New Faces, Places, and Beer!

Guten tag, friends!

Friday was a crazy, but fun day. It started off stressful after I woke up late and had to run to the Salzburg train and bus station to catch a 7 a.m. bus to Munich. I got there with five minutes to spare. Frantic, I looked everywhere for my bus platform but I couldn’t find it. So I asked a nice older couple for directions and they directed me to a platform nearby. I ran, hopped on just as the doors were closing and slumped into a seat. It was only after the vehicle started moving that I realized I had, in fact, jumped on a train to Munich instead of my bus. Whoops. Luckily, I have a Eurail train pass with 7 rides left that I used and even more luckily, the ticket guy didn’t notice my pass wasn’t supposed to be used in Austria. Whew. Then to make things crazier, when I got to Munich and got on the train to get to Laim, I missed my stop and had to ride the entire loop to get back to the right station. It should have only taken me about 2.5 hours to get from Salzburg to my hostel in Laim, but instead it took me about 4.5 hours. Thank goodness I had my Kindle with me. I got a lot of good reading done!

I finally got settled into my hostel and then caught the train back to Munich to explore Marienplatz. Marienplatz is a really happening, old part of town with lots of amazing architecture, including the Glockenspiel. It’s built into the new town hall and features a 10-minute ish song with the tower bells and moving figurines. It’s really cool!

At 2 p.m., I met up with a tour group to go on a free walking tour of Munich. We mostly stayed in the area around Marienplatz, checking out historical sites, including old churches, World War II memorials, old Nazi stomping grounds, an opera house, beer gardens, and more.

As the tour went on, it became clearer to me just how much beer is woven into the Bavarian culture. (Bavaria is the largest state in Germany. It includes much of the southern part of the country.) Beer is a crucial element in Bavarian culture and economy. An image of beer is even featured on the town Maibaum (May pole). And they have very strict standards about what goes into their beer. It’s very much a source of pride for Bavarians. And I can see why. The beer here is delicious. And those of you who know me well know I don’t usually drink beer. But this stuff is amazing.

After the tour, I watched the 5 p.m. Glockenspiel performance before making my way to the Hofbrauhaus. It’s the most famous beer hall in the world, and boy, is it crazy. I walked in and it was like being punched in the face with noise. But it was a good kind of noise. It was an echoing cacophony of laughter, cheering, music, and clinking glasses. I swear I could practically hear the beer flowing.

After awkwardly walking around the entire restaurant about three times trying to find an open seat, I settled onto a stool at a bar table in one of the back rooms. A lot of beer halls are self-seat systems where anyone can sit down anywhere. Being alone, though, made it a little challenging. Everyone else had a group they were with. But my spot at the bar table turned out to be the coolest seat in the haus.

Shortly after I sat down, two Japanese women probably in their late 20s sat down across from me. We exchanged pleasantries, smiling and introducing ourselves. They didn’t speak English very well, but it was okay because we could each still understand the tone of what the other was saying. And body language was a huge help, too. We all ordered dinner and beer. I got bratwurst and sauerkraut, and a one-liter stein of Hofbrauhaus Original. Mmm mmm. But man, was that a lot of beer. Just trying to physically fit that much liquid in my stomach was half the battle! The Japanese women and I shared our dinners with each other, so everyone could try a bite of everything. It was really nice, and we had a lovely conversation. When we went to pay our bills, they grabbed mine and paid for me. It was the nicest gesture and completely made my evening. 🙂

After they left, a young Costa Rican man named Mauricio took their place. By this time, my dinner was long gone but I was still plugging away at that beer. Seriously, one liter is way too much haha. But not in Germany. I’ve been told I should see how many liters of beer get put away during Oktoberfest. TONS.

Mauricio, an industrial designer, and I started a conversation and were soon joined by Sergey, a middle-aged Russian physicist currently working as a researcher in the U.K. We talked for the next hour, mostly about physics, our jobs, and places we’ve all visited. Both of them spoke excellent English. At one point, I got up to go the bathroom. I was relatively tipsy, so I was trying very hard to walk straight and with confidence as I exited the bathroom. A waiter stopped me and said I “walked like Celine Dion.” I’m not sure what that means, but I took it as a compliment!

Around 9:30, I said goodbye to Mauricio and Sergey and headed for the exit so I could catch a train home. I was almost to the front doors when a large, quite drunk Bavarian man dressed in lederhosen and other traditional garb waved me over to his table. I sat down next to him and he pulled me into a side bear hug of sorts and started talking loudly at me in German. I smiled and nodded haha, and admired his beard, which had been twisted with wax to form two circles below each corner of his mouth. It was pretty great. The band began playing an upbeat German song and the man across the table (also dressed in traditional Bavarian attire) began slapping two wooden spoons between his hand and knee to form a cool percussive rhythm. I pointed to the spoons, and asked if I could try. He showed me how to hold the spoons and then I went to town, whacking those spoons as best I could. They all clapped and then he took them back and showed me how it’s really done. I wish I had taken a video because this man was incredible. Those spoons were moving so fast, all I saw was a brown blur. It was amazing.

I left the restaurant and made my way back to the train station where I, AGAIN, caught a train going the wrong direction and had to ride the entire loop to get back to my hostel. When I finally made it back, I flopped into my bunk bed and was out like a light.

It was a most excellent day, full of challenges and awesome new experiences. My favorite part of this trip so far has definitely been the people I’ve met. Sometimes I get caught up in making assumptions about nations of people based on the actions of a few bad apples, when we’re all just humans. It’s been a wonderful eye-opening experience just getting to know all these different people from different places.

Traveling is pretty darn fun.

Tschus for now!