I only learned a handful of German phrases before going to Munich. I was counting on my survival skills!
All my friends living in Munich told me to prepare for rainy cold weather. I was not discouraged at all. I made a plan for sunny days and a plan for rainy days. You will soon find out which plan I executed.
My host gave me detailed instructions how to take public transportation. I spent a lot of time by the ticket machine at the airport. That machine has an English option, so I wanted to understand how to use the machine next time in case it only reads German.
A man, who looked like a retired person volunteering at the airport, approached the ticket machine and offered help to buy tickets. He found out I already bought my ticket, then he showed me the directions towards the train station.
I walked out and I saw this giant Audi TT. I stood there and stared at it, thinking it was built for Goliath. The same man thought I was lost. He came back and told me to take the escalator down, which platform to go to, which S-Bahn train to take, and how long would I need to wait. I felt very welcomed by such German hospitality already.
I switched from S-Bahn suburban train to U-Bahn urban train or subway. That was easy. I just had to make sure I didn't fall asleep. As I got out to where I should take the bus, I took my time. Think about it, if I got on the wrong bus, it would be difficult to get back. So I would rather waste 10 mintues to take the next one than to rush on. I was double checking the instructions my host gave me. A man jumped down from this bus and said, "Can I help you?" I showed him the bus station I need to get off at. He said that was the right bus and took one of my suitcases. Wow, what a gentleman. He suspected I didn't cancel (validate) my ticket and told me to stamp it in the machine. Haha, I forgot to do that at all the S-Bahn and U-Bahn stations. In fact, he lives in the same complex as my host. I only let him haul my luggage for a short distance.
I got a very good impression of Munich already. Days later, I found out from my host that it is rather rare to have 3 men to come offer help within my first 3 hours in Germany. Oh, I must be a lucky gal!
I had to try authentic Bavarian food immediately. My friend took me to a proper Biergarten (Beer Garden). Honestly, despite UBC is famous for its Beer Gardens, those are nothing but drinking parties and I never went to any of them.
I never liked beer but I give thumbs up for German beer, especially when mixed with Sprite for a girly twist. Regular Size is 1L so I wouldn't dare a whole litre of beer.
Meat, Meat, Meat.... Meat & Brezen (Pretzels) are Bavarian specialties. We got pretzels with cream cheese made with camembert, a big white weiner, roast pork, sour cabbage. Gosh, fattening.. They all taste better than I expected. Sitting on benches in an outdoor garden was enjoyable, like a picnic, ho ho.
My 1st "real" Beer Garden!
It didn't matter where outside of Munich to go to. I just wanted to see the Bavarian countryside. My friend suggested me to visit 2 castles at Schwangau near Fussen, the highest town of Bavaria (808 m above sea level).
The 2 hour train ride to Fussen did not bore me at all. Beautiful landscape, blue sky, green land, historic train stations. Bavarian castles differ much from other castles I visited before.
Then I went to the convenience store to get some milk, juice, biscuits, the cashier said a bunch of stuff, I think he asked if I want a plastic bag or receipt. Apparently bag costs money as indicated by the girl at that store the night before. So I declined whatever he offered. Both cashiers only spoke to me in German. I'm not sure if that means I pronounced "Hello, Thank you, See you" very well. Hmm..
Don't ask me how I understood what they said.. Somehow I understood, haha.
Olympiaturm
(Olympic Tower)
I asked an elderly man to take a picture for me with the swans. He didn't know English. I didn't know German. Body language worked. But... there is no view-finder on my camera, and he kept putting the camera into his eyes and repeated "No anything!" (I think that's what he said..) In the end, I thanked him and asked another person to take this photograph. Laugh out loud.
Oops, all instructions was in German... Come on, as an engineer, understanding a machine should be my specialty, right?!
€1 perhaps was expensive. But as entertainment, it wasn't bad. I put in €1 coin and the machine started talking in German. I grabbed a cone from the left, opened the doors and placed in the slot. Da dum, soft ice-cream slowly came out. It was interesting.
Cute cute Isetta only has 3 wheels!
Interesting cylinders, where the headquarters is located
Although it would have been nice if the football teams I managed could play there, I wasn't there to watch any match.
I went for the Beer! As Freising is where monks invented beer in the Middle Ages.
You wouldn't believe beer was commercialized by the university students in Freising.
A beer festival in Freising is definitely something I couldn't miss, thanks to Marisa! And I had my salty pock hock.
I ordered 0.25 L tourist size but the waitress misunderstood and gave me 0.5 L. Hofbrau beer was good. The tour guide said Augustinebrau is better but I didn't end up trying.
Beer used to be served with stone mugs and people started stealing them. Nowadays, by invitation, prestigious people can have their own stone mugs locked up in Hofbrauhaus. I was lucky to see one guy washing his mug, preparing for a drink.
I did take a couple pictures inside the downtown Hofbrauhaus.
We were disappointed at first that we couldn't find a seat in the garden and had to sit under a tent.
Suddenly, it rained like cats and dogs. People ran away crazily only grabbing their beer mugs. Many people came hide in our tent. They ended up watching us eat and drank with us. It was quite funny.
Was the lion drunk? Or was I?
In Munich, Lion is the city's symbol and I found lions outside many merchants' stores, in plazas, even in Olympic Park.
I was waiting on the U-Bahn platform at Marienplatz. A lady approached me, showed me her train ticket and asked me questions in German. From her ticket, I could see it's a zone 5 - 16 day ticket. She mentioned Marienplatz. I could guess she was asking me if her ticket would be valid in downtown (zone 1). But I didn't know how to respond to her! So this interesting conversation continues,
"Spreken Sie Englisch?" (Do you speak English?)
"Yes. I bought a zone 5 - 16 partner ticket. Can I use it here?"
"I think No. This is zone 1. Wait.." Meanwhile, I took out a little brochure.
She read it carefully, "It does not say..."
"I don't know. I think you can't."
"Oh, are you a tourist in Munchen too?"
I nodded my head, "Information is upstairs. You can go ask."
"Thank you." She yelled out some German phrases calling her family to join her to go upstairs.
Honestly, I have no idea what made me this lady think that I am a local resident. Perhaps I indeed feel like at home thanks to the warm hospitality of my German friends.
My Day 5 plan was not dependent on weather in fact. All I wanted was the Deutsche Museum.
If you think it means German Museum.. heehee.. it's actually Museum of Science and Technology. No Engineer should go to Munich without visiting! Just kidding.
It would take days to look through all exhibits. I focused on engines, aerospace, bridges, glassware, printing, clothing, environment, Altamira Cave replica.
The museum is along the beautiful river Isar. It's so calm that I bet it is perfect for rowing.
The museum also has a good view of downtown. I was blessed with good weather to enjoy such a view.
Mazda Type 13B Rotary Engine
I used to puzzle when driving my brother's RX-7, how the engine can be so smooth all the way when accelerating and sensitive to the throttle. Reading all the rotary engine theory in this museum enlightened me. German engineers made a marvelous innovation and Japanese commercialized it.
Honestly, I expected to see German fighters. Instead, I only found an American fighter with German label. Aw...
Aerospace exhibits impressed me too. I saw Russian, American space suits and underwear using fine tubes running water as coolant.
Regensburg Eve
To the left is the original statue model. To the right is the statue carved in 12th century but got heavily corroded by acid rain in 19th and 20th centuries.
Regensburg is not an industrial town. It's located in the rural area along river Danube. The acid rain came from other European countries.
Who says acid rain is not terrible? Can you imagine what it could do to your skin if a stone gets corroded like this?
Altamira Cave
In Spain, there is this cave with rich colored paintings. It is now closed as humans visitors change the carbon dioxide content, temperature in the cave.
The most densely painted section of the cave is duplicated in Deutsche Museum. The ceiling bumps are also duplicated, very realistic
The bulls, horses are so vivid. I spent a lot of time lifting my head to look. Ouch, my neck felt stiff but I couldn't help looking longer.
Mozart Croissant filled with chocolate and mazipan, yummy~
I found out on this last day that if I didn't take Marisa's offer, I would be in big trouble.. As Pope Benedict XVI was arriving on Saturday afternoon, major streets including the street where I usually wait for bus will be closed since 5 am. U-Bahns will not run in downtown. That means I couldn't take public transportation to the airport!
4th beer in 5 nights. Another 1L mixed with Sprite. You can tell how drunk I was getting from the redness on my face.
Sweet Marisa gave me a ginger bread "Alles Gute" meaning "All the Best"! Danke, Marisa!
The cigarette and cigar smoke inside the tent was suffocating. So we went out to get some fresh air. I was talking loudly as I always do when I get drunk. Marisa's husband said, "Better be quiet now. Otherwise the police will think we are drunk and take us home." Laugh out loud! (Some extra photographs of Moosburg)
We went back inside to enjoy the Bavarian music when I became more sober. A man came to me and spoke German, haha. I think he was asking me if I am having fun and enjoying the festival. Anyhow, I repeated 3 times asking if he speaks English. He does, asked me if I am happy there, and still spoke some more German. I asked Marisa what he said, she shook her head. Probably he was speaking Bavarian. I dunno why Europeans keep thinking I am European. haha.
Then I took photographs of the people. This guy waived me over and asked me to take a portrait of him. I bet he is not camera shy, haha.
Thanks to my German friends, I had a wonderful time in Munich. Even I stayed there for almost a week, there are still lots of places I haven't been to. Bavarians are all friendly to me!