Munich, Germany

Munich, Germany…interesting place to say the least. We wanted to make sure we stopped in Germany on this trip because both Marshall’s and my grandmother were from Germany so we are both a quarter German. Munich was the closest major city from Innsbruck, Austria so we decided to make that our Germany stop before heading to Portugal/Spain for the next few weeks. The two and a half hour train ride from Innsbruck to Munich was great since we scored another room with 6 seats and no one assigned to them. We put all the seats in recline mode and made a big pad for Tyson to play on again while watching as we passed the little towns and countryside.

Once we got to Munich we only needed to walk about two blocks to our hotel which also happens to be super close to the center of town. We dropped our bags in our room, strapped Tyson in the stroller, and headed to the main strip in search for food. We skipped the train food this time so we were starving by the time we got to the main street. We stopped at the first place we saw, an Asian restaurant, and ordered some noodles for us all to share. After we ordered, a guy in the restaurant who was also waiting for his food struck up a conversation with us. Turns out he just sold his business in Australia and had been traveling Europe with his wife and toddler son for the last 5 months, planning for a total of 6 before they moved to New Zealand to a new home they recently bought. We asked him to join us for lunch and we chatted all about each other’s adventures, well as much as you can with two toddlers meeting each other for the first time and showing off their walking/running skills. We took turns running after the kids as they snuck far enough away from our table. While chatting with them we mentioned that we’re planning to spend our last month of our 6 month trip in New Zealand and they didn’t hesitate to invite us to their house to hang out while we’re there!! I’ve got to say that traveling is one of the greatest experiences you can do simply because you meet such amazing and generous people from all around the world in the most random places (in this case a dive Asian restaurant in the center of Munich!). We’re really excited to meet up with them because Tyson got along with their son very well.  I’m sure Tyson would love another play date with a kid his age who ‘speaks his language’ and we look forward to talking with more likeminded folks about their world travel and local recommendations!!

The next morning we decided to join a free two hour walking tour of Munich. We started at the Glockenspiel (think tower, clock, and funny looking figures going around in circles to music) and walked through the markets learning about the food/beer culture in Germany then stopped at the Hofbrauhaus which is the huge beer hall where the big Oktoberfest event is held. We were impressed by the history of this spot and our curiosity got the best of us so we decided to depart from the tour so that we could eat lunch there. The atmosphere was exactly what you’d expect from Bavaria. There was a local band playing live Bavarian music and many locals showed up in their traditional dresses and lederhosen. It reminded us of King Ludwigs in Leavenworth, for those Washingtonians. Very cool place with great music and a vibrant atmosphere. There are a ton of tables at this place, some of which date back hundreds of years. There are large ‘name plates’, for lack of a better word, over some of the tables that lay claim to the table for regular patrons. Every week, at a certain time on a certain day, these locals will come and sit at the same table and enjoy a meal (read: a lot of beer) with each other. We got to see some of them dressed in their traditional outfits with (awesome) hats drinking and singing along to the music. Granted it was 99% tourists, but it was a very cool ‘cultural experience’. Marshall really enjoyed their beer and ‘original sausage platter with a bed of sourkraut’ and I had potato dumplings with gravy and mixed veggies…Tyson shared both, but loved his massive pretzel more than anything. After lunch we walked to the main shopping area to people watch again. There happened to be a free rap concert being held next to a water fountain. Even though we had no idea what they were saying (besides the occasional ‘scheisse’), we still had fun jamming out for a bit.

Marshall needed a haircut, so we walked towards our hotel and found a salon next to a jungle gym/park area close to our hotel. Tyson enjoyed playing with the local kids and splashing around in the water area. When Marshall got back he hopped on a swing and was going to show Tyson how to jump off and fly through the air. Tyson got excited and started running towards him so Marshall had to get off quicker than he expected and ended up (somehow) falling off in his backswing and landing about 10 feet behind the swing set. No idea how he did that, but it was epic and he didn’t hurt himself. All in good fun.

We were lucky to be walking around Munich City Center on a weekend in May. There were a ton of bachelor/bachelorette parties going on that night and apparently it is tradition to walk around the strip and make a ruckus—starting at noon! We saw at least a dozen groups passing through the main street. Each party had their own theme and every person in the group dressed the same (even the guys!) We saw a group of Elvis’s, guys dressed like women, girls carrying around a ginormous [you know what], etc. Each bachelor/bachelorette carried a box with various items (single shots, beers, glow sticks, who knows what else) that they’d either sell or trade with other bachelor/bachelorettes as they passed each other walking. I saw a guy wearing a pink dress and braids so I tried to sneak a picture of him as he passed. He caught me snapping the picture and (nicely) said that I had to buy Tyson a glow in the dark bracelet for 2 Euro. I was happy to support his bachelor night, so of course I bought it and it actually entertained Tyson for the next hour or so as he learned how to snap it open and closed and slip it on and off his wrist.

Quick side note for the youngsters: Munich is definitely a hip area for young people! It’s a place to check out for a trip with friends or a semester/year abroad. Though, same goes for a lot of the places we’ve been too. Marshall and I are constantly saying we wish we’d known to travel at a younger age to enjoy these places from a different perspective. Ideally, we could all enjoy all of these places at each phase of our lives…oh, the stories that could be told…

The next morning we took the train to the English Garden slightly out of the city center area. It’s a huge garden/park, kind of like Central Park in New York. Tyson enjoyed chasing around all the birds and picking up big sticks and the occasional flower. Around noon we stumbled upon the ‘Chinese Tower’ in the middle of the park that happened to have a beer garden next to it. We stopped there for a traditional Bavarian lunch and then headed back to the hotel to pack up our stuff in time to get on the train and head to the airport. We enjoyed our 3 days in Munich, but are ready to head to Portugal to enjoy a different culture and slow our roll a bit. We’ve done the tourist ‘thing’ for the last month and are ready to slow down and stay in the same area for a while.

Now, we look forward to a 2.5 hour flight to Madrid for an hour layover and then another hour flight to Lisbon, Portugal. Expected arrival time is 1AM local time. Tyson doesn’t have his own seat assigned, so if the flights are full he will be on our laps the entire time and his typical bed time has been 6:30pm. Wish us luck!!!