Diary: First Day in Munich
Trip Start
Jan 06, 2006
1
48
120
Trip End
Sep 02, 2008
München,
Germany
Tuesday, October 3, 2006
10:01 My bag is the very first off the baggage carousel. The "fragile" tag did its job. The glass I packed didn't break.
10:02 My cousine meets me at the airport.
10:30 We make it to our first beergarden and have weißwurst for breakfast. I find out that today is a holiday in Germany. Apparently Germans are celebrating "German Unity Day" but there is no evidence of this that I can see. I hear that East Germans are waving the old German flag to protest this "German Unity" and they're calling for a return to the "good old days" of Communist East Germany when everyone had a job. But today no one works.
10:31 I comment that the Germans really don't seem to celebrate their national holiday very well. My cousine breaks the good news that "German Unity Day" also means that Oktoberfest has been extended by two days, until the end of "German Unity Day." I withdraw my comment.
11:00 We go for a walk. My improved eyesight (thanks to my laser surgery in June) lets me enjoy the sights of Munich more. Its famous city hall is more beautiful than I've ever seen it. So are the magnificent churches.
11:15 We enter the English Garden and walk through a field where nudity is widely practiced. I see a downside to my laser surgery.
13:00 We go for refreshments at a Konditorei (cafe) on the "Münchener Freiheit." We discussed what this (Munich Freedom) could mean. A cup of espresso helps to fight the jet-lag but doesn't clarify the the name any.
14:00 We make it to Oktoberfest. I forgot my new camera at my cousine's house.
14:20 We finally find a place to sit in the Hacker-Pschorr Zelt (a beer tent). Our table is shared with by some very young beer drinkers. None of the boys have any facial hair and when the girls sing along with the music, they sound like they are in the children's choir. They tell us that they are seventeen.
14:25 I buy a "Maß" of beer (1 Litre).
14:27 A different waitress from the one who sold me the beer gives me heck for buying from someone else and tells me to go and find another section. I ignore her. She then tells the others at my table to drink up so she can sell them some more. They ignore her too.
14:30 The band comes on and leads eight thousand of us in the "Proust" (cheers) song. Then we join them for hits like The Rolling Stone's "Satisfaction" and Bryan Adams' "Sumer of '69." All the Germans know the words. We also sing "Über den Wolken" (above the clouds) which may be how most of us feel. We dance on the benches for a long time.
17:00 Christoph joins us at our table. He is welcome to squeeze in after he pointed out to me that I am spilling my beer all over myself while I am dancing. Some beer somehow got on my jacket and I am glad that I didn't bring my camera because its normal pocket is a bit drunk. "Münchener Freiheit" comes up again and this time we think we are able to understand it better.
18:00 The beer tent is completely full and the authorities have closed the entrances so it doesn't get any more full. This means that all the cigarette smoke stays in the tent and it's also getting quite hot inside. The dinner menu is torn up to make fans for five people.
19:10 The little bit of beer that I have left smells like cigarettes and it is undrinkable. That's okay because it's time to go. We have to pick up my cousine's dad from the airport at eight.
19:15 We eventually elbow our way out to see the crowd of people waiting to get in and also discover that it's raining pretty fiercely outside.
19:25 We are completely soaked by the time we get on the S-bahn (street car).
19:40 At my cousine's place we change our clothes and put the in the washing machine. It's really not that bad though. After five hours in a smoky, stinky, beery building, they smell pretty strong.
20:00 We make it to the airport. My cousine's dad's plane hasn't arrived yet.
20:10 The notice board tells us that his plane is "descending."
20:40 The notice board is still telling us that his plane is "descending." I wonder how far down these planes have to go.
21:00 Everyone has arrived safe, sound, and annoyed with the Munich airport's air traffic controllers who had at least one plane fly circles around the airport for half an hour.
22:00 Back at my cousine's place, it's just about bed time. It's 2 pm back in Edmonton the day after I last woke up. We go over some photos and I catch up with my cousine's sister (also my cousine). "Münchener Freiheit" comes up again but we don't understand it as well as we thought it did a few hours ago.
22:30 Finally the lights go out and I fall asleep on the couch. I sleep like a baby. Oh how I love Germany!
*Thanks for putting up with my timeline. Travelpod specficially discourages this sort of travelog but I think it works pretty well for this entry. I'm enjoying the freedom of travelling without a watch, so of course this timeline is just about entirely made up. Some of this stuff probably happened though.
