Weather and other points of small talk

I find Germany and Texas quite similar in their affinities for rapid and random weather changes. The other day, I made a big stink about going to the store and buying a fan for my room because it was "sooooooooooo hot". And it was. And I bought one. And then that night, there was roughly a 15 degree temperature drop and rain. Go Figure. It will be hotter this summer....On to other things.

Since my last entry, I have done a bit of a traveling. By a bit, I mean I went to Munich with Lana and Emily. For the four people who have ever traveled through Freiburg, they know that Freiburg is a fairly international city. It is German in the sense that signs are in German and people speak German at you until they see you're confused. Otherwise, I'd argue that it is a fairly non-descript city. I don't really feel the feeling of, "This. Is. Germany." when I walk around the city of Freiburg. It's all rather neutral. So when I made plans to go to Munich, I was really hoping for something german-y. I wanted to fulfill every stereotype that the Sound of Music has put into my head...although ironically, that was set in Austria....So we went to Munich...

Munich is a very different city from Freiburg. Most importantly, it is located in Bavaria. See, I live in Freiburg, which is in southwest Germany, in the state called Baden-Wuerttemburg. These people are NOT your typical "German." I find them to be quite healthy and active specimens. It is quite common to see a couple roller blading down the side walk with nordic skiing poles. I shit you not. These people are nuts for outdoor activity and they don't shy away from making you feel like a fat waste of space for not wanting to hike up some mountain at 7:30 AM, in the snow with no shoes on. What can I say? Hiking just doesn't do it for me....unless someone is carrying me up the mountain. Anyway, I guess I imagined Bavarians to be the opposite of this. Instead of rolling down the street in spandex, I expected more rotund men in lederhosen with a liter of beer in their hand. To my great dismay, this did not happen, although I did see some lederhosen. Oh, right, back to the story.

So, we got to Munich and decided we were hungry. We walked to our hostel, put our backpacks down and then asked how to get to the "stadtmitte" (city center). I don't know why this has become the question to ask when visiting new cities, but the europeans always do it...so I guess we figure they're on to something? I don't really know but I guess when I go to a new place in the US, my first question is never where the city center is. So, we go to the "city center" and eat at the Augustiner Brewery. It was a delicious choice. I ordered the traditional white wurst and potatoes and it was the bomb diggity...although, I don't really know how much I like wurst, but I did feel quite german. Maybe it was the beer. Mmm beer. It is common custom in Germany to sit at a table with people you don't know, if there is room. Emily, Lana and I were sitting all by our lonesome at a table for 6, until this older German couple came and sat down. Oh Boy, real-live German people. And we started talking. And the first thing older German men ALWAYS say, "Ahhhcchh! Drei, huebisch maedchen!" (ACK! (You know, that germanish noise) Three pretty girls!) Because I don't know why, that's just what they always say. So he says this and then the wives are always like, "Oh, don't mind him. He's nuts." And we're always like, "No, it's okay, we ARE really pretty. You can say that." And then they're like, "Right, okay, great. You guys are hotties." So anyway, it goes on like that for like, ten minutes (just kidding) and they hear us speak German and naturally ask, "England or America?" and we say, "America." (and this is all in German). Then they say, "Where from?" and so Lana goes, "Well, I'm from Alaska." And they always talk about Alaska being cold and far away. And Lana says, "Yes and Yes." And so then they ask Emily and she says, "Oh, I'm from Pennsylvania, but no one ever knows what that is." And they usually say, "Yea, you're right." But they really should know Pennsylvania. And then they get to me and Lana goes, "She's from Texas." and then they ALWAYS say, "Bush." And I say, "Well, I didn't vote for him either." And then I get a lecture about Iraq, only this time they began to compare Bush to Hitler and I really didn't even know what to say because, sure I don't like Bush but he is Certainly no Hitler. So anyway, they talk about that and so on and so forth and it turns out they're from the country...good farm-dwelling folk and their kids studied English and they have fourteen grandkids and they don't travel much but they're going home that afternoon, etc. etc. And we smile and talk and drink more beer and it is nice. So that was our first afternoon in Munich. The next day we had a city tour and that was alright. I questioned a bit of the accuracy of the tour guide's history. Then that night we went to the Hofbrau Haus, which was delicious. I really didn't think I had drank that much until I got to the bottom of that one liter glass of beer. Then Lana got hit in the head with a coster and we just had a jolly time. Our last day in Munich, we walked around the city, did some shopping and found the best vegan (this means no animal products are used in the cooking) food I have ever had EVER and I really think that was the only appropriate end to our trip. It started with white wurst and potatoes and ended with eggless, milkless italian food. The perfect bookends to my not-so-german-y trip.

I didn't even mention the tourists...but there were a lot of us. So much English.

So now, we are back on vacation for a week because of Pentacost and Lana and I have scheduled a trip to Amsterdam. Oh boy. We plan on going to the Anne Frank House, the Van Gogh Museum and other various art museums, the Heineken Experience and of course...several local coffee houses. AND TYLER IS GOING TO BE THERE!

This is going to be a Very fun week.