1st Destination: Munich, Germany

 This post is a re-cap of memories created on a European trip that began November 25 and concluded on December 6, 2011. 

Salzburg, Austria- Just me kickin' back 

       As a senior undergraduate student, this trip will forever be one of my fondest memories from my time at Ohio University... Through this blog I hope to encourage other people to "catch the bug" and pursue global studies not just as a major at a university- but as a lifestyle that has the potential to open countless doors to adventures, create the opportunity to form new relationships, and demands the commitment to life-long learning and exploration. 

Hope you enjoy, 

                  LK

Our wonderful group at Columbus Intl. en route to Munich

     Upon an early arrival into Munich on November 26, the group and I were excited to spend our first entire day in Europe.

The previous day, "Black Friday" which is considered as almost a religious holiday by some Americans, we  spent scurrying through airports into the wee hours of the morning, while most back at home were traveling to the nearest department store to snatch the "must have" items of the holiday season. So even though none of us were rushing from store to store, we still were up all night making moves, and looking forward to the treat of Munich the morning. 

Munich, Germany- Entrance to Christmas Markets

Around 9am our group arrived to our first home away from home Hotel Vi Vadi, which was located just a few minutes walk outside of Marienplatz. Since we arrived so early, we were too early for our check in, so we dropped our luggage off inside the hotel and "killed time" by walking to Marienplatz and meandering through Christkindlesmarkt (Christmas Markets). 

Gingerbread and confection stand

In most parts of Europe, the Christmas season means the invasion of the famous Christmas Markets in all of the cities. Think of the markets as a series of lavishly decorated stands at your county fair in your home town. But instead of buying funnel cakes and checking out the award winning cows and pigs, we enjoyed warm mugs of mulled wine (Glühwein), admired the ice skaters on the rink and the humongous natural Christmas tree.  in addition to the all of the activities, each stand we passed is enticed us with handmade gifts, roasted chestnuts, chocolate covered fruit, beautifully decorated gingerbread, marzipan and the list goes on and on.

Brian, Victor, Dan and I enjoying our first mug of Glühwein

Bustling Christmas Markets in front of the Rathaus & Glockenspiel 

After a glass of Glühwein, and a lap or two around the center of Marienplatz our group anticipated the daily performance of the Glockenspiel that takes place at 11am and lasts for what seems to be 10 or 15 minutes. 

Rathaus in Marienplatz

                                  

Side note: Our tour guide in Prague told us a story about the Orloj, the famous medieval astronomical clock in the city square of the Old City... Kate told us that even though the clock was built in 1410, and was extremely advanced for it's time, its hourly show of the "Walk of Apostoles" has recently failed to wow crowds that come to visit, so the city council of Prague decided to add a trumpet fanfare to the performance to add crowd appeal. 

- I find it so amusing that our society has become accustomed to excitement and elaborate performances that historical pieces of art are being altered to cater our need for pleasure. For Pete's sake the clock before the fanfare was already more advanced than most technology today... but pish-posh. 

The Ratskeller, located behind the Rathaus

So back to the Glockenspiel, hundreds of people gathered in front of the Rathaus (City Hall) to witness the life-size figurines re-enacting the wedding of Duke Wilhelm V and depicts a jousting tournament. As the bells continued to slowly ring their traditional song, I could tell the crowd was waiting for an encore, or atleast a firework display at the end, neither of which occurred... But I still enjoyed waiting to see the Glockenspiel do it's thing for a second time. We spent the next few hours unwinding and falling asleep over a fabulous lunch at the Ratskeller, located inside the Rathaus... we all fought to keep our eyes open as we enjoyed our first Bavarian Brats and wheat beer.

Later that evening, after taking a quick nap, and getting cleaned up, we all met for dinner at Augustiner Keller and once again filled up on brats, Augustiner beer, schnitzel, and dumplings. 

"Prosting" and anticipating our Schnitzel, Münchener Weißwurst, at Augustiner Keller 

Now let's talk about the stuff that happened after dinner... which was possibly one of my finest moments on the trip and also one of the funniest experiences. 

Our first of two nights at the Hofbräuhaus.

So, let's just say that my German came in handy here... 

The Hofbräuhaus is the kind of place you can't really just go into as a tourist and hope that you'll have a good time. You need to be aggressive to find a place to sit, and you have to talk to the people around you to steal the table before someone else does. 

It's loud, busy and filled with all walks of life. This is where our good friend Max and the Swiss- guy come in. Behind the band stage I spot the most stereotypical Bavarian man decked out from head-to-toe in his best pair of Lederhosen, complete with shirt, hat and socks, sitting next to a smaller, laughing bearded man, their table was mostly vacant... so naturally I played the reel in my head and just saw our group having a fabulous time with these two jolly men.

Swissman and Der Max von Bayern

Lucky for us, we got to experience the Hofbräuhaus how it is supposed to be... Beer swishing out of swinging mugs, oh's and awe's being exchanged between the boys as the pretzel girls passed by, clapping and singing along with the band, and a constant roar of laughter from the mixed company. While my 6 fellow students got acquainted with the Hofbräuhaus brews, and were entertained by our swiss friend (whose English was immpecable)  I took the opportunity/challenge to spark up a conversation with "Der Max von Bayern!"

Through his thick Bavarian accent I was eventually able to hold a decent conversation with him about the current economic situation in Europe.

Der Max, in his drunken state managed to stress his opinion that "the man who works hard, should be able to keep his money". He explained to me that he feels that other nations similar to Germany do not really have much in common with the countries that are causing the problems therefore, he would be happy to see Germany act independently.

Der Max and I in serious conversation

Being diplomatic, I smiled, nodded and kept the conversation light by initiating "Prost's!" as re-fills arrived. This was not the place, nor the time to get into heavy political debate. 

But apparently throughout our conversation Der Max developed a liking towards me, I'd like to think of it more as a harmless admiration for a brave American who plopped down next to an older bavarian man to "shoot the shit" with him... From the pictures it is not hard to envision this guy being the most teddy-bear like creature in the world... A thumb-sucking teddy-bear. Yes, that is right. During our conversation, I turned my head for one second and Der Max decided to suck on my thumb. 

Aside from being briefly disgusted by this action, I looked at his face turning red with laughter and just laughed with him... It was a risky move to remain seated next to him, but I blamed it on the booze. Besides, I was surrounded by 6 guys-- they did a good job protecting me.

And the lighter side to our conversation

 In between the political discussion and thumb-sucking, I learned that our Swiss friend had brought along a friend who was an ultimate fighter of some sort, and the longer I conversed with Der Max- the more and more "friendly" arm-wrestling between my friends and the ultimate fighter began to look like a broken arm waiting to happen...This is the point that I realized that maybe my friends were good at protecting me, but not so good at protecting themselves against this guy... It was time to bounce.

After finishing our last drinks, we thanked our new friends for them welcoming us to their tables as "The Americans" exchanged e-mails, gave the fighter a high-five for proving to us that he was stronger than all of us combine, and then we walked away. 

When I looked back as we were leaving, Der Max looked so sad to see us go- it really made me feel bad. Saying goodbye to the friends I have made on trips is probably one of the hardest things I have dealt with when traveling. 

The experience of saying goodbye just reminds me to soak in everything, and enjoy every minute with people because you never know if you will see them again, and for my sake, that means letting a Bavarian suck on your finger for a second- and not cause a huge scene... Because overall, I think my friends would agree with me, we had a hell of a time that night raising our glasses and toasting to the beginning of an awesome European trip.

Sunday, November 27

An inside view of St. Michael's in between services

       Being the first Sunday of the Advent season, I was thrilled to be able to attend mass at St. Michael's catholic Church, located just a few blocks before Marienplatz. One of my favorite things about being in Europe is being able to visit the amazing cathedrals. These establishments offer such a value opportunity to experience history. From the architecture, the statues, the art work inside, the music, and the age of them in general are mind boggling. St. Michael's,  a church established by the Jesuits  round 1580 is an impressive sight from the outside, and even more so as you enter the front doors. The outside facade is home to 15 statues each representing kings of Bavaria protecting the central standing statue of the archangel, Michael.

At night this was so beautifully illuminated by the warm glow of lights from the Chirstmas market stands in the streets below.















That evening I introduced some of the guys to a little dining experience called "Running Sushi", (Something I think may be fairly unfamiliar to Americans, I have only seen them in Europe.) So anyways here's the deal. You pay a flat rate for all you can eat Sushi and a drink, and the tables are situated around a conveyor belt, in which tiny plates with all different kinds of sushi. So if something appealing passes you, you grab it, try it... and before you know it, your stacking up 20+ plates... that is if you're a sushi-lover, of course! It's just a blast.










On way back to our hotels, contently satisfied with sushi tummies, we stopped an ice skating ring, sipped warm Glühwein, and marveled at the skaters from the overlooking balcony... thought about renting some skates before we realized the last session was just ending, and we had fun laughing and waving to the Zamboni-man down below.

In addition to all the fabulous sight-seeing in Munich. Dr. Vedder arranged a conference for us to meet Mr. Michael Jäger, the General Secretary for the Tax Payer's Union in Bavaria.

The following link is a clip of Mr. Jäger making a statement (in German) on why he is against Bavarian citizens having to pay an additional tax to the EU starting in 2014.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15L2kloUW7k

At our conference, Mr. Jäger treated us to a wonderful brunch as we discussed (this time in English) the EU's biggest financial problems. He offered a simple suggestion to solving the economic problem that the EU member countries are currently facing. Mr. Jäer stated that the EU is a very effective and well ordered legal entity and solving the economic problem just requires each member following the rules correctly. What a novel idea!

Tax Payer's Union Sign: updates on financial deficit in Bavaria 

Conference Room at the Tax Payer's Union in Bavaria

It seems though that this is easier said than done, as he went on further to explain that bailing out the financially struggling countries in the EU is more than a question of being responsible for one's country... the situation now has become a question of ethics. How does one strong country let the others fail. What sort of example is that to the rest of the world's nations. Mr. Jäger intrigued our group by turning our discussion on the current economic crisis in the EU into a stimulating conversation on technology's effects on the worlds youth today. He was definitely a cool guy. I am lucky to have met him!