Lee’s goin round the world, maybe!

Leaving today, June 30, 2009, for Vilnius, Lithuania, via Copenhagen, Denmark. Onward!

Asking at the desk, Stuart and I were directed to the Augustiner-Keller at Arnulfstrasse 52. It was about a 5 minute walk from the hotel, though the way Stu and I did it, it was more like 15. But we found it and I felt that we really deserved the beer. So I had two. First, I had an Augustiner Pils and Stu had a Lager. We shared a plate of a variety of grilled sausages. Yum. I followed with a Dunkel Wiessbier. Even better. I think I’m gonna like this town.

Since we’d just arrived, we decided to take a bit of a rest. It was around 16.00 (4 pm) so we went back to the hotel and took a short nap. Of course, we knew there was a possibility that it would turn into a full night’s sleep, so we set the alarm for an hour.

Waking refreshed, we hit the street. Oh, have I mentioned the bicycles? Munich is a city that is replete with bike lanes. Only, unlike bike lanes in the States, which are just an area of the street demarcated by a painted line, Munich’s bike lanes are built into the sidewalk. So, when you step out on the sidewalk, or when you want to cross the street, you’d better be careful. Sometimes just walking down the street, if your attention wanders, you’re suddenly in the bike lane. Yikes!

One of the places that Stuart remembered from his youth was the Hofbrauhaus, the main beer hall of the Hofbrau Brewery. We looked it up and found that it was in the old center of Munich, almost directly down the street that the hotel was on. Bayerstrasse passes into the Centrum through the Karlstor, or Karl’s Gate. After passing through the gate, the street becomes a pedestrian walking area, as is most of the Centrum. We walked past the Frauenkirche and through the Marienplatz (Mary’s Plaza, with it’s gilt statue of the Virgin Mary in the center and the famous Glockenspiel).

It was at this point that we realized we weren’t really sure where we were going. We floundered around the Platz for a little while, thinking that we could, or should be able to, see it from the plaza. Our hunger and thirst started to get the best of us. At this point, we ran out of “I know where it is attitude” and decided to start asking strangers. The first gentleman that we asked was very helpful and pointed us in the right direction. Which happened not to be the direction that we, or at least I, thought was correct. We still had a bit of difficulty, but about ten minutes later, we had found the Holy Grail of Munich beer halls.

Only to be disappointed.

As it turned out, having been sated by images of Busch Gardens’ German Festhaus, the Hofbrauhaus was a disappointment. Maybe, in the right mood, it would have been better, but as it was it was loud and cold and right after we walked in a busload of Japanese tourists poured in the door. Nothing against the Japanese. They’re very nice, but it sort of played up the Busch Gardens aspect of the whole thing.

So we used the Hofbrauhaus’ very nice toilet (.20 E) and bailed out.

As we exited the building, we noticed across the street another brewery related restaurant. This one was associated with Ayinger Brau. And there we found what we wanted. Great pork roast and great beer.

Heading back to the hotel, we got lost again. But at least we were lost and happy.

Ok. So. I’ll skip the whole driving from Richmond to Dulles to get the flight and sleeping all the way to Zurich details.

I arrived at Zurich airport Sunday morning at 07.00 (that’s rest of the world time for 7 am). After finding out where I had to go for my transfer to Munich, I walked around the airport shops for a little while. Boy did I suffer sticker shock. Swiss chocolate is expensive in Switzerland. Twice the cost of the same chocolates at the local Target store in Richmond. I’m guessing they send last year’s Easter chocolates to the US.

Had a apfel streussel and double espresso at the cafe ($12 US. See what I mean). Found the gate for my Munich flight.

On arrival in Munich, I found passport control, baggage claim, and the exit in short order. I arrived about two hours before my brother Stuart, so, rather than head for the hotel, I had some more food and waited for his flight to arrive. I was pleased to note that there was a Erdinger Bier bar right outside the exit from the baggage claim. However, I decided not to engage in the frosty barley beverages until Stuart arrived and opted instead to find out where the trains were and how to get downtown.

Stuart arrived a bit more tired than me because he’d flown all the way from LA direct. He was happy that I’d figured out the transport situation, and ready to head for the hotel.

We boarded the S-bahn to downtown. The train goes right to the Hauptbahnhof (Hbf), the central train station of Munich. Convenient, since our hotel is four blocks from there and I’ll be leaving from the Hbf the following Friday to take the train to Amsterdam. So, we found our way out of the Hbf to Bayerstrasse, the street on which we’d find our hotel. Ten minutes later, we were checking in to the A & O Hotel and asking where the nearest biergarten could be found.

Well, tomorrow I’ll be off, anyway.

I leave tomorrow for Europe for the first time in seven years. And the last time was to England with my family. This time, I’m going to Germany and the Netherlands, specifically Munich and Amsterdam. I’ll be accompanied by my brother, Stuart, on the Munich leg and unaccompanied on the Amsterdam leg.

I was born in Munich in and have not been back there since I was two. It’s with a little trepidation that I return, fearing that they will still remember the damage that my diapers did to the urban infrastructure. I hope that I’ll go unrecognized.

So, for now, I’ll go pack and get to sleep. Tomorrow I start the big adventure!