Quick Post: Munich

I got to Munich on Friday after a few days in Prague. Prague was very beautiful but out of all the places I have been, I had the hardest time with the language barrier there. Shoot, when I left Prague I just kind of listened for certain words in the crowd standing under the train board. The departure board never actually displayed what dock that the train would be arriving on. The ladies in the information booth were pretty unhelpful as well. I ended up following this older couple. On the train I rode next to Peter who was also 25 and grew up in the Czech Republic. We talked the entire train ride because he wanted to practice his English with me. After a four hour train ride to Nuremberg from Prague, I successfully made my first less than 5 minute train switch to Munich later. I was so damn proud of myself for reading the departure board and navigating the train station. I did not have much room for error!

Anyway, my friend Moritz (Paul) who was a foreign exchange student with me back in high school lives in Munich so he met me at the train station when I came in on Friday. For those of you who know him as well, he is exactly the same. Not changed a bit! We hit up a jazz club, drank a few beers and then met some of his friends out at a dance club. We pretty much watched the sun come up as we were walking home.


On Saturday we took a bus tour of Munich, walked around the city, grabbed some food from the market and then went to the English Gardens. The gardens had quite the eclectic crowd. Between all the naked people, African drum circles, people playing football and the guys and girls surfing the "wave" in the river that flows through. We chilled out for a few hours there just chatting about the old band days. Then we walked over to the world famous Hofbräuhaus and had an authentic German meal and drank a few more beers. I think I've tried about 11 different types of beer just this past weekend in Munich!


Before I forget, there is this pretty good cola drink called Mezzo Mix. The first time I saw it was at the train station in Germany so I don't know if it is sold anywhere else. It is cola mixed with a bit of orange flavor. Pretty tasty!! I also tried the carbonated water and absolutely hate it. If I need to quench my thirst, I'll just stick to something else.

Well, we are off to get some breakfast. Yesterday for breakfast we had these stuffed croissants. Today we are going to get some sausage.

I'm off to Switzerland tonight. The only thing keeping me from the Alps is three measly train switches. I can't wait to spend my birthday in the middle of the Swiss Alps tomorrow.

Later!
http://blog.ryanbirk.com