Germany Day 4, Munich

We flew into Munich (which Bavarians call Munchen [moonch-in]) airport which reminded me of an Apple store. Everything was white and brightly lit and there were advertisements everywhere. My favorite was a two story BMW grille and headlights that stared at us while we claimed out luggage. BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Maybachs are all produced in or just outside Munich so you can only imagine the kind of cars we see around town. All the taxis are Mercedes and we overheard one driver saying he had 700,000 miles on his and plans to drive it until it hits a million miles. Think we could find an American made car that could do that?

[from the plane]

[Munich is in Bavaria, and the Bavarian countryside is stunning. More of that on Day 5...]

[Munich airport potty. i just love the shape of the women's dresses over here!]

[BMW headquarters are here]

[this was just a cool advertisement in the airport]

Driving to our hotel we got a mini tour that took us by the rodeo drive of Germany which was full of the designer shops we know in America. We came to our hotel which was next to the major train station in Munich, the end of all the train lines. I was surprised at how completely different this city felt compared to Berlin. I guess the best way to describe it is San Francisco compared to Oakland, Munich being more like Oakland. Our hotel, while absolutely beautiful, is not in the best area of town. There is a large Italian influence here and we are kind of in the Italian “ghetto.” I did not feel safe leaving the hotel at night.

[took this one from the bus!]

[the restaurant affiliated with the biergarten we went to that evening. this was in Marian Platz]

[more from walking around in Marian Platz, everything was closed on Sunday]

We are staying at the Sofitel Munich which doesn’t lack design ingenuity, but lacks a huge amount or practicality. The bathroom is all made of frosted glass doors that slide all over the place and don’t provide any privacy. The beds have only a duvet on them for covers and they have a limit to how cold the rooms can get, which isn’t as cold as we are used to back home. One colleague told us she called the front desk to ask if she could turn the temp down and she was told it was “colder than you think.” Sheesh! It is a LOT hotter here than anticipated and we have been sweating through our clothes, literally! Shorts and a tank top would be the proper attire and I didn’t bring either, so it has been a lot of heat toleration! The hotel is so secure that I found myself unable to get to my room on multiple occasions. We have a key that is plain white-no branding on it whatsoever. The key has a microchip in it which is programmed with all of our information. When we get into the elevator, we have to hold our card in front of the sensor and it automatically selects the floor we need. The problem here was that you couldn’t use the elevator without a card. If you took the stairs to get some exercise, the card wouldn’t work in the room because according to the elevator, you are not in the hotel. Once we got into the room, the ticket to electricity was entering the room key in a slot next to the door. Very energy efficient, since you have to have your key to leave the room and all the lights go out about 30 seconds after the key is removed from the card slot. Unfortunate if you lose a key and your roommate needs to go downstairs for something.

The first night we went to the famous Augustiner Keller Beirgarten. It was the same kind of feel as the county fair food court, lots of food and beer stations around the perimeter of hundreds of picnic tables. There were many smells which were less than pleasant circulating. They sold fish, whole fish, which the customer tears open, removes the bones, then sticks a fork in it like eating out of a pita pocket. It was so gross!! Our group was in the main indoor beer hall, which was not air conditioned. We were all hot hot hot! The service staff was dressed in the typical Bavarian garb, which can best be described as “Heidi” braids and corseted peasant dresses. Men wore typical lederhosen. We were entertained with yodeling, men slapdancing (kind of riverdance style) and the playing of the large horns that reached from the mouth to the ground of the person playing. The food was of typical German fare. Those of you who know me know I struggle with the eating of meat and this night didn’t help at all. There was a little pig, head, tail and all, on the cutting board which was extremely disturbing. I was strict vegetarian that night, most of the trip actually. Overall the experience was hot and stinky and I couldn’t stomach the beer so I was clearly too sober to enjoy the evening as much I should!

[sweatin our pants off at the biergarten. that beer was just for show, it was TERRIBLE!]

[staff were dressed like the three models on the left]

[gorgeous hydrangeas again! Kim pointed out that I achieved bokeh on this shot! yah, I didn't know what that meant either, but I can do it!]

[trust me, this picture makes the place look waaaay prettier than it was.]

[famous Augustiner Keller Brew-made famous by Oktoberfest]

[yah that was the only sip of that beer I took. it was nasty!]


The hotel, however…endless photographic opportunities. Some of my favorites of the whole trip: