July 12-15: Munich
Jacqueline and I arrived to Munich after almost a four-hour train from Heilbronn. We checked into our hostel, The 4You Hostel, which was about a block and a half away from the central train station. After we put down our bags, we headed back to the station and caught a train to Furstenfeldbruck, which is where Jacqueline’s relatives live. This is also the city that Jacqueline stayed in when she first arrived in Germany for her internship last summer. Her three cousins, who are a bit older, helped her move in to her dorm in Munich. This is also where her bank is, the bank she deposited her earnings from last summer. After we stopped by the bank, we walked over to the practice of her Aunt, who is a doctor. After a short wait, we were able to exchange greetings and I was able to get my allergy shot, right on time. This worked out quite perfectly, as once I was administered my shot, one of Jacqueline’s cousins happened to be in the office finishing up some paperwork for her Mom. Her cousin took us with her back to their house, after stopping by the market, and we met up with Christy and Maxy who were also excited to BBQ. Christy took us for a short walk to a nearby lake, where we took a dip to cool off before dinner. While we took a dip, many a mosquitoes took a bite and by the time we returned to the house, Jacqueline and I were covered in bites.
When we returned, the other girl cousin (I forget her name) and Maxy had started preparing for dinner, by making two kinds of salad and heating up the BBQ. We spent the evening chatting away and enjoying good food, also. This was great, because it is one thing to be traveling and sleeping in hostels and eating out all the time – it is a whole nother thing to experience the real life of people who live in these cities, or small towns in this case. Jacqueline and I caught the last train home just before midnight, and had a great night’s sleep in our new hostel.
The next morning, after breakfast at our hostel, Jacqueline and I went to the German History Museum, which really was a German Technology Museum, which needless to say Jacqueline thoroughly enjoyed, as they had many science-y things for her Chemical Engineered mind. I was happy to move on from the museum, and afterwards go walk through the English Gardens.
We visited four different beer gartens, including the Hofbrauhaus (the second largest and most popular beer garden). They are famous for their “mass bier” (“massive”/large beer) and yummy food!
The next day, in order to see the sights of Munich, we decided to go on Mike’s Bike Tour, which lasted about four hours in the afternoon. We biked around and saw many town squares and sights. We went again, to the Chinese Biergarten for lunch with the tour, and also to the Isator, which is the stream/lake that flows through the English Garden. Although the water is usually pretty cold (it is nicknamed the “Ice bath”), because it was in the 90’s we jumped right in, happy for the chance to cool off. Luckily, we wore our bathing suits. However, it would have not been a problem if we didn’t, as many Germans and tourists alike will go in their undergarments. You can also find many 70+ year-old German men in the nude (quite exciting).
After the Bike tour in the afternoon, Jacqueline and I took about a ten-minute metro ride to the stop she lived at when she was in Munich last summer. Here, we got out and made the 15 minute walk to her dorm. The main door was unlocked, and she was able to show me around the area she lived. We also ran into two of the girls she was friends with when she was there! After I got a tour of the dorm, we walked another 10 minutes or so to visit her favorite ice cream place, the “best in Munich,” called “Sarelletti.” Indeed, it was delicious, especially in the hot weather. This night we did a “free” pub-crawl, from a flyer I found at our hostel. As it turns out, it wasn’t the most exciting of pub-crawls, and it was, sneakily enough, arranged by the man who owned the bar that everyone is to meet at. Therefore, everyone buys drinks while waiting for people to show up, therefore, giving the bar owner lots of business for the night. Jacqueline and I still had a fun time, of course. Our train the next morning brought us back to Heilbronn, safe & sound.
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