european chronicles- munich

There are so many things to say about this wonderful weekend, but I’ll try to be succinct. Funny story- I originally planned on writing about the whole trip in 1 blog post, and then decided there was too much to say so I would break it into 2-3 postings. Now it is probably going to be at least 7, so I hope you don’t get sick of my voice… because I assume you’re reading these stories in my voice the way I read Mindy Kaling’s book in her voice and “Bossypants” in Tina Fey’s. And there I go not being succinct and getting off topic at the same time!

Staying in a hostel was the best idea ever. Everyone is so friendly and just wants to make new friends and drink together and have a good time. And I know what you’re thinking- “You’re crazy. You are too old for those shenanigans!”  And you are only partially right. Yes, I would have loved to sleep in not-a-bunk bed, and could have gone without the stranger roommates being loud super early.  BUT we lied and told people we were 24, so it didn’t feel pathetic at all! Twenty-four is not too old for a hostel. And we were just being frugal and fun. Don’t judge me.

{you have to appreciate an establishment that gives you free welcome beer- even if it is in weirdly small glasses}

On our first day, we took a very informative and entertaining tour with Oz- an amazing tour guide if you ever make it to Munich.  We got to see most of the city in a few hours and learn a lot about Bavarian history and culture. He explained some of Munich’s role and perspective on the Nazi party and World War 2, but also sprinkled in some more light-hearted anecdotes and stories.  He took us to Marienplatz, got us beer and brats at the Viktualienmarkt, stopped by Hofbräuhaus, and basically just wandered the streets telling us about Munich’s history.  He had a quirky (slightly inappropriate?) sense of humor, so it was super entertaining. He would start rambling about something and then conclude with “so there you have it” and Monica and I would just look at each other confusedly like “there we have what? What is happening?”.

{sites from the tour- Marienplatz, brats, HB Haus- which has stein lockers for the regulars}

When we finished the tour, we hung out with some new friends in the Englischer Garten. We wandered the different areas of the garden looking for a river that is rumored to have surfers (we found the river, but no surfers), and then went to get some beer! We found out throughout the trip (especially here in Munich, but also in Ireland and Scotland) that it is unusual for girls to order pints of beer. It is more appropriate/respectable/genteel (??) for girls to drink cocktails. And if they drink beer, it is definitely from a bottle, not a pint glass. Or heaven forbid, a liter! One of our new friends absolutely could not believe that we actually like beer… It was so odd. Could you imagine their reaction to a tailgate?!   

{lazy afternoon}

{proof that we were there and that we made friends}

That evening we decided to rally for another one of Oz’s tours- a Brats, beer, and Schnapps pub crawl, and then followed that by a night of dancing with some of our new hostel friends.  By this point, Oz was pretty comfortable with us, and a few of us had already spent the whole day together so we all felt like BFFs- which made for some highly entertaining jokes and stories. If I tell you all of them here, I think it will become one of those “you had to be there” situations and you’ll never want to hear me tell a story again. And I have a lot more up my sleeve for Munich… Such a long post!

{schnapps tasting, pork knuckles, and a stag party from liverpool having an ugly shirt contest... the clear winner is "pissy"- unfortunate nickname, amazing diy shirt}

That day was full of fun facts, heavy beer, so much bratwurst, schnapps, more beer, and pork knuckle. Just thinking about this trip makes me gain 10 lbs.

The next day we were really too tired to do much of anything so we wandered the streets and got more food and beer. We climbed one of the towers to see the view of the whole city. It was really beautiful, but climbing a narrow, dark, winding staircase when you’ve slept 3 hours after an entire day and night of drinking was so awful.  Then we wanted to rent bikes to go back to the English Garden, but the rental place was closed and we were le tired. So we got tea and debated our next move- which ended up being naps. 

{gorgeous view from the top of a tower...}

{...but was it worth it?}

That night we thought it would be nice to have a more mellow night. Famous.last.words. We met some guys from Munich who were hilarious- Albert, Alex, and Thomas.  This is the part of the trip where Monica started taking voice memos secretly to capture audio clips of some of our funniest conversations, and the Bavarians did not disappoint. Let me set the scene- We met them at a bar on one side of Munich and then Thomas (who was sadly the 5^th wheel at this point) decided to take us all to a club on the other side of town. We tried to take the bus, but I don’t know why that didn’t work. So most of these quotes happen along the long journey to the club, with Robbie Williams “Without You” playing in the background from Albert’s phone  <all quotes must be read in German accents>:

• “I love Robbie Williams!! He is a gift to the world!” 
• “Lets go to the party bus. It takes us to the next disco”
• “It is not too far. It is just that you are talking all the time. You are dancing, you are talking. This is a problem”… about 2 mins later “Ladies and gentlemen, can we please just hurry up a little bit. Can we?! I want to dance!”        
• On the walk home, I was wearing Alex’s jacket... Monica was freezing and Albert zipped up his jacket on himself and said “I, too, have a warm coat”

Such a hilarious night, but when we had to check out of the hostel the next morning, we felt miserable. At this point, I was feeling too old for hostel living. So we slept in the lounge until we felt somewhat human again.  

{so tragic that we don't have any pictures from this night}

This weekend was kind of the turning point of the adventure. Planning the whole trip had been pretty stressful, especially for Italy, because we had tried to plan every day perfectly and then things would fall apart when we missed a bus or train. And then when we finally made it to our destinations, we were mostly surrounded by couples on their honeymoons. But Munich was totally different… we didn’t plan anything beforehand other than our flight and hostel. And the weekend was so much fun! We met incredible people and made some of the best friends and memories. I know it sounds so cheesy, but it was really refreshing. At this point, I didn’t think any other trip would be able to live up to the Munich weekend, but we managed to maintain the same spontaneous and exciting spirit for the rest of the trip. Sometimes it didn’t work out that well… we got lost a few times and missed reservations, and a flight <that one was rough>, but we weren’t stressed about hardly anything. Nothing could bring us down. Not even bronchitis or my inevitable poverty. 

On that note, I'll leave you with this:

{probably just a parking sign, but it made us happy. if you don't get it, sound it out.
if you still don't get it, we probably shouldn't be friends}