Munich (Day 2)

I woke up quite early and headed out to the centre square of the town, the meeting point of the free bike tour! The two Canadian girls (Laura and Steph), the Canadian Boy (Adam) and his American friend accompanied me. We got some of the last few spots. The idea of the bike tour is that you pay at the end, what you think it was worth, so if you don’t like it, you don’t have to pay. It is a good concept, one i very much agree with so i planned to tip as much as i could afford. We set out from the square and headed to where the bikes were parked. It was almost comic when i got there as the bikes weren’t locked to anything, just each other, all 30 of them. If you could figure our a way to actually steal them, you probably deserve them. He unlocked them and handed them out. There were two different types, silver ones and blue ones. They all had fat tires, cruiser style handlebars and thankfully hand brakes, which were the wrong way around, but better than the back pedal brakes of the bike tours previous. The blue ones were slightly bigger, so i managed to angle for one of them. After a quick ride around the street to get used to the bike, we set off. Our first stop was the Glockenspiel Clock which was a wedding gift from the king at the time to his son. Every hour the bells chime and the figures at the front of it dance. It was also under repair so it didn’t make for the best photos. We rode through the busy streets, whilst cars patiently trailed; something that i severely doubt would occur in Melbourne.

We passed some sights that I had visited the day before with my American friend, but it was really good to get an explanation on what we were actually looking at. I had mistaken the palace for the theatre, see my previous post… I’m just a sucker for theatres i guess. We also visited the nudist park and that was where i learned of the local “Tripod” (self explanatory) and the other local, “Robocock” ( large amount of piercings he has… down there!) It was very amusing. We stopped for lunch at the worlds 2nd largest beer garden; it turns out that the one we visited on the pub crawl was the 3rd largest, and the tour guide lied to me! The beer garden could seat over 7500. 9000 when they needed it, but only in peak times; they simply removed the kids playground and put seats and tables there. There was a massive Chinese inspired tower that had previously burnt down three times. They now no longer allow the public access and instead it is used as a band stand. We sat there and drank beer and ate lunch. I had a half chicken and chips. It was very very good after all that exercise! There was a band in the band stand. They played general brass band songs and a Happy Birthday for a member of our bike group, which was lovely. After an hour or so we returned our glasses and received our 2 euro refund (so you are discouraged from stealing them) and we were on our way to see my favorite thing in Munich, the surfers wave; see my previous posts!

We then moved on to the old Nazi military command post, now an office complex, which still has reminders of its original use, in the form of the original window frames featuring soldiers hats and the eagle. We then rode along the river, and saw a number of historic buildings including the peace monument erected after WWI. Other stops included the dam that allows the flow of water for the English Garden, the only Protestant Church in Munich, and other buildings that just managed to survive the bombings of WWII that leveled 80% of the city. It was then finishing time, so we returned to where we had started and once again locked up our bikes to each other and tipped the guide. He was a funny man, a little strange, but friendly. I gave him the contents of my pocket, which ended up to be around 8 euro, a bargain as far as I’m concerned. The gang and I were exhausted, so we began the long walk back to the hostel, not willing to risk the S Bahn, where Adam had received a fine the day before of 40 euro, for purchasing the wrong ticket.

We got back to the Hostel and I decided to rest up before meeting back with the Canadians and Inger and Mary for dinner before the pub crawl. I showered and got a significant chunk of my new book (The Beach, minus Leonardo DiCaprio, Thank God!). We went to the local pizza place for dinner and shared two pizza’s between the four of us. We encountered a little bit of resistance from the waiter in the area of obtaining tap water, not bottled water with gas, not bottled water, but tap water. It took us three attempts, and he was suitably pissed off by the time we got what we wanted. We literally had to resort to imitating a tap and a glass being filled! We went to the meeting point and began our “Hour of Power!” It is a very amusing thing, 50 people sitting on the sidewalk drinking beer from plastic cups, smoking cigarettes and being chatted up by the local drunk Germans! We all finished our hour of power and headed off to the first beer garden. I had stopped drinking by that stage and because the guide had remembered me and given me a discounted ticket price, i was given the great job of strangler wrangler; ie, i had to get the slow pokes to get moving back with the group. It was both entertaining and annoying. We got there and I immediately took the opportunity to get some good food. I had chips and an onion based dish, it was very good! And yes nan, they probably will have to roll me onto the plane… the food is just soo good though! On the tour, there were a group of particular annoying Americans. They were loud, and made inappropriate comments, and were generally rude to the guide who was a great bloke. They had my disapproval already, and i really wanted them gone, but the fun was just beginning. As usual, Oli, our 19 year old English guide was showing everyone how to Prost properly and he needed a volunteer to do it with. He choose the most annoying of the three American guys. This guy got up and on first example didn’t look Oli in the eyes, condemning him to 7 years of bad sex… Oli had a plan, he made him do it again and look him in the eyes, the American did and as their glasses clinked, Oli strategically aimed for the dimple of the glass on the lower half and clinked his glass in a downwards direction. The effect, the whole glass except the handle side and part of the base fell away, sending glass and beer all over the Americans shoes. In all honesty it was the greatest moment ever. The shock and awe on everyones faces and the sheer pleasure on Oli’s face was the most classic moment i have ever witnessed. The whole group cracked up and Oli was cheered and congratulated. Many people got their photo with the American guy and his glass. Serves him right.

After the buzz died down, we hit the road and headed out to the Hoffbrau House. It was pretty much the same as the Thursday night, laid back and about 1/3 full of people enjoying a beer. It wasn’t my favorite place, but i was enjoying watching all the drunks, particularly a dear friend of mine, Inger… We left the garden after an hour and several 1 litre steins. We were heading along to the Hostel Youth, just two doors up from Wombats. We made it after a few stops to catch the stragglers once again and the group did their third shot of Jager for the night. This was my cue for bed, so Steph and I walked back. It was their last night in Munich and they went onto the Southern loop from here, so i said my goodbyes and we swapped emails and phone numbers. She headed back to the bar. They were lovely girls, Steph was a little crazy, but intoxicating-ly fun.

I went back to my room, only to find a full room of people chatting and listening to music. We all chatted for a few hours, then i got to bed, fearing my 10 hour bus trip the next day, the longest of the loop.

Onto Paris tomorrow, I leave Inger and Mary in Munich, they will catch up with me on my last night in Paris. Onto a 10 hour bus trip… Oh well, travelling has to have some down points.

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Much love
Geordie