***This is a continuation of the previous post, as the blog will not let me edit it any further***
So anyway, yes... Olivia and I felt like total, utter prudes. Here were these girls, dancing on tables, and guys drinking test tube shots out of womens' cleavage, and we're just sitting there like "doo-bee-doo-bee-dooo." When two gentlement approached us with test tube shots in their mouths hoping we would take said shots, that's when we decided to leave the bar altogether and just go to bed. Which, I must say, was not much of a relief. Our cabin (that we shared with 22 other people, boys and girls) was right next the lively bar. Not exactly sound proof. And of course, right about when I'm ready to doze off, three girls walk in the room, TURN ON THE LIGHTS, and continue to have a full-voiced conversation while packing their suitcases. Unreal. But I honestly don't know if I would've slept well with all the excitement of seeing Eric the next day--I had been counting down the days and now the moment was within hours!!
So Olivia and I wake up bright and early and head down to the main shopping drag of town for two purposes: 1) to find Olivia a pair of boots and a jean skirt and 2) to allow me an opportunity to try on some of the traditional German dresses that are so popular and numerous in Munich (particuarly for Oktoberfest). While we did not find Olivia a suitable (or affordable) pair of boots nor suitable skirt, I did get a chance to try on potential Swiss Festival garb. Had the outfit not been nearly 100 euro I would have bought it in an instant! lol
I should mention that prior to this, I stopped down at the internet cafe to check on the status of Eric's flight. For some reason I had this looming fear that his flight had been delayed our re-routed because of the incredible storms occurring in Ohio/east coast area. When I typed in the flight number, it brought up a flight plan that showed Eric's plane going successfully from Columbus to Chicago (okay, that checks out good) and then Chicago to... WHAT?! KANSAS CITY!? Needless to say I was literally freaking out. Here I am, in Munich, so looking forward to spending the day with my sorely missed boyfriend... and there's a chance I might not see him! Of course, there was nothing I could do... no way he could contact me and vice versa. I never really understood the phrase of someone's heart "sinking," but I literally felt it sulk all the way down to the pit of my stomach. The only thing I could do was to go Eric's hotel and ask if the group from Ohio State had called to inform them about any late check-ins.
I was to meet Eric in front of his hotel at noon that day, only two hours after having landed in Munich. Olivia and I had wanted to visit Dachau concentration camp on a tour that left at 10:30 that morning, but I was afraid of not getting back in time to meet Eric. So I stayed behind and Olivia went to Dachau. I must say, I was a little nervous about us being separated, but I knew we both had our Handi's on us (the European word for cell phone) so I was comforted.
But here I was--in Munich--with an hour and a half to kill before I was supposed to meet Eric. I made my way through the most confusing underground system EVER to the stop near the hotel. It took me 15 minutes to figure out that I needed to ask for directions (lol) and successfully did so in German (woot woot!).
So I find the hotel and I notice that there is a significant amount of baggage in the lobby. The group's perhaps?? I didn't want to get my hopes up. So I proceeded to ask the receptionist if the group from OSU had checked in yet, and RIGHT as the words left my mouth a familiar bag caught my eye... could it be?? Yes!!! It was my carry-on! The bag my mom had packed full of winter clothes for Eric to bring to me! Thank the LORD they weren't in Kansas City! I have never felt so compelled to fall on my knees and thank God (well, perhaps that's a bit dramatic. But I certainly was thankful!). Apparently they were checking in the adjoining building across the block. I looked at my watch and noticed I still had quite some time to kill before noon. Maybe get a snack? Some ice cream Anything to keep me from anxiously pacing in that hotel lobby! Aaaaaand then I choked on my spit (seriously?! What a thing to choke on) and went into quite the coughing fit. WATER. Good idea, Laura.
So I went back out into the street to go in-search-of a cafe. I hadn't walked three steps out the door when I saw a group of people walking towards me... and there was Eric Bond, walking at the front of the group :) Honest to goodness, my breath caught in my chest for a split second and I could literally hear a movie score playing in my head. This is the very moment I return to when I think about this trip. Call me a sap, call me a softie, but it's the truth! What a rush it was to see him! And so we embraced and exchanged "ohmigosh how are you?!" and "aaaaaah's" for a few minutes. The group was still moving towards the hotel, and my throat was still hating my life, so I told Eric I would be back in two shakes!!! The funny part is -- which Eric told me later that night -- most of the people in his group were extremely confused as to why Eric ran up and hugged a random stranger in Munich. HAHA!
Soon we were reunited in the lobby once more, and I helped Eric and his roommate David settle in (and by "helped" I mean that I sat in the chair, partaking in the complimentary Haribo gummi bears while I watched Eric unpack lol). The funny thing is, after the initial flustered meeting, it was as if no time had passed. Just chilling out like we always did in the summer. I liked it that way. That's how good friends do!
A majority of the group was planning on heading out to Dachau as well, and Eric and I decided that this would be a good idea. So off we went to venture outside the central city. At one point he reached for my hand and held it, and it was like that feeling you get after lent when you finally allow yourself to indulge in whatever it was you had restricted yourself from for so long. Granted, it had only been a month since I saw him, but it was just so wonderful to have that tangible reassurance again. And I was finally one of those young Viennese couples that I had always glared at with envy on the U-bahn, holding hands and being... well, just together! Yay! Okay, I'm done being sappy... really :)
Dachau was pretty intense in a multitude of ways... I'm sure you can imagine. I have always been very interested in the Holocaust... but being at the site of where thousands of innocent people were starved and shot to death was somehow more disturbing, gripping, haunting... but somehow very humbling. These truly were hallowed grounds. The camp was very desolate. It just felt bleak and evil. I was amazed at the incredibly crafted propaganda that the Nazis used to promote these "work camps" to the public, and all of the mental abuse inflicted on the prisoners. Absolutely disgraceful. And it makes you wonder if such crafty and cunning propaganda is still used today....
The crematorium was the worst. Here are two people whose worst fears are burning alive. And just the thought... oh, how awful... many victims were hung right infront of the "fireplace" where they would later be burned. Pictures of bodies piled up in the very room in which we were standing--that'll get you. Olivia put it well when she later told me that it was like she couldn't breathe when she was in there... such a great weight came over her.
Well, wasn't that a cheery post! Just kidding, the day gets better dont worry ;) We leave Dachau and head back to the Train station to meet Olivia for dinner. We decided to simply walk around the center of town and look for someplace that just "spoke to us." Well, we found it. Cute little Indian slash German restaurant tucked away in a side street. We had our first experience with having to share a table with random strangers (apparently this is common in Europe, particuarly in the more popular restaurants) and with what we deemed "chemistry-beaker wine." It was literally brought out in a beaker that I would use in Mr. Wherley's chemistry class lol. The food was fantastic!!! And so were the laughs shared over the meal. Friends can be some of the greatest blessings in life....
After dinner, we were contemplating whether to go "out on the town" or just go out-on-the-town. We chose the latter (as we were all prudes, as aforementioned, and pretty tired). We spent literally a half an hour trying to find this particular Jewish synagogue that lights up at night (we did get a nice, night time view of the city though!). And when we found it, it unfortunately disappointed our expectations. Oh well. But we DID find a fun little playground next door. You are never too old for playgrounds... which we demonstrated, of course :)
Olivia and I decided to prolong our evening outing with Eric--not only to spend more time with him, but to put off the dreaded hostel bar experience from recurring lol. We made our way back to the hotel where we spent two hours watching YouTube videos on David's computer and trying (with some pretty annoying tactics, I might add) to prevent Olivia from falling asleep (haha!). I must also tell you that a good half hour of that time was Eric FORCING us to watch Sarah Palin's speech from the Republican National Convention. I obliged, naturally, but with a grain of salt of course (being a democrat and all). Olivia and I have come to the conclusion that Eric has developed an adoration for this woman that defies party affiliation... it's borderline my-Josh-Groban adoration. It's nothing to do with the politics when it comes to Sarah Palin. Hahahaha! (See, i know he doesn't read this so I can get away with saying whatever I want! Muahahahaha!). Eric please don't kill me. Love, Laura. (That's a disclaimer in case he does lol).
After thinking we had been locked IN to the hotel, Olivia and I went back to the hostel to sleep and surprisingly were successful this time! The next morning, we met Eric at the "golden baby" to do some last minute visiting and sightseeing before Olivia and I ventured back to Vienna. I wont hurt Eric's pride by mentioning that he was 20 minutes late in meeting us because he went to the wrong U-bahn stop... ehem... ;) Unfortunately, Olivia and I had to lug our crap around with us since we had already checked out. I honestly think I broke my clavicle from carrying my carry-on. It's still legitimately bruised! Regardless, we showed Eric some of our favorites places, and then decided to take a trip to the Englischer Gardens. I honestly wish we would've had more time there. It was absolutely gorgeous... and huge, let me tell you. But we did manage to snap a few group shots, eat some roasted almonds, and walk around a bit. Sooner than I would've liked, we were on our way to Munich Hauptbahnhof to bid our adieus.
In case you ever wondered, saying goodbye for a second time is significantly worse than the first time. Well, at least it was in my case. The first hour of the trainride was quite awful for me, as I tend to brood on things... Olivia, bless her heart, was doing everything she could to cheer me up--"Think of froggies... bunnies, maybe?" and I kept saying to myself "it's only three more months." And with the help of Olivia and the talkative English-speaking Norwegian guy beside me, I was doing much better. The last few hours of the trip back to Vienna, we shared a cabin with your typical Austrian citizen. He had the look, the accent, and the dress code. His name was Norbert, and Olivia and I placed him around 27 or 28. Originally from upper Austria, he now lives in Vienna working as a surveyor for the underground trains. This is a journey he takes often to visit his family and girlfriend on the weekends. He was a very friendly gentleman who was very excited to be able to practice the English he'd studied for ten years. Olivia and I picked his brain about Austrian politics (their own presidential elections are being held next week), about education, about great hiking/biking areas in Vienna, about parks we needed to visit... just about everything! I was glad to learn that in Austrian politics, it's ALL politics. No exchanging of nasty personal comments during debates and conventions or uncovering former marriage scandals, etc. God, that has to be a relief. Anyway, Norbert gave us his card should we ever want to get together and continue talking more. I love the random, wonderful people you can meet by travelling and opening yourself up to new situations.
And with that, my friends, I will bid you all a goodnight. Thanks for sticking with me through all of this :) Miss you terribly but love you dearly!!!!
Tschuss,
Laura
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Munich, Germany -- Frequented by Hitler, Olivia, Laura and Eric <3
Ohmigoodness, I can't believe how LONG it's been since I've written! I apologize, faithful readers! Things have been (believe it or not) getting hectic around here.
I will begin with our first journey outside of Austria; our first mini-vacation on our own, as grown ups in Europe! I'll brief you on the 5 "W's" of this trip before getting into our adventures:
Where: Munich, Germany. To those who speak German it is actually called "Muenchen." Because the area was inhabited by so many monasteries, monks, and priests, people would describe where they lived by saying they lived "by the monks." Muenchen is the German work for monk. And there you have it. On an express train a trip to Munich takes about 4 1/2 hours. Located in southern Germany (which was a relief to Olivia and I. There are some subtle language and grammar differences between Germany and Austria. However, in southern Germany the language much more resembles Austrian dialect... meaning you say "Gruss Gott" to say hello and "Tschuss" to say goodbye, etc.). If you google the history of Munich, you will see that it was a forefront city for Hitler and the Neo-Nazi party during the 3rd Reich.
When: We departed Vienna Friday morning, September 12th, by train and left Munich Sunday afternoon.
Who and Why: Well, Olivia and I--of course! I am pleased to say that there is an additional "who" included in this trip. That person is, indeed, Eric M. Bond himself!!!!! How is this possible, you might ask? Eric was (and still is) on a European excursion with some members of the International Programs Office at OSU. Their trip took them through Munich, Heidelberg, Cologne and Hamburg and allowed them to have site visits to some major international coporation offices--FedEx, DHL, MercedesBenz, etc. When I found out that Eric was going to be within 5 hours of me I had to take advantage of the wonderful opportunity :) Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!
What: This is the part where I tell you what happened on the trip... the meat and potatoes of the post! So heeeeere we go!
So Olivia and I hop on our train, Eurail passes in hand, groggy as ever at 8 in the morning but excited for our adventure! For the first few stops, we luck out by having the entire 6-seat cabin to ourselves.... yeeeees! In the time following, we were still lucky enough to have wonderful and polite cabin mates. The first was an older Austrian woman on her way to Salzburg to visit a friend (and yes, we figured this out in a German conversation, DANKE!). I made the mistake of asking her what a certain word meant in my Austrian garfield comic strip (courtesy of the free Austrian daily newspaper "Heute") and she went on for 5 minutes in German trying to explain it to us... Olivia and I played the polite and patient Americans and just sat there, intermittently nodding our heads like we TOTALLY understood what she was saying, meanwhile shooting "I have no idea what's going on" glances to one another. Haha! Our next cabinmates were a group of 3 girls from Britain who were on a three week backpacking tour of Europe. They made for lovely conversation... and I particularly liked the topic of toilets we'd experienced thus far (ha!).
Four and a half hours later, we arrived at the Munich Hauptbahnhof. It's literally 50 degrees. And drizzling. And blustery. Nothing like the 80 degree day we had previously in Vienna. But we bundled up, put up our dilapitated umbrellas and braced ourselves for the city. We checked into our hostel (which was really quite nice) and were on our way to find FOOOOOOOD. We searched high and low for a restaurant that would quench our intense hunger, and where did we eat? Did we indulge ourselves in fatty, startchy German cuisine? Did we stay true to our oath of expanding our cultural horizons? No. We ate at Subway ;) We wanted ourselves some SUBS! And it was just like at home... you know, the same "Subway" smell, the same decor.
Aaanyway, we kept hearing these sirens getting louder and then stopping somewhere nearby. We shrugged it off, naturally. We're practically immune to it after living in the ghetto of Vienna for a month lol. Turns out that there had been a bomb threat at the same Hauptbahnhof that we had left not yet an hour prior! And bombthreats in Europe aren't as common as those in America... so Olivia and I were very scared slash excited to take part in such a rare experience! The whole city block was surrounded by emergency vehicles and the equivalent of German SWAT men. And of course, everyone was gawking and standing around. Another situation where you realize that regardless of whether you're Austrian, German, Chinese or American--we're all human. We all are rubber-neckers at heart.
So after all that excitement was said and done, Olivia and I returned to the hostel where we would be meeting a tour group. This was a 3 hour FREE walking tour of Munich, and yes, I did say FREE. We met our guide--a genuine and intelligent looking girl from Manchester named Jess. She was EXTREMELY informative and completely personable. The ideal guide. Often very funny and sarcastic. I would even say that she is better than some of the guides on tours I spent 30 euro on. And this girl doesn't even get paid. She works solely on a tip basis.
Aside from my time with Eric, this has to be my favorite three hours in Munich. I learned so much about the city--its historical background, its extreme links with the Neo-Nazi party... I wish I could relay it all here! But I will hit on some of my favorites:
The Frauenkirche is a beautiful basillica in the heart of the city. If you look at pictures of Munich, you can pick this particular cathedral out because of its two onion-shaped domes. This kirche is significant in many ways: It is the current Pope Benedict's former church (and there are busts and paintings to honor him), it was almost entirely reconstructed after the war by many communities (including the Jewish community), and it contains the "Devil's Footprint." Long story short, when looking at the church from the front, it appears to have no windows, as they are hidden by columns. So, when it was being built, the Devil got all excited... "No windows? These people will be worshipping darkness! Perfect! More souls!" Well, when the devil found out that he had been duped and that there actually WERE windows, he stomped his foot (apparently wearing Birkenstocks) at the door of the church and the footprint remains to this day! In reality, the footprint is that of the architect, leaving his "signature" on his handiwork.
The Haufbraeuhaus: The preferred brewery of the dukes and nobelmen of yesteryear, the HBH is a hoppin' tourist attraction and functioning restaurant and beer house. It sticks out in my mind not only because it is often where Neo Nazi meetings were held, but also because of it's literal take on "indoor plumbing." Back in the day, it was legal to go out and urinate in the gutter. However, at the HBH, seating was prized and no one wanted to abandon their beer for a second. HBH installed "gutters" underneath the bars so all the men would have to do was unbutton their liederhosen and relieve themselves. The indoor gutter would then lead outside to the actual gutter. Can you imagine the SMELL in that place during asparagus season!?
The Rathaus (town hall) and Marienplatz. Basically the aesthetic center of town. You can get to all of the popular sites from here. Located in the center is a gold statue commemorating the Virgin Mary (or perhaps you would rather use Eric's alternative name: "The Golden Baby.") The rathaus is a lovely church-like looking building with the coolest centerpiece ever--a glockenspiel containing 43 bells AND moving slash dancing life-size figurines! At 11, 12 and 5 the bells ring and 15 minutes worth of Bavarian dance and wedding music are played. Also depicted is a joust between France and Bavaria (but I don't think France has ever won lol) and an hooting/dancing owl that brings the whole ordeal to a close. Quite a spectacle, actually.
Gosh... there are seriously so many amazing historical stories.... alas, I fear I should not even begin to try, as I could not do it justice! So your assignment: Wikipedia Munich history and monuments. lol!
Sooo anyway, not only was this tour great for seeing the sights, but also for meeting the people! Allow me to explain. First of all, we meet this kid from Canada (well, hardly a kid... he's 26, but partly Chinese... they all look so dang young anyway...) named Mike. He seems like a pretty chill guy, and actually initially strikes up a conversation about this program he's doing called "Couch Surfing." It's an internet database very similar to facebook in which people can search for available couches all around the world. Mike, for example, has been travelling for the past three months around Europe, not having to pay a cent for housing and staying on hosts' couches. AMAZING and novel idea. And we loved it. Within the three hours we got to know about Mike's life, ambitions, travels, family--almost like we'd known him for years! He's a cartoon animator, and he's worked on a few shows that Olivia and I have actually heard of! Basically travelling around Europe until his next gig and until he goes broke. Looking for a place to move in a few years. Honestly though, between the three of us there wasn't a moment of silence lol! And it felt wonderful to meet someone who was genuinely travelling for the culture and for the experience of it all, not like our American friends who only come to Europe to get schwasted every night. He has actually contacted me since and is coming in to Vienna this Friday. We're going to show him around the city a bit and make our first trip to the English movie theater to see The Dark Knight!
MOMENT OF IRONY #1: Olivia and I are just chillin' in the tour group, talking to Mike about Ohio weather, when all of the sudden an older gentleman whips around excitedly: "Ohio?! Who said Ohio?! Are you from Ohio?" Of course, I obliged in telling him that I was, indeed from said state. "We are too! We're all from Columbus!" It was then that I noticed that one of the gentlemen had an OSU Bucks windbreaker on... and I was seriously psyched! Thus began the conversation about how I was meeting a group from OSU in Munich the next day, and how there were 10 colleagues from their business in New Albany with them, and how I'm from New Philadelphia... "Oh! We know New Phila! We know the Cody's... work with them, in fact." The new inside joke became one of us randomly busting out "OH!" and the other finishing "IO!" I have never been so proud and excited to be an Ohioan.
MOMENT OF IRONY #2: After the tour, Mike asks us to dinner with him and his other couch surfing Canadian friend, Kimberly. Kimberly has to be the sweetest, most kind-hearted person I've ever met. Think Annie Worth (love that girl). Again, conversation here was effortless. Only 19 years old, she's travelling around a bit before starting University. We ate random meat specialties at an Imbiss (think fast food, but with real food) and then traipsed off to find ourselves some gelato. Frickin' nutella gelato. Mmmm..... anyway, Kimberly starts talking about this girl she knows who can play the mandolin... Olivia mentions that she, too, knows someone who plays the mandolin... Kimberly mentions the name Anna, Olivia's eyes widen and soon they realize that they are talking about the SAME PERSON. This Anna character was one of Kimberly's closer friends while doing this summer program, and Olivia actually took Anna to church on occasion. HOW CRAZY IS THAT!? Out of all the people we could meet in Munich, we were put in the path of a mutual friend. God works in mysterious ways!
We bid our parting adieus to Mike and Kim and head back to the hostel. We stop down to the internet cafe (which is actually located in the bar) and decide to try some Munich Augustine beer recommended by Tour Guide Jess. We dislike beer. We find it hardly tolerable. But heck, why not give it a chance... maybe this one is different? It was tolerable. Very "wheat-y." But not enough for me to understand how men can drink liters of the stuff at a time lol. So here we are, minding our own business at the computers when all of a sudden: "Wahlkjsfhlakjdhflkjhf!!! AHHHH!!! Whooo hoooo!" A group of girls dressed in bright orange mini skirts and neon wigs come running in, followed by a group of men wearing orange cut-off tanks and... a moose. They are blowing whistles, whooping and hollaring, playing ungodly loud techno music, dancing on the bar, screaming "JAGERMEISTER!" Some kind of promotional thing for Jagermeister, I guess. Regardless, it was all downhill from here, as they were giving out free drinks and prizes.
And here is where Olivia and I again realize what old prudes we are.
(Sorry guys but I'm typing in my class breaks... will leave this one unfinished until later today. Back to my German midterm I go! Whoooooo!)
I will begin with our first journey outside of Austria; our first mini-vacation on our own, as grown ups in Europe! I'll brief you on the 5 "W's" of this trip before getting into our adventures:
Where: Munich, Germany. To those who speak German it is actually called "Muenchen." Because the area was inhabited by so many monasteries, monks, and priests, people would describe where they lived by saying they lived "by the monks." Muenchen is the German work for monk. And there you have it. On an express train a trip to Munich takes about 4 1/2 hours. Located in southern Germany (which was a relief to Olivia and I. There are some subtle language and grammar differences between Germany and Austria. However, in southern Germany the language much more resembles Austrian dialect... meaning you say "Gruss Gott" to say hello and "Tschuss" to say goodbye, etc.). If you google the history of Munich, you will see that it was a forefront city for Hitler and the Neo-Nazi party during the 3rd Reich.
When: We departed Vienna Friday morning, September 12th, by train and left Munich Sunday afternoon.
Who and Why: Well, Olivia and I--of course! I am pleased to say that there is an additional "who" included in this trip. That person is, indeed, Eric M. Bond himself!!!!! How is this possible, you might ask? Eric was (and still is) on a European excursion with some members of the International Programs Office at OSU. Their trip took them through Munich, Heidelberg, Cologne and Hamburg and allowed them to have site visits to some major international coporation offices--FedEx, DHL, MercedesBenz, etc. When I found out that Eric was going to be within 5 hours of me I had to take advantage of the wonderful opportunity :) Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!
What: This is the part where I tell you what happened on the trip... the meat and potatoes of the post! So heeeeere we go!
So Olivia and I hop on our train, Eurail passes in hand, groggy as ever at 8 in the morning but excited for our adventure! For the first few stops, we luck out by having the entire 6-seat cabin to ourselves.... yeeeees! In the time following, we were still lucky enough to have wonderful and polite cabin mates. The first was an older Austrian woman on her way to Salzburg to visit a friend (and yes, we figured this out in a German conversation, DANKE!). I made the mistake of asking her what a certain word meant in my Austrian garfield comic strip (courtesy of the free Austrian daily newspaper "Heute") and she went on for 5 minutes in German trying to explain it to us... Olivia and I played the polite and patient Americans and just sat there, intermittently nodding our heads like we TOTALLY understood what she was saying, meanwhile shooting "I have no idea what's going on" glances to one another. Haha! Our next cabinmates were a group of 3 girls from Britain who were on a three week backpacking tour of Europe. They made for lovely conversation... and I particularly liked the topic of toilets we'd experienced thus far (ha!).
Four and a half hours later, we arrived at the Munich Hauptbahnhof. It's literally 50 degrees. And drizzling. And blustery. Nothing like the 80 degree day we had previously in Vienna. But we bundled up, put up our dilapitated umbrellas and braced ourselves for the city. We checked into our hostel (which was really quite nice) and were on our way to find FOOOOOOOD. We searched high and low for a restaurant that would quench our intense hunger, and where did we eat? Did we indulge ourselves in fatty, startchy German cuisine? Did we stay true to our oath of expanding our cultural horizons? No. We ate at Subway ;) We wanted ourselves some SUBS! And it was just like at home... you know, the same "Subway" smell, the same decor.
Aaanyway, we kept hearing these sirens getting louder and then stopping somewhere nearby. We shrugged it off, naturally. We're practically immune to it after living in the ghetto of Vienna for a month lol. Turns out that there had been a bomb threat at the same Hauptbahnhof that we had left not yet an hour prior! And bombthreats in Europe aren't as common as those in America... so Olivia and I were very scared slash excited to take part in such a rare experience! The whole city block was surrounded by emergency vehicles and the equivalent of German SWAT men. And of course, everyone was gawking and standing around. Another situation where you realize that regardless of whether you're Austrian, German, Chinese or American--we're all human. We all are rubber-neckers at heart.
So after all that excitement was said and done, Olivia and I returned to the hostel where we would be meeting a tour group. This was a 3 hour FREE walking tour of Munich, and yes, I did say FREE. We met our guide--a genuine and intelligent looking girl from Manchester named Jess. She was EXTREMELY informative and completely personable. The ideal guide. Often very funny and sarcastic. I would even say that she is better than some of the guides on tours I spent 30 euro on. And this girl doesn't even get paid. She works solely on a tip basis.
Aside from my time with Eric, this has to be my favorite three hours in Munich. I learned so much about the city--its historical background, its extreme links with the Neo-Nazi party... I wish I could relay it all here! But I will hit on some of my favorites:
The Frauenkirche is a beautiful basillica in the heart of the city. If you look at pictures of Munich, you can pick this particular cathedral out because of its two onion-shaped domes. This kirche is significant in many ways: It is the current Pope Benedict's former church (and there are busts and paintings to honor him), it was almost entirely reconstructed after the war by many communities (including the Jewish community), and it contains the "Devil's Footprint." Long story short, when looking at the church from the front, it appears to have no windows, as they are hidden by columns. So, when it was being built, the Devil got all excited... "No windows? These people will be worshipping darkness! Perfect! More souls!" Well, when the devil found out that he had been duped and that there actually WERE windows, he stomped his foot (apparently wearing Birkenstocks) at the door of the church and the footprint remains to this day! In reality, the footprint is that of the architect, leaving his "signature" on his handiwork.
The Haufbraeuhaus: The preferred brewery of the dukes and nobelmen of yesteryear, the HBH is a hoppin' tourist attraction and functioning restaurant and beer house. It sticks out in my mind not only because it is often where Neo Nazi meetings were held, but also because of it's literal take on "indoor plumbing." Back in the day, it was legal to go out and urinate in the gutter. However, at the HBH, seating was prized and no one wanted to abandon their beer for a second. HBH installed "gutters" underneath the bars so all the men would have to do was unbutton their liederhosen and relieve themselves. The indoor gutter would then lead outside to the actual gutter. Can you imagine the SMELL in that place during asparagus season!?
The Rathaus (town hall) and Marienplatz. Basically the aesthetic center of town. You can get to all of the popular sites from here. Located in the center is a gold statue commemorating the Virgin Mary (or perhaps you would rather use Eric's alternative name: "The Golden Baby.") The rathaus is a lovely church-like looking building with the coolest centerpiece ever--a glockenspiel containing 43 bells AND moving slash dancing life-size figurines! At 11, 12 and 5 the bells ring and 15 minutes worth of Bavarian dance and wedding music are played. Also depicted is a joust between France and Bavaria (but I don't think France has ever won lol) and an hooting/dancing owl that brings the whole ordeal to a close. Quite a spectacle, actually.
Gosh... there are seriously so many amazing historical stories.... alas, I fear I should not even begin to try, as I could not do it justice! So your assignment: Wikipedia Munich history and monuments. lol!
Sooo anyway, not only was this tour great for seeing the sights, but also for meeting the people! Allow me to explain. First of all, we meet this kid from Canada (well, hardly a kid... he's 26, but partly Chinese... they all look so dang young anyway...) named Mike. He seems like a pretty chill guy, and actually initially strikes up a conversation about this program he's doing called "Couch Surfing." It's an internet database very similar to facebook in which people can search for available couches all around the world. Mike, for example, has been travelling for the past three months around Europe, not having to pay a cent for housing and staying on hosts' couches. AMAZING and novel idea. And we loved it. Within the three hours we got to know about Mike's life, ambitions, travels, family--almost like we'd known him for years! He's a cartoon animator, and he's worked on a few shows that Olivia and I have actually heard of! Basically travelling around Europe until his next gig and until he goes broke. Looking for a place to move in a few years. Honestly though, between the three of us there wasn't a moment of silence lol! And it felt wonderful to meet someone who was genuinely travelling for the culture and for the experience of it all, not like our American friends who only come to Europe to get schwasted every night. He has actually contacted me since and is coming in to Vienna this Friday. We're going to show him around the city a bit and make our first trip to the English movie theater to see The Dark Knight!
MOMENT OF IRONY #1: Olivia and I are just chillin' in the tour group, talking to Mike about Ohio weather, when all of the sudden an older gentleman whips around excitedly: "Ohio?! Who said Ohio?! Are you from Ohio?" Of course, I obliged in telling him that I was, indeed from said state. "We are too! We're all from Columbus!" It was then that I noticed that one of the gentlemen had an OSU Bucks windbreaker on... and I was seriously psyched! Thus began the conversation about how I was meeting a group from OSU in Munich the next day, and how there were 10 colleagues from their business in New Albany with them, and how I'm from New Philadelphia... "Oh! We know New Phila! We know the Cody's... work with them, in fact." The new inside joke became one of us randomly busting out "OH!" and the other finishing "IO!" I have never been so proud and excited to be an Ohioan.
MOMENT OF IRONY #2: After the tour, Mike asks us to dinner with him and his other couch surfing Canadian friend, Kimberly. Kimberly has to be the sweetest, most kind-hearted person I've ever met. Think Annie Worth (love that girl). Again, conversation here was effortless. Only 19 years old, she's travelling around a bit before starting University. We ate random meat specialties at an Imbiss (think fast food, but with real food) and then traipsed off to find ourselves some gelato. Frickin' nutella gelato. Mmmm..... anyway, Kimberly starts talking about this girl she knows who can play the mandolin... Olivia mentions that she, too, knows someone who plays the mandolin... Kimberly mentions the name Anna, Olivia's eyes widen and soon they realize that they are talking about the SAME PERSON. This Anna character was one of Kimberly's closer friends while doing this summer program, and Olivia actually took Anna to church on occasion. HOW CRAZY IS THAT!? Out of all the people we could meet in Munich, we were put in the path of a mutual friend. God works in mysterious ways!
We bid our parting adieus to Mike and Kim and head back to the hostel. We stop down to the internet cafe (which is actually located in the bar) and decide to try some Munich Augustine beer recommended by Tour Guide Jess. We dislike beer. We find it hardly tolerable. But heck, why not give it a chance... maybe this one is different? It was tolerable. Very "wheat-y." But not enough for me to understand how men can drink liters of the stuff at a time lol. So here we are, minding our own business at the computers when all of a sudden: "Wahlkjsfhlakjdhflkjhf!!! AHHHH!!! Whooo hoooo!" A group of girls dressed in bright orange mini skirts and neon wigs come running in, followed by a group of men wearing orange cut-off tanks and... a moose. They are blowing whistles, whooping and hollaring, playing ungodly loud techno music, dancing on the bar, screaming "JAGERMEISTER!" Some kind of promotional thing for Jagermeister, I guess. Regardless, it was all downhill from here, as they were giving out free drinks and prizes.
And here is where Olivia and I again realize what old prudes we are.
(Sorry guys but I'm typing in my class breaks... will leave this one unfinished until later today. Back to my German midterm I go! Whoooooo!)
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