This particular breakfast spoiled us for the rest of our trip. Breakfast was included with every hotel room (save one) and after this morning we expected nothing but the best. Hot bacon and sausage, soft boiled eggs, cold meats, breads out the backside. And I have a new problem. I like their grapefruit juice. Why is this a problem? Because it's european grapefruit juice and I don't live there. It's same thing with my green orange juice in Belize. I don't live there.
While breakfasting, I had to blow my nose. Having postnasal drip, this is a terribly common occurance for me and I don't think twice about it. I try to be quiet about it. This time, though, I was recovering from a demon of a cold, and it was slightly more loud than usual.
You would think that I had just yell a profanity from the looks I got.
Sadly, this one go at it didn't satisify the situation. I realized that the only to take care of this problem was to leave the table, find an enclosed space and take care of this. So, I did. And I was happy. And the people of Munich were happy.
We then went on a bus tour. Here is a very wonderful thing about Europe-- there are so many languages in such a small area that they have tape recordings and headphones of the tour. You pick your language and listen along. Sometimes, the grammar is a little strange because of the literal nature of German, but hey. It works.
Our bus departed from the Hauptbahnhof and we opted for the short tour. One hour. It was just long enough to go all around the old town, and then head back to our room to get our bearings. From our room, we headed out to the Deutsche Museum.
We took the subway, which was an interesting experience. We got the platform and bought the tickets. The train pulled up and--
-- the doors wouldn't open. What the? We stood there waiting, and nothing. No door for us. DEnied. The train pulls out. Next train pulls in, and I see little green buttons on the door, and realize that we have to push them. So we push them and--
--nothing. Still nothing. They people in the train are probably laughing at us by now. We can't get on the damn train. New Strategy. Move near people who are going to get on the train as well. Jackpot, we're on! We cruise all of 3 stops and pop out for the Deustche Museum.
This was dad's recommendation, so you know that there's all kinds of dad stuff involved: cars, planes, trains, mines, motors... But the place that he told we need to go was the mine under the museum.
Keep in mind, this is a museum display. What they did was cut out peices of the real mine and move them to these caves. Which is totally ingenious because then you don't walk around in the dark with a hard hat and light on your head worrying that the place is going to blow at any moment.*
Quite an interesting little trip through, and really, I don't know that you want me to sit here and tell you the details. If you know me, dear reader, you've already seen the pictures. However, let me share with a sign from this museum that demonstrates the literal nature of the German language.
Truly, need I say more?
During our adventure, T discovered that there were "interactive" displays, ala 1960-- Also known as "Push Here". He gleefully ran from button to button and was more disappointed than the 3 year old when they didn't work. Because while the 3 year old just enjoyed pushing the button not expecting anything, T did. And was disappointed repeatedly.
On to the town! As I am studying to be an architect, I have an accute interest in churches. So on a Saturday afternoon, we are wandering around Munich looking at churches. By the time we were done, we were trying to see how many different masses we could hit in an hour. Four. We missed one by a few minutes.
We arrived in the Marienplatz just in time to see the Glockespeil ring at 5 p.m. This clock has been ringing since sometime in the late 1700s and has two little stories. The first celebrates the marriage of the Emperor to I believe Maria Theresa (whom the whole area we traveled through was completely infatuated with). The second is the Beer Barrel dance, that the town still holds every 7 years as they have for decades.
I just have to say here that I have never heard so many genuine real church bells chiming at the same time as I did in Munich. It was fantastic. I could have stood there all evening if they had been ringing them that long. It was amazing-- nothing like the US's recorded chimes. These are the big bells that have names, like Charlie and Hans and Marie.
Here, have a look and listen:
Now, we're hungry. Before we had even arrived in Europe, T had declared that we were going to eat at the Hofbrauhaus. This is reported to be the oldest biergarten in Europe and anyone who is or was anyone in Europe has been here. They have an oopma band that plays every night.
Be warned: You seat yourself in all but the fanciest of restuarants in Europe. And if you should happen to go to this place, don't sit at the tables with the tableclothes. Trust me on this. I thought that they were going to turn the Panzers on us when I sat at one of them. We wound up outside in the courtyard, which was fine with me.
I ordered a goulash, and T ordered sauages and sauerkraut. And Beer. Very Large Beers. Liter beers. I ordered an ale that was tempered with lemonade (and couldn't finish it) and he ordered a Pilsner (and finished mine). We really enjoyed this place. We just sat and ate and chatted for almost 2 hours before we finally decided that it would be wise to head back.
But before we went, there was an oompa band- being conducted by a very very drunk Japanese man. I mean this guy had the whole place going, clapping and cheering him on. I was more than highly amuzed by this drunk gent thinking that he was conducting the band. I do believe that several of the waitresses had to drag him away back to his buss eventually.
Well, we head back to the room and we're not quite tired yet. On goes the television.
How do I explain this. Let me say that Europe is much more open with their sexuality, to begin. They don't have a problem with 900 numbers on TV. Whereas in the US, the 900 numbers only come up after say, midnight, Europe starts around 10.
But they aren't afraid to show the goods. At all. There were boobies on every channel. Boobies and booty. I was a little perturbed by this until--
--THE FRAU--
came on. This was a half dressed woman that looked for all the world like a librarian. And not the Hot For Teacher kind either. I'm talking about a middle aged woman with horn-rimmed glasses and a suit and unnaturally perky goods hanging out of her shirt. I think that to say this was bizzare would be an understatement. Both T and I stood there looking at the TV with these shocked expressions, and the inability to communicate our disbelief.
Finally he changed the channel, and said, "I think the news will be just fine." He rolled over and went to sleep.
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*An experience I had in Wales. We were actually taken INTO a real working mine and told all about how natural gas condenses and gathers in pockets, and how the smallest spark could set it off...
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