika; she had to work in the afternoon and then was heading to Frankfurt to pick up her dad and stepmom and spend a couple of days visiting with the in-laws.

When Jer and I awoke, we were greeted with another delicious breakfast assembled by Erika. It consisted mostly of fresh rolls from the bakery and a collection of cheeses. I love these simple but tasty and filling meals. The previous night we’d discussed doing something today but were still at a loss for what to do. Erika decided to take us on a walk along the river. She explained that Mucheners (probably destroying the word, but oh well) enjoy and value their river and the activity of walking along it is a local pastime.

The weather could not have been better. There was still a hint of chill in the air but the sun was blazing and the cool lackadaisical river glistened and shimmered from its light. I was warm enough that I would have loved wading in it, though a tentative dip of the fingers confirmed what we all suspected: that the water was icy cold. That did not stop a dog from frolicking in the waters near the shoreline.

One thing I love about Munich dogs: they are not on their leashes and they behave. Even the big ones! It’s refreshing to see. I will be happy to still see all of the dogs on their leashes when we get home, but it’s nice to see that somewhere dogs behave.

After the walk, we crossed into an area with a cemetery. The name right now escapes me; I’ll have to look it up later. Erika told us that this cemetery is old and is no longer used, meaning there are no new inhabitants. The way the cemetery was laid out reminded me a little of Galveston, surprisingly. The tombstones were so old that many were illegible. The plants had overtaken the place a bit. There were nettle plants and fern everywhere.

Soon after that outing, we said goodbye to Erika. She departed to work while we headed back to the flat. I had to change. It was too hot! We then decided our next activity: visiting the huge cemetery near Erika and Clemens’ flat.

Unlike the one visited earlier, this cemetery is still actively in use. Some of the plots were old but many of them were quite new or recent. Fountains with watering cans littered central areas of the cemetery. People, presumably family members, were tending to the plots. We visited the mausoleum. We also caught sight of the smokestack of the crematorium and imagined what atrocities this macabre relic witnessed during the war.

We kept up with the cemetery-river theme by paying a visit to the English Garden to watch the Munchen surfers. On our way we stopped by a huge pillared building that was a relic of Nazi Germany and now houses modern art. Jer and I aren’t huge fans of modern art so we decided to instead find the surfers. We discovered that the US Embassy is located nearby. Fortunately, we have not had to use US Embassies on any of our journeys abroad. Though it’s still nice to know where it is in town, I suppose.

The surfers were entertaining to watch. They don’t have much area to work with but they make do with what they do have. Jer said something about how they looked as though they had the added challenge of not slamming into concrete walls channeling the waters.

We strolled through along the river here. A few days prior we’d visited the Pagoda and its biergarten, but we’d entered the park from a totally different place. There the park was more woodland than green lawn. This time, we meandered past the tea house, enjoyed the Zen garden (which, it should be noted, we never saw in Japan, where Zen gardens are supposedly everywhere), and laughed at the nude sunbathers for being more comedic in their stature than sexy.

Again we found ourselves at the pagoda. We had radlers this time and split a cheese and fruit plate. Afterward, I bought an ice cream. We walked up to the pillared-domey building (I guess readers can either look up its real name or accept my description) on one hillside in the park, shuddered over the acoustic troubadours singing Nickelback and REM songs—badly—and eventually crossed the lawn and exited the garden.

The hour was still pretty early so Jer and I decided to return to Oktoberfest. We had not visited since the first day, and my recovery and subsequent abstinence of beer was over, so why not? We had tried to contact our posse from the first day to no avail, so ventured into the tents—and eventually the beirgartens—solo. We found seating at Paulaner. The waitress was very nice and eager to chat. We had some younger locals sit with us and puff away on their cigarellos. But, the beer was good and the plate of sausages, potato salad and kraut we split was delicious.

Jer and I have decided that we aren’t Oktoberfest tent type of people. We prefer the open air (sans cigarette or cigar smoke) and relaxed atmosphere of the gardens.

Our tummies full, Jer and I headed to the games side of the grounds. The festive atmosphere here was like a fairgrounds on steroids. So. Much. Fun!!! We were planning to ride most rides the following day—family day—when they were ½ off. We still managed to take in a bizarre and goofy magic show, Jer tested his skill at a rifle shooting gallery, and we both made right fools of ourselves in a bizarre Bavarian fun house.

I’m amazed at everything we managed to do.

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