Munich: I think I could live here!

As I prepare to head out for London, I can't help but think that my time in Munich has gone by way too fast. I haven't had much time to blog during my time here, so I'll take you through day be day to let you know what I've been up to.

Friday:

We arrived in Munich at 6:30 a.m. and couldn't check into our hostel until 1:00 p.m., so, although we were tired, we went on a free walking tour of Munich. Our guide, named Luke from England, was really good; he was humorous, yet very informative on historical matters. We learned a lot about the history of Munich and how Hitler came to power here. We also saw the infamous glockenspiel! I really like the layout of the city of Munich. The streets are wide, people follow traffic laws, and it is very friendly towards bikers and pedestrians. This all probably has something to do with the fact that Munich is a fairly modern city, with much of it being rebuilt after WWII. It is actually very similar to a U.S. city, but after Italy it is nice to get back to some sanity.

Saturday:

During our tour on Friday Luke really encouraged us to make a visit to the Dachau concentration camp memorial site during our time in Munich. He was leading a tour today, so we decided to go on it. It was a very informative experience, and actually being inside a concentration camp made that history I have always learned about seem more real. It is just unbelievable what humans can justify doing to other humans. We say that we would never let something like that happen again, but there are gross human rights violations going on in many places in the world right now, but we turn a blind eye. Our tour guide made it clear that Germany is one of the best countries in the world as far as recognizing and coming to terms with their dark past. Many countries have had similar things happen in their history, but many do not even admit it, let alone memorialize it. Think of the Armenian genocide in Turkey or even Guantanamo Bay for example. Those things just tend to get pushed under the rug. There is no doubt that the Holocaust was one of the worst events in the recent history of the world, and for many years Germans were ashamed of this history. Just recently have Germans began to show pride in their country again. For example, last year's world soccer cup was the first time Germans have waved their flag proudly in public since WWII. Overall Dachau was an experience that really made me think about things that are hard to think about but must be thought about nonetheless.

After getting back from Dachau we went to the Hofbrauhaus, the most famous beer hall in Europe. It was sort of touristy, but there were still lots of Germans there, including many wearing leiderhosen. Munich is the home of leiderhosen, so we have seen quite a bit of it since being here. The beer was really good at Hofbrauhaus, probably the best I've ever had! German beer is very strong though--about three times the strength of American beer by volume--and it is served by the liter! After getting back from the Hofbrauhaus we spent some time at the bar in our hostel, and it was a really great time. I am really enjoying the hostel experience. At the bar I met people from all over the world and some from the U.S. It is really interesting to hear stories of people's travels and just to meet some new people. I talked to a German guy for a while, and he gave us some pointers on what we should see in Munich.

Sunday:

Today we started the day with Palm Sunday Mass at the Munich cathedral, and, let me tell you, it was quite the ceremony. The Mass began with the entire congregation outside of the church, and the bishop and priests processed in and said a few words. Everyone in the congregation was carrying pussywillow branches for some reason unknown to me. After the bishop blessed the congregation with holy water, there was a little parade with a brass band, children singing, men carrying a large wooden cross, and men and women dressed in traditional German wear (inclduding leiderhosen). The entire congregation joined the parade and processed around the church, then filed into the church. The entire cathedral, which is huge, was filled, and people had to stand in the aisles. The mass was projected up on big screens on each side of the church. The whole ceremony lasted two hours, which is a testimony to the German Catholic tradition of always using the long reading (as Fr. Meyer always used to say).

After Mass we headed to a castle called Nympfenburg, which is a place the German I met at the bar last night recommended we see. It was a really neat place, with huge grounds which have been converted into a park where lots of people walk. I will put up some pictures on facebook for you to see later. It turned out to be a very nice thing to do on a Sunday afternoon.

After spending a few hours at the castle, we went to the English Gardens, which is another place the German recommended to me. The English Gardens is a huge park in Town, but it is so huge that it feels like you are outside of town. There are lots of deciduous trees, and there is a river that flows through it. Overall, the landscape here reminds me a lot of Minnesota, and I can definitely see why many Germans chose Minnesota as their place of residence when immigrating to the U.S. In there English Gardens there is a huge beer garden. When we got there it was absolutely packed with Germans enjoying their evening beers. This seemed like a much more authentically German experience than the Hofbrauhaus. I had a drink called a Radler, which is beer mixed with lemonade. It sounds really weird, but I actually enjoyed it a lot. It is especially good with food. To eat I had a bratwurst, sauerkraut, and a giant pretzel...now that's my kind of meal! As we ate a brass band played in a nearby tower, and it was just a really great atmosphere.

Monday:

Today has been a pretty low key day. We packed everything up and checked out of our hostel this morning, then we went to climb up St. Peter's tower, which is a tower attached to a church. This was yet another recommendation of the German guy, and I am very thankful that I talked to him because this ended up being another great experience. We climbed up 306 stairs, and at the top we could see the entire city of Munich. It is a very flat city, so we could see the whole thing. There seems to be a lot of industry here, which is different than Italy where the main commerce seems to be fashion. On our way back from the tower we saw some street performers doing some traditional Mongolian singing and instrumental performance. They could make crazy sounds with the voice boxes, and it was really something to see. There have been many great street performers in Munich who have provided lots of free entertainment for us.

Now it is almost time to say goodbye to the homeland of my ancestors, but I really hope I get the chance to return here someday. I think I could live here and fit in just fine if I learned German. I don't know if I ever will, but I could definitely see myself here more so than I could ever see myself in Italy. Italy was just getting too hectic and touristy for me, and this has been a very much needed reprieve from that.