I'm not sure if you all remember (or if I mentioned it) that last time I was in Munich it was raining and freezing cold and I spent most of my time doing a walking tour then sitting in the Hopfbrau House drinking and eating. Well my second time around nothing much else changed. I was promised that Munich really is beautiful in the summer and it doesn't usually rain this time of year. Turns out it only rains when I am there (so hopefully this pattern changes during Oktoberfest - otherwise Im really sorry to everyone else).
Our first night in Munich was a Saturday so we decided to hit the town for a bit of a night out and check out the nightlife. After a couple of drinks at the hostel bar while watching the world cup and basically trying to psych ourselves up for walking in the rain we headed into the city centre to the Hopfbrau House where we were going to meet the Californian girls and their German friend that they were staying with. We couldnt find them in the crowd so we decided to snag a table as soon as we found one and get ourselves some traditional german food and drink. Caroline ordered a Pork Knuckle while I decided to get a pretzel. Not nearly as exciting but definitely the cheaper option (more money for beer!). Caroline even tried a beer - I'll admit it was a shandy but still thats a big deal for my lovely Caroline as beer isn't her drink of choice. After about 10 minutes four men in Leiderhosen come up and ask us if they can sit with us because they are in the band and on their break so they need to eat. So while we were drinking our German beer and eating our German food we were sitting next to four German men who were wearing traditional costumes so we snagged a few photos!
After awhile the girls somehow found us and we headed over to their table to have a drink with their mates. It was fun being around German people except it was a bit hard to hear and to talk because of all the noise. After the Hopfbrau started winding down (its illegal for them to be open after 12am) we headed to a tiny little bar around the corner. It was a cute place and definitely somewhere the trendy people hang out because when we walked in I swear nearly everyone in there could have been models. Needless to say we felt extremely under dressed but its ok because you can get away with it when your a tourist! After a drink there me and Caroline decided to call it a night so we headed home and left the girls to it. Luckily we left when we did because apparently they were out til 5am at a nightclub and I don't think I could have handled that!
The next day I was lucky enough to get a phone call from home so I spent the morning chatting away and catching up on emails and basically just lazing about because I could. Caroline and I had decided to go on a 'free' walking tour around Munich to get our bearings. When I say 'free' I mean you just have to tip them how much you think it was worth (which works well for a cheap backpacker). It was probably one of the best guided tours I've had. I'm not sure if he was really good because he knew he had to be paid depending on his performance but he certainly earnt his tips. He was really captivating and spoke passionately and was really informative without being over the top. I learnt more about Germany history from him in three and a half hours then I had during my whole visit to Germany. We visited the Glockenspeil (which is the clock tower in the city centre that has a little show on the hour), the beer hall pusch (where Hitler and his soliders marched after he commited treason), the Hopfbrau House hall where he commited treason and the beer gardens (learning much about the beer which is definately a need to know in bavaria). We also learnt the difference between the Bavarian Germans and the rest of the country which was interesting because as I had not visited Berlin the differences were pretty obvious.
After the walking tour me and Caroline tried to find a little cafe or pub to visit but it was hard as everything was closed because it was Sunday. We ended up grabbing a pizza from a nearby cafe, heading back to the hostel and having a lazy arvo watching the Kiwis play in the world cup. As we were pretty tired and it was raining (for a change) we thought we would have a quick nanna nap then see what the girls were doing. Three hours later I wake up, groggy as hell but still tired. We thought we would try and be social by hitting the bar but one coke later we were back in the room reading our books and watching movies on Caro's ipod. Not the most pumping day but pretty much a perfect way to spend a sunday - after all they are supposed to be lazy.
It felt weird not seeing the girls for a whole entire day and we were pretty sad because they were leaving us in Munich and we had gotten used to having them around. The next day we decided to catch up with them and hang out for awhile. We were waiting for them in the hostel foyer when a German guy called Max decided to come up to us and start talking about his business. We were happy to chat and he was a nice guy but after about 45 minutes we were wanting to escape a little as we had no idea what else to talk to him about. We decided to wait outside for the girls because they would be here any minute. After waiting in the rain and the cold for 15 minutes we thought we would just wait back in the foyer. They arrived a few minutes later and just as we were about to go we got hijacked by Max again. He wanted to tag along and while we were wanting quality time with the girls we couldn't really say no. Oh how I wish we had said No! It was such a struggle to carry out a conversation without him interrupting and it was hard to really relax and chat because he would start raving about his business every two seconds. I will probably kick myself one day when he was famous but for a few hours that day we had to manage a conversation with a crazy German guy who could not stop telling us about himself and asking crazy personal questions to us. He was determined to take photos of us and ended up hugging and kissing us goodbye. It was just a little bit full on especially when all we wanted was the girls to ourselves!
The plus side of the day was that we managed to find the nicest pub to have our meal in. I managed to get a beer, soup and salad for less then 10 Euro. It was really nice to have a meal loaded with veggies! Caroline scored a beautiful fillet steak, baked potato and salad for cheaper then it would be at home and we pretty much just feasted while trying to watch the football game whilst trying to ignore crazy Max. Afterwards we managed to ditch him as he was tired and heading back to the hostel so we headed along the main town to check it out with everything open. We had a bit of a wander through a bookshop that sold lots of English books (I was a good girl and only bought a book for three Euro - sometimes there just isn't any good books at a book exchange). We then headed to another cosy little pub and sat outside but under the heaters (we ended up in t-shirts after having three layers on all day) and had a few drinks and heaps of fun chatting while we watched yet another football match. It was the perfect way to spend our last afternoon with the girls. They had become really good friends really fast and I knew we were going to be a little lost without them. Luckily for us they are back in London at the same time as us so we will have another chance to catch up before its goodbye for awhile.
That night we had another lazy night at the hostel. There is something about the rainy weather that just does not put you in the mood to socialise once your back in your room. We were lucky as we had really good roomies at our hostel and the room was nice and big with a table and chairs and which mean space to just hang out and chill. We had a couple of drinks and chatted to the girls before heading to bed early. We really are turning into a couple of nannas but all the travelling is starting to take it out of me.
Im pretty lucky that Im a heavy sleeper and I sleep through most things but I will be lucky if I get to bed before 11 or 12. Most of the time when Im in bed it takes me a bit to go to sleep and you are more or less woken up early by people coming and going in your room. Its either that or you have to get up to see a tour, catch a bus, meet someone or fit in some time online to finally finish your blog! I dont know the last time I had a solid eight hours sleep in a bed that was comfy and clean. The hostels have been for the most part pretty great and I haven't had any really bad experiences but something must not be going right because my back is killing me. Having a new mattress and pillow every three days followed by 10 hours sitting on a bus, carrying backpacks and handbags while walking around has taken its toll. I'm loving my life right now but part of me can't wait until I settle down somewhere and find a place to call home for a little while. A bed that is all my own in a room that I don't have to share with my stuff put in places without worrying about locking it up - it will be a welcome relief!
Munich pretty much completed the north loop of my Busabout tour which means that I am now onto the west loop. If you have a look at the 'Where I've Been and Where Im Going' list and click on Busabout you will be able to see what is in store for me next.
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