Munich for Aliens

Stephanie and I went to Germany this weekend, in particular, Munich and Füssen. I can't stress enough how beautiful Germany is- really, I've never seen a place like it. First of all, it's light-years ahead of the Czech Republic in terms of infrastructure; crossing the border via bus was like seeing the Iron Curtain fall. Borders are such an arbitrary thing but it was like a whole new world once we entered Germany. After two weeks trying to get used to Prague, it was a nice vacation from the former Soviet bloc.

We took an overnight bus that left midnight on Friday, getting us into Munich at around 6 on Saturday and got to kill time before we decided to try to find the hostel. Turns out that we were literally a minute from the hostel (right by the central train station, Hauptbahhof) and 10 minutes from Marienplatz, the city center, so we got to explore a bit before heading to Füssen to see Neuschwanstein Castle.

Neuschwanstein was a two-hour train ride away but it was SO worth it because this castle is literally the castle of my dreams. It's in the German Alps and was the inspiration for Cinderella's castle, so despite the uphill walk (no buses because of snow) and major schlep into the countryside, it was totally worth it because the castle is really as beautiful as you'd think it would be. We didn't go inside but I know I'll go back someday. I'd dreamed of seeing the castle in person for quite some time so I really can't explain how it made me feel.

Stephanie and I got free welcome drinks from the hostel (by the way, if any of my darling readers are going to Munich, Berlin or Vienna in the future, STAY AT WOMBAT'S) and we started taking advantage of happy hour a bit too much, but at least we were warm as we wandered around Munich. Went back to Marienplatz, wandered aimlessly around from store to store, and then tried to find Prinz Myshkin, this vegetarian restaurant I had read about. It took a few missed turns and a lot of asking for help (people even offered right off the bad- did we really look that lost/American?) but eventually we found it and, um, best restaurant of my life. Really. They even have tap water, which is outrageously rare in Europe.

From there we went on to find the Hofbräuhaus, which is where Hitler declared the theses of the Nazi Party and so on and so forth. Really huge, REALLY German, and totally packed-- thanks, football game. We tried to find a spot at the Hard Rock but that was completely packed too, so we gave up and headed back to the hostel, which, luckily, had a bar and cheap drinks... REALLY cheap drinks. We met a ton of guys from Germany and Spain but sadly no Brits.

On Sunday, Stephanie and I headed to the Olympic stadium where I gave her an impromptu, slightly bastardized history lesson on the hostage crisis of the '72 Olympics. We saw the stadium (so much smaller in person than you'd think it would be) and then the Olympic Village where the crisis actually happened. We ran back to the hostel to try to catch the 11 a.m. walking tour which - surprise! - had been canceled. We hustled off to Dachau with the intent of making it back in time for the 1 p.m. tour. Of course, that was a bust.

Dachau was particularly weird. The weather was fittingly horrible but not in the way that it was during Majdanek. Dachau was just white and bleak and terrible, not in a melodramatic way that Majdanek was but in a very eerie, very realistic way. We didn't get to see the museum or the film, but we walked around the camp. Visiting a concentration camp is never easy, but Dachau was particularly bad in that respect. Seeing the crematorium was really, really rough in a way that again I can't explain. It provoked a really visceral reaction, chills, discomfort, the whole nine yards. I also felt extremely uncomfortable riding on the train to Dachau; I guess I was thinking of the thousands of others who didn't really have a choice about going.

I got to play with a dog, though. That was a plus.

After that, we went back to Marienplatz with the intent of going to the huge bookstore and using their guide books to plan our own walking tour. What we didn't know is that all retail establishments in the south of Germany are closed on Sundays, even in a large city like Munich.

What we also didn't know was that Carnival (or "Fasching," in German) is HUGE in Munich. Everyone in Marienplatz was wearing costumes and throwing confetti and it was a humongous, unexpected party with bands and drum lines and concerts and a million and one food carts. I'm going to steal the description from a different site: "One of the biggest events of the season is Mad Munich ('Munchen Harrisch') on the last Sunday before Shrove Tuesday. During the celebrations thousands of dancers and revellers in fancy dress make their way through the streets to Marienplatz where there are several stages as well as numerous food and drink stalls." It was really amazing to see, especially because we had no idea it was going on and because I wasn't able to get to Venice for Carnevale as I had originally planned. It was amazing to see the normally reserved Germans just running around in costumes.

From there we started trying to hustle and do touristy things, especially as it was our second and final day in Germany. We found the Jewish Museum, which I did alone (Stephanie was really budget-conscious), and it was a really weird experience. It's a very small museum that doesn't feature much in the way of artifacts, and I thought that was weird until a sign explained why (and I feel stupid for not remembering): Hitler & co. destroyed everything during the Holocaust. Duh. The museum also explained different facets of Judaism in museum form - explanations of Shabbat and holidays and so on - so to realize that I was likely one of the few Jewish visitors it was seeing was odd and cool simultaneously.

We headed to Odeonplatz afterward, where we saw the Residenz (a massive palace complex), the National Theatre (really beautiful) and Feldhernhalle, where Hitler held a ton of rallies. Germany is very good about preserving its history, even the really dark parts- relics of World War II are all over the place if you know where to look. From there we went to Konigsplatz (couldn't find what I was looking for) and back to the Hofbräuhaus, where, lo and behold, we got a table! I still can't drink beer for the life of me, but we got strudel and gigantic pretzels. Very Teutonic of us, wish I had been wearing a dirndl as I ate there.

To be honest, I really miss Munich. It was blended history and modernism very well and was clean, spacious, and efficient. It's hard to be back in Prague, which I certainly like and think is beautiful, but I find Prague very frustrating at times-- the timely but slow public transportation system, the language barrier, the feeling of being cramped, the closure of everything around 8 p.m., etc. I guess traveling agrees with me more than being stuck in one place.

There will be pictures soon, I swear.