Day 16-17: By the time we arrived in Munich, I was starting to realize some things about this trip — the biggest one being about our travel style. I’ve always held visiting as many countries as possible as one of my lifetime goals. And I struggle with a feeling that if I’m living in Europe and not traveling, then I’m wasting my experience. But I was quickly discovering that the big cities were not as exciting for me. Part of it was tourists and crowds, part was exploring alone, and part was that I realized that I was rushing through to “collect them all.” It’s really made me look at the other places I want to visit and see if there’s really something I want to see there, or is it just another check mark.
Huge Beers at the Hofbrau Haus
In Munich, I didn’t really do the touristy things. The first day, I wandered around the downtown shopping area. Did you know they sell Lederhosen right there along with jeans and dress shirts? Crazy! I found a cute watch in a department store, and some used English books in an Oxfam shop. I spent probably an hour looking through a toy store – the toys were all so creative, thought-producing, and well made. There were shelves of Ostheimer wooden figurines, all kinds of construction and block building kits, boardgames I wish I could have bought, puzzles, dress up clothes, etc. I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t see tons of plastic crap or toys based off of TV shows. In the afternoon, I ate lunch on the side of a fountain and people watched. And then, I found an outdoor cafe to sip a cappuccino and read one of my new books. It was a great day! The second day, I toured the Deutsches Museum, the German equivalent to the Smithsonian.
Quiet Beirgarten at the Augustiner
Both nights that we were in town, Thomas’ coworkers took us to famous breweries for dinner. The first night, we went to the Hofbrau Haus, originally the Royal Brewery and now open to the public. It has been around since the 1600s and was one of the places where Hitler started holding Nazi party events. The waitresses wore bar maid outfits and a band played traditional Bavarian music. It was really loud and packed with tourists, but we had a great time. The food was delicious – pork knuckles and potato dumplings – and the drinks were huge. I tried my first radler (beer + lemonade) there. The second night, we went to the Augustiner which dates back to the 1200s. This place was much quieter and had a lovely beer garden outside.
I’ve finished editing the photos from the Prague leg of the trip and have posted them on Flickr:
- EuroTrip: Prague (62 photos)
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Over here, the Radler is a mixture of beer, usually a Pilsner, and Lemon soda. I think it only enjoys the popularity it has due to the low drinking age in Germany.
Dallas,
I know what you mean about the “goals” of tourism.
I also feel like the smaller towns are where I want to spend my time. I do the big towns to just check them off, to say, been there, done that, but spend time in the smaller towns to get to know the place.
Also, you are seeing a TON of Europe! There are a lot of people who never get beyond 100 square kilometers from their home in their lives so give yourself a break!
And yep, Shandies or radlers are delicious.
Have a brewski for us.
L
Dallas,
I completely agree about your checklist…I feel trapped by it sometimes, but you’ve seen some amazing terrain lately with the motorcycle trip!
Holy crap, Dallas, you coulda hid behind that beer! What is that, a liter of a local Helles? (was that picture taken in Munich?)
Wish I coulda been there to turn one over with y’all…
I loved Munich when I was there. We spent a whole day at the Deutsches Museum and didn’t even see half of it. And I’m not much of a beer drinker, but I had two of those monstrosities at the Hofbrau Haus.
I used to think I needed to “live it up” while I lived in Europe…then I realized I’ll be here for like, 2-3 more years at least so I’m not too hurried anymore. But yes, I often enjoy the smaller places so far. When I was in Ireland for two weeks I was much happier in Carlow than I was in Dublin.
I finally learnt to accept a while back that I couldn’t possible see “everything” when I was travelling, so I made a conscious decision to stop rushing and checking things off lists and just enjoy to the fullest the place and things I did have time to visit! If I get the chance to go back there will always be more to discover… keeps life interesting! ;o)
.-= Cristina´s last blog ..Wandering in Westminster (London Day 3) =-.
Dallas: I will admit to being a frenetic in our traveling as we are here for so short a time (3 more months and counting) – but I find the pace is getting exhausting and your point of taking it a bit easier is well taken. There will always be wonderful places to see and people to meet and cultures to take in…and we will do what we can and give ourselves time to really experience what we have around us – I am horrid about the ‘check list’ – time to give that up – thanks for the inspiration! I’m ready to buy a motorcycle ;o)
I think you could have gotten a bigger beer than that :)
I’m envisioning drinking something to that effect as soon as I push this baby outta me!
.-= Sabrina ´s last blog ..TGIF =-.
I think it’s cool that you’re collecting check marks and I’m hoping you are enjoying your visits. :) Those beers are so huge I’m surprised you could lift them!
.-= Lisa’s Chaos´s last blog ..Pretty Poppies =-.