I owe ya'll last weekend's adventure.
I'll prolly cover this on another blog, but many European cities sound, are spelled and are pronounced completely different than their American counterparts. I don't know if this is, yet again, attributable to American obstinance, but Müchen (i.e. Munich) is one of them (along with...
- Koln (Cologne)
- Lisboa (Lisbon)
- Wien (Vienna)
- Praha (Prague)
...and the list goes on).
Anyways, shortly before leaving for Hamburg, I had mentioned to some colleagues at work that I was thinking about going to Munich the following weekend. Luckily for me Julia was within an earshot.
[And yes, this is the same girl from the first picture]. As it turns out, her parents own a condo in Munich. All she needed was advanced notice and, provided she could get the key from them in time, I could stay there. Well, luck was on my side, and last weekend it treated me to 2 free nights in Munich (I could go on here how in America its doubtful that coworkers would loan their place to someone from another country that they've only known for less than a month, but I'll save you the America bashing skip to the picture reel...besides, this is prolly gonna be a long blog anyways).
As it turns out, he is from Munich. So, during the entire week leading up to my Munich trip, he compiled a comprehensive email of all this things I needed to do during the weekend I was to visit (replete with links to each venue's respective website). As you will see, I was able to do all but one of his suggestions...
It is important to note, however, that I definitely went to Marienplatz (pronounced, "marine platz") on more than one occassion, its just that I was unable to make it there before 12pm.
The plan was to leave work and take the 6:5-something train to Munich, get there about 10:30 or 11, get settled in the condo and head to...
before it closed at midnight.
Unfortunately, I got there at like 12:01 and the security people did not oblige to my American tourist attempts to get in. Fortunately however, the Hofbauhaus is centrally located (not that far from Marienplatz actually) and there were several places to choose from to spend a Friday night, including...
I must admit, I felt like Josh for a second. See, Josh, having done 2 tours of duty in Iraq, can go into any bar in America, show that he's a soldier, and get the royal treatment. Now, I'm not saying I got the royal treatment...but I will say that a Florida (Tallahassee) license is quite the rare occasion in Munich. Add to that a German bouncer who used to play for a band that once did a show in Tallahassee, and you not only get in with a smile, but you also find out all types of interesting stuff. Like which beer to drink...
(Augustiner Muenchen)
I really didn't spend that long in here cause this was really on some electronica/indie music/crowd stuff. But I did discover the piece of German clothing I was going to get from Munich. For the short time I was there, there was this dude "dancing" on the floor that was dressed in 'typical' Munich garb. The piece-de-resistance...the scarf...
I remember in high school, I used to see dudes that frequented the go-go rocking this exact same scarf, but I never could find it. Now was my chance. I took the beer "TO THE FACE!" (shout to Thomas) and headed out to the next location...wherever that was.
As it turned out, to back up a little bit, I ran into 3 women on the subway over from the condo to the Hofbrauhaus. Although the one that stood out was half North Carolinan, half Greek (she looked west indian), the one I ended up conversing with basically the entire subway ride was from Germany. Unfortunately, all I remember from the conversation (now as well as when I was leaving the Atomic Cafe) was that there were suppposedly a number of clubs (one of which they were going to) along this street called "Maximillianplatz". So that's where I headed.
After getting lost a couple times, I found this building, reminiscent of Hotel Monaco in DC, that had three clubs in it (all of which had separate entrances from the street. After asking a couple people if they played hip-hop inside, I ran into this one dude who seemed to be pretty knowledgeable about what was going on around there. He told me that of the three clubs, the one to check out was called "Baby." However, and this is the first time I ran into this in all of Germany...this club was guest list only. And the lady at the door wasn't having it. American or not, if you weren't on the list, you weren't getting in (I didn't even get a chance to flash my Florida license). I tried to walk around and use my mission impossible skills to sweet talk this security type dude guarding the back door, but my German wasn't good enough (my American came off to him like..."dude, I know what you're trying to do and I ain't finna risk it on some American dude...I heard about ya'll"). So I left.
While walking I thought about a conversation I had with a chick in Berlin at the Cut and Paste thing where she broke down the "stereotypical" attire for men in each of the major German cities...(its on tape, I believe)
I was about to give up on finding another club to go to that night, when I randomly ran into this dude with an English accent that told me about "Crowns".
"It's wack!" he said. "They say they play hip-hop, but their idea of hip-hop is playing hip-hop lyrics over dance [i.e. techno] music." Still I went, and it was exactly how he said it was. Of note, I got my shoes stepped on (it was BEYOND packed) and there was this black dude dressed head to toe like Blade, that about 5 bouncers made a circle for. Then, the DJ stopped the music and played this "Blade-type" music so this dude could do his little corny "Blade" routine on some techno-dance stuff.
I had to leave after that.
The plan for Saturday was to hit up Marienplatz (where all the name brand shops were), then head a little to the east to...
The good thing is that they serve it to you in these souvenir "Weihnachten" (Christmas) mugs. Over the course of the day/evening, I bought 4 and, needless to say, was already buzzing by the time I got to...
Basically, this is a traditional Bavarian (the German state in which Munich is located) beerhaus where the male servers wear leiderhosen (the get up Snoop wore for the MTV European Music Awards) and the female servers wear durdels (the get up the girl wears on the label for St. Pauli Girl beer--which is funny cause St. Pauli is a district in Hamburg. In other words, that's like saying Maryland crab cakes and having a California beach bunny with two crab cake sandwiches in each hand).
drank some beer at the Paulaner Beer House (my favorite beer in Germany thus far and from where I bought the 4 pint sized beer glasses that subsequently broke)...
and even met some cool people at the Nike store on my way to the Englisch Garten.
(I gotta give it to dude though, we was really the type of salesman you want to run into. He wasn't pressuring me to buy anything, but he made me want to buy something...but they didn't have my size in any of the shoes). Shortly after leaving the Nike store, I found a small little shop that sold the scarf I was looking for.
Jumping forward, after I left the Hofbrauhaus, I headed back to the condo to take a shower and meet up with this Venezuelan dude Peer put me in contact with.
To be continued in part 2...
Cheers.
Anyways, shortly before leaving for Hamburg, I had mentioned to some colleagues at work that I was thinking about going to Munich the following weekend. Luckily for me Julia was within an earshot.
[And yes, this is the same girl from the first picture]. As it turns out, her parents own a condo in Munich. All she needed was advanced notice and, provided she could get the key from them in time, I could stay there. Well, luck was on my side, and last weekend it treated me to 2 free nights in Munich (I could go on here how in America its doubtful that coworkers would loan their place to someone from another country that they've only known for less than a month, but I'll save you the America bashing skip to the picture reel...besides, this is prolly gonna be a long blog anyways).
the bedroom (unused)
the bathroom
living room
kitchen (unused)
Before I continue, there's another supporting character that without a doubt deserves mention in this blog. His name is Thomas, and he not only sits next to me in the office, but he also started the exact same day I did...
kitchen (unused)
As it turns out, he is from Munich. So, during the entire week leading up to my Munich trip, he compiled a comprehensive email of all this things I needed to do during the weekend I was to visit (replete with links to each venue's respective website). As you will see, I was able to do all but one of his suggestions...
5. Marienplatz, City Mall at 12:00 !!! (chimes)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marienplatz
It is important to note, however, that I definitely went to Marienplatz (pronounced, "marine platz") on more than one occassion, its just that I was unable to make it there before 12pm.
The plan was to leave work and take the 6:5-something train to Munich, get there about 10:30 or 11, get settled in the condo and head to...
1. Hofbräuhaus:
Drinking beer, Bavarian Live-Music, Waitresses wearing bavarian clothes
(www.hofbraeuhaus.de)
before it closed at midnight.
Unfortunately, I got there at like 12:01 and the security people did not oblige to my American tourist attempts to get in. Fortunately however, the Hofbauhaus is centrally located (not that far from Marienplatz actually) and there were several places to choose from to spend a Friday night, including...
7. "Atomic Cafe" (night club): (http://www.atomic.de/)
on friday, they play indiepop (4 DJs & Guests)
on saturday: Beat, Soul, Garage & Powerpop (div. DJs/Teams changing),
every 6th saturday: Funk
opening: fr & sa 21:59-4h
I must admit, I felt like Josh for a second. See, Josh, having done 2 tours of duty in Iraq, can go into any bar in America, show that he's a soldier, and get the royal treatment. Now, I'm not saying I got the royal treatment...but I will say that a Florida (Tallahassee) license is quite the rare occasion in Munich. Add to that a German bouncer who used to play for a band that once did a show in Tallahassee, and you not only get in with a smile, but you also find out all types of interesting stuff. Like which beer to drink...
(Augustiner Muenchen)I really didn't spend that long in here cause this was really on some electronica/indie music/crowd stuff. But I did discover the piece of German clothing I was going to get from Munich. For the short time I was there, there was this dude "dancing" on the floor that was dressed in 'typical' Munich garb. The piece-de-resistance...the scarf...
I remember in high school, I used to see dudes that frequented the go-go rocking this exact same scarf, but I never could find it. Now was my chance. I took the beer "TO THE FACE!" (shout to Thomas) and headed out to the next location...wherever that was.
As it turned out, to back up a little bit, I ran into 3 women on the subway over from the condo to the Hofbrauhaus. Although the one that stood out was half North Carolinan, half Greek (she looked west indian), the one I ended up conversing with basically the entire subway ride was from Germany. Unfortunately, all I remember from the conversation (now as well as when I was leaving the Atomic Cafe) was that there were suppposedly a number of clubs (one of which they were going to) along this street called "Maximillianplatz". So that's where I headed.
After getting lost a couple times, I found this building, reminiscent of Hotel Monaco in DC, that had three clubs in it (all of which had separate entrances from the street. After asking a couple people if they played hip-hop inside, I ran into this one dude who seemed to be pretty knowledgeable about what was going on around there. He told me that of the three clubs, the one to check out was called "Baby." However, and this is the first time I ran into this in all of Germany...this club was guest list only. And the lady at the door wasn't having it. American or not, if you weren't on the list, you weren't getting in (I didn't even get a chance to flash my Florida license). I tried to walk around and use my mission impossible skills to sweet talk this security type dude guarding the back door, but my German wasn't good enough (my American came off to him like..."dude, I know what you're trying to do and I ain't finna risk it on some American dude...I heard about ya'll"). So I left.
While walking I thought about a conversation I had with a chick in Berlin at the Cut and Paste thing where she broke down the "stereotypical" attire for men in each of the major German cities...(its on tape, I believe)
- Frankfurt - dudes in suits (cause of the European Central Bank, investment banking crowd)
- Berlin - conservatively stylish (cause of the eastern German influence upon western Germany and vice versa)
- Hamburg - jeans and hoodies (cause of its industrial/shipping location and character)
- Munich - uber chic (while I don't know the exact reason, I would venture to guess cause of its proximity to the countries to the south that border the nearby Alps (i.e. Swizerland, Italy, Austria and France)
I was about to give up on finding another club to go to that night, when I randomly ran into this dude with an English accent that told me about "Crowns".
"It's wack!" he said. "They say they play hip-hop, but their idea of hip-hop is playing hip-hop lyrics over dance [i.e. techno] music." Still I went, and it was exactly how he said it was. Of note, I got my shoes stepped on (it was BEYOND packed) and there was this black dude dressed head to toe like Blade, that about 5 bouncers made a circle for. Then, the DJ stopped the music and played this "Blade-type" music so this dude could do his little corny "Blade" routine on some techno-dance stuff.
I had to leave after that.
The plan for Saturday was to hit up Marienplatz (where all the name brand shops were), then head a little to the east to...
6. Go Shopping:Then to the northeast where the following was located...
Tal (downtown, there are some 2nd-Hand-Shops),
Herzogstrasse (in Schwabing, there are a lot of small shops)
4. Englischer Garten, Chinese Tower/BeergardenUnfortunately, I didn't heed Thomas's advice (although the weather wasn't that good on Sunday either) and I found out the hard way that the English Garten (i.e. beergardens (i.e. benches outside where people drink beers)) was closed. I could go about how I carried 4 pint beer glasses basically the greater portion of the afternoon and evening, only to have them break as I left the Hofbrauhaus (later on) and the subway on the way back to the crib (even later-er on), or how it got dark at about 5pm and the Chinese Tower in the English Garten was not only closed, but its restaurant was too boosie to give me any service once they sat me (and this isn't some American impatience stuff, I really believe they just wanted to me to leave..and offering no service was the sure fire way to do that). But I'm not. Long Saturday short, this is what happened.
(if the weather is fine, e.g. on sunday!)
- I got to Marienplatz around 12:30 / 1pm, and got my first taste of gluewein (warmed up red wine with other spices in it (I believe)).
The good thing is that they serve it to you in these souvenir "Weihnachten" (Christmas) mugs. Over the course of the day/evening, I bought 4 and, needless to say, was already buzzing by the time I got to...
- The Hofbrauhaus (from which the preview video was shot).
Basically, this is a traditional Bavarian (the German state in which Munich is located) beerhaus where the male servers wear leiderhosen (the get up Snoop wore for the MTV European Music Awards) and the female servers wear durdels (the get up the girl wears on the label for St. Pauli Girl beer--which is funny cause St. Pauli is a district in Hamburg. In other words, that's like saying Maryland crab cakes and having a California beach bunny with two crab cake sandwiches in each hand).
- In between these two, I walked along the Marienplatz (with its name-brand Zara and H&M type shops) and took pictures of the numerous sites...
drank some beer at the Paulaner Beer House (my favorite beer in Germany thus far and from where I bought the 4 pint sized beer glasses that subsequently broke)...
and even met some cool people at the Nike store on my way to the Englisch Garten.
(I gotta give it to dude though, we was really the type of salesman you want to run into. He wasn't pressuring me to buy anything, but he made me want to buy something...but they didn't have my size in any of the shoes). Shortly after leaving the Nike store, I found a small little shop that sold the scarf I was looking for.
Jumping forward, after I left the Hofbrauhaus, I headed back to the condo to take a shower and meet up with this Venezuelan dude Peer put me in contact with.
To be continued in part 2...
Cheers.
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3 comments:
I'm lovin it...the photo's are very nice and I like the way to get to interact with people of all cultures and not afraid to venture out.
Keep it up...
Love
Aunt Jackey
IV,
This is fantastic. I had no idea that your writing is so funny and well, well written. I've enjoyed the last 30minutes catching up. I love this and Auntie is right, the photos are on point. I too think it fabulous that you have no qualms about getting out and about. It sounds to me like you are having a wonderful time. Not working too hard I hope. :)
2sday
Yikes, this sounds crude after those two previous comments from family members, but I gotta know, when are you gonna do the blogs about hittin up the German dating scene? You gotta be Tucker Max in Germany son!
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