Ausfahrt—Oh, Munich!

Vat a vundabah veekend! I just spent the weekend in Munich, which was fun enough, but even better, my dad was there! Because he was in Europe on business, we were able to meet in Munich and spend some time together.It was so much fun—I didn’t realize how much I’ve missed my family until I was hugging my dad in person. We had such a great time, cracking jokes and goofing around the city; it was so fun after two months alone and it was really hard to know it will be at least that long until I see him and the rest of my family again. It was a very well-spent weekend!

I arrived in Munich a few hours before Dad did, so after dropping my stuff off at the hotel I walked downtown and, wandering around, stumbled across most of the famous sights of the city. Marianplatz (the main square), Frauenkirche cathedral, a couple of other churches. I walked through a courtyard that I realized was part of the Residence palace, which led me to the edge of the English Garden, larger than central park. I then walked by the Hofbrauhaus, the most famous beer house in Munich, and next to it was the Viktualienmarkt, which sold fresh fruit, veggies, spices, etc. I walked farther than I thought, but I still saw a lot in a relatively small space.

Once Dad arrived we went back to the Hofbrauhaus for lunch and some traditional German food, and the largest beer I’ve ever seen. It was interesting to see; there were some old men in lederhosen at a table I thought were planted by the restaurant, but apparently they come in formal dress for the fun of it. At night it must be a riot, with the long table full of drunks swaying and singing along with the music. There was already a German man singing at lunch, beer glass drained.

We walked around some more, popping in churches, climbing towers. We came across a group of five musicians playing classical music in the street—it was puzzling to think about how they got the baby grand piano one man was playing over the cobblestone streets. We also saw some people setting up for some kind of peace demonstration about Libya. For dinner the first night we went to a delicious Italian place close to the hotel, and it was just so great to sit across from Dad and talk to him face-to-face.

The next morning we got up early and took a train to Dachau to visit the concentration camp memorial there. It was surprisingly close to Munich, and the camp was right within the city. Large portions of the camp were reconstructed in order to show what it would have been like at different periods in its history. One barrack building had three different dorm rooms that were each styled after a different year of the camp’s operation, and you could see how bad conditions got even worse as the camp grew more and more overcrowded as time went on.

It was so great to see because it makes it that much more real. It’s interesting, because we all know about what went on in WWII, we learn about it in history class, but in the US, all that stuff happened ‘over there’, and it was sobering and eye-opening to visit a place where the evil we learn about actually took place. It was incredible to stand in a room that, upon liberation, the American forces found piles of dead bodies waiting to be burned in the crematorium, or to stand in an actual gas chamber. The crematorium was unbelievable; it was a little red brick building in the middle of a garden, with trees and shrubs and little paths around. You never would have guessed what when on inside. Although it was a sobering and not overly fun start to the day, I’m really glad we got to see it; it was incredibly informative and I learned a lot, always a good thing.

We returned to Munich in the afternoon after lunch in Dachau and went to visit the Residence Palace, the seat of Bavarian power for hundreds of years. It was exhausting; we were guided by little arrows through about 90 different, incredibly ornate rooms. The size and scope of the Palace was amazing. The Palace began as a fortified medieval castle, but as time went on various kings redecorated and added on mazes of rooms, corridors, courtyards until it was just massive. Different rooms were decorated according to different time periods, but all were impressive and heavy in all kinds of riches, valuables, silks, paintings, ceramics. By the end of our self-tour we were so tired, because we walked so far! I don’t know how the royalty could have done it; plus, there were so many rooms haphazardly added on in such a weird layout it’s a wonder they weren’t constantly lost.

Saturday evening we went to see Circus Krone. We got the tickets because the concierge recommended it as an incredibly famous circus that tours Europe and always starts in Munich, where they have their winter headquarters. Plus, any shows or theatre we would have gone to was in German. When we first approached, we were a little apprehensive, since it looked a little cheesy. Once inside, it was actually really great; it was a real old-fashioned circus with the big top and sawdust on the floors. Our seats were pretty good too, although I don’t think there was a bad seat anywhere. It was a very entertaining show; I saw a guy catapulted through a flaming ring, crazy juggling an acrobatics, all kinds of animals. There were elephants, horses, seals, zebras, camels, llamas, and even a rhino, all of them doing all kinds of tricks. There were lions too—the lion tamer was in a cage with 12 lions all roaring and snarling and looking ferocious and he kissed them on the nose and cuddled them. We weren’t supposed to take pictures but I took my camera out then to try and get a couple quick shots, it was too cool. One act, with this guy leaping about a spinning wheel at the top of the tent, left me acutely uncomfortable and wishing he would stop, I was so certain he was going to fall and I’d watch someone die. Circuses in general make me very uncomfortable, but it was fun. Incredibly long, though; about three hours, and we didn’t eat before. It made their bows seem unendurably long.

This morning my flight was relatively early so I pretty much spent the day traveling and lazing around Thess. It was so hard to say good-bye to Dad; I miss him so much and, even though we had a great weekend and it was tons of fun, it wasn’t enough time! I miss dad jokes and that particular brand of goofy he gets when he’s having fun. It was a difficult good-bye, and I was embarrassingly sniffly during take-off, though the fat Greek woman I was next to pretended she didn’t notice.

Before leaving Munich, I bought a kilo of Spargel. It’s spargel season in Germany, and this white asparagus is everywhere—sold in the markets, on booths that pop up out of nowhere, and every restaurant features some kind if spargel special. I had some while I was in Germany, and it was delicious, so I decided to bring some back and try to make it for my friends. Almost everyone is still in Rhodes for the weekend, but Tanya, Abby, Katie, and Kelli were all here. I made spargel while they made a garlic-butter sauce, spinach, and boiled potatoes to go along with it. It was really delicious, and a good way to catch up with everyone and how their weekends went. The only problem was peeling; spargel, unlike normal asparagus, has to be peeled or the outer parts taste all woody and hard. For the most part I did fine but on a couple there were a couple sections I didn’t peel well enough, and it was a little tough. It was still delicious, though, and everyone agreed that the spargel head was the best part.

Overall, Munich was a charming little town, and very easy to see all the sights in a short time. Although, I think I would have had fun wherever I met Dad this weekend, just because he was there. This trip reminded me how much I miss my family, but I’m still so glad that I got to see him, even if for much too short a time!

Pictures will follow, I am just having trouble uploading them right now!