Munich

Oktoberfest! It has various embodiments practically everywhere in the US, with celebrations of it all over the globe. And now I've been to the real thing!

Half of it was a lot like the fair, with rides and game booths and souvenir shops. But the other half is all about the beer. The tents, filled to the brim with people all wanting the same thing: to try some of the local flavor.

The first day we got all dressed up in our liderhosen and dirndls and stayed out to watch the parade that opened the festival. They had horses dragging wagonloads of kegs, just the way they did a hundred years ago. And then there were the bands and the traditional garbs and these guys who were carrying around huge whips, which sounded like thunder when they would demonstrate breaking the sound barrier.

By the time we actually got into a tent, it was raining pretty heavily out, and the tables were of course all full. Having gotten a few tricks from the locals, we didn't know how good we had it by getting in so quickly. When we couldn't get a table after a while, we gave up and went elsewhere. What a mistake that was. Because of the rain, no one else was leaving the tents. We got into a few more, including the candy castle one with all the desserts, but that one only had wine and that wasn't what we had come to Oktoberfest for.

We eventually settled for a beer garden in the rain, and managed to grab a table under an awning. Luckily, that was about it for the rain, and our table quickly became a hot commodity, which everyone tried to muscle in on whenever someone in our group would go to the bathroom. And we got our first beers! And Radlers, which are half beer, half lemonade mixtures. Yum.

The thing to understand about Oktoberfest beers is that they're huge. They're an entire liter, and that's a lot of liquid. One size fits all. And they're also about €10 apiece. They're actually less than that, but you have to tip your server every time, or they won't come back to serve you again. They've got a ton of other customers willing to tip. One of the locals was telling us that a server can make €50,000 in this one week, carrying 12 beers and getting €12 every time they go out. I don't know if that math is all there, but they're definitely making significant amounts just in tips.

People say that Oktoberfest can get crazy, and I guess that's true too. We were told that if you pass out or fall asleep they have bouncers that drag you out and drop you on the curb. We didn't see that actually happening, but we did see a lot of guys blinking on the curbs by themselves. The beer at Oktoberfest is also a lot stronger than many people are accustomed to, and there were people passed out on the street in some places. And lots of ambulances and stretchers going through, as well as police.

We stayed at our table for the rest of the night, vowing to get up early the next morning to snag a table in a tent. Half of us made it up and managed to stake out the Hippodrome tent early enough to capture a table. They had great music going and awesome food as well as the beer. I didn't like it as much as the other, but we weren't about to give up our table and leave until we were good and ready. Or they kicked us out.

I was surprised that the tents weren't really tents, but actual structures they put up every year. No canvas. When we did eventually leave the tent, we wandered and then eventually settled into another beer garden. It was really crowded, and we had to split up and sit at different tables, which was actually better because it gave us the chance to talk to some of the other people who had come to Oktoberfest. We met more locals who come every year, as well as people from the US and a great guy from New Zealand, Ben, who at 19 was randomly traveling around by himself all summer. It really does seem like most of the travelers I encounter are either from California or Australia, but I'm not sure why. Maybe we're more the adventurous types?

In one corner of the park grounds of Oktoberfest, there's a giant statue up on steps, where you can climb and see the best view of the entire festival. I think it put it in perspective a bit. It was such a huge area, and it was still a push to get through people everywhere you went, especially on such a nice day.

I think one of the best random parts of the day was when an old high school friend walked by and recognized me in the crowd. We stopped and caught up, which was amazing. I can never believe the randomness of the universe!

After walking the grounds a bit more, we went out to the city center where they have one of those traditional clocks that have characters that dance and spin at certain times of the day. We didn't get to see it in action, but it was still neat to look at. After dinner, we stopped in the square for a bit to listen to a trio playing Mozart. It was a relaxing ending to our last day together in Munich. Most of the group was headed home in the morning, and sad to go.

I had an awesome time with the group, most of whom I had never met before Europe. It was kind of amazing how well we all got on together. I guess I was just the right amount of geek to fit in, as many of our toasts were dedicated to Joss Wheaton and the crew of Firefly. Proust!

The Romantic Road

It's actually kind of scary to drive in these inner towns, because all the streets look like walkways, especially with tourists crowded around them and cafes with their tables and chairs set out in them. It's only the fact that I see other cars driving down them as well that I know that I'm okay, or at least that others are just as misguided as myself when it comes to driving around these towns.

We stopped specifically in the little towns of Rothenburg and Dinkelsbuhl, each which had its own charms but were similar as well.  Both were centuries old, surrounded by walls and entered only through gates that used to be guarded by the villagers. These are still the only ways in and out to this day, and these towns are frequently atop a hill with a view (all the better to see the enemy coming).

Snowball!

In the German style, there were a lot of Christmas themed decorations (as Germany officially began the tradition of Father Christmas) as well as clocks and snowballs, these fantastic webby dough balls covered in all types of flavors like chocolate, cinnamon sugar, caramel, you name it. You can probably guess what I got. Mi also got this fantastic apple juice that was fresh and delicious and the best I've ever tried.

The Night Watchman

In Dinkelsbuhl, the last small town before our castles, we had a traditionally heavy German dinner, then waited in front of the church for the bells to mark nine. When they did, a man dressed in a traditional cloak with a long spear in his hand emerged from the darkness holding a lantern with a single candle burning within. He began to sing a dirge in a lovely baritone, then told us he was the night watchman of the town, and we were welcome to join him for his nightly rounds.

We followed him around for about an hour, where he made at least seven stops at local restaurants and sang a little ditty after blowing his trumpet. Before he had finished singing, a waiter would be waiting with a glass of beer or wine in hand to offer him as thanks for guarding the town. He was nice enough to share with us as well, but it was endlessly amusing to see people pop their heads out with a free glass for him every time. I think Mi was trying to figure out a way to get the same deal in other towns. In the olden days, I'm sure it was the sign of a grateful bar owner to the night watchman who kept his establishment safe. Or it was like bribing the mob not to burn your shop to the ground. I suspect the former.

Neuschwanstein Castle

Our last day on the romantic road was filled with the castles of Fussen. Two of them to be exact, but one of them, Neuschwanstein, was the famous castle Disney modeled his Sleeping Beauty castle after which became his logo.

I do have to say that the tours at both of these castles were very confusing and not very thorough for someone unacquainted with the local stories and legends of the castles. We ended up reading the stories in the books offered in the giftshops after the tours to figure out what was going on.  The history of it all was actually quite fascinating, and I'm disappointed they didn't do a better job of relating it to the group as a whole.

The two castles are fairly close together, the first being the summer palace for the royal family and the second being one of the many castles the oldest son and later king had built because he could. The Neuschwanstein Castle was actually never finished in Ludwig's lifetime, and he only lived there a short time. But still, both castles, even the unfinished one, are remarkably detailed and similar. Every spare wall is either carved or has a painting on it, themed to the room, often. In the Disney castle, the bed itself took four years of work by master carvers to put in the details. And swans were everywhere, as the crest the family. There was also a random cave room that no one was sure what to make of, which was mentioned but not explained in the tour.

What we later learned about Neuschwanstein Castle was this. Ludwig became king at the age of 17, and was engaged to his cousin, but broke it off a year later. It was believed that he struggled with  homoerotic fantasies and never married because of it. He was known as a pretty eccentric king, and made servants who had ugly faces wear masks around him. He also didn't like having company, and would have players perform operas only for him. He kind of lived in a fantasy world, imagining himself in a number of Wagner's musical operas. Many of the rooms in his castle were painted with scenes from the stories Wagner drew inspiration from, like Tristan and Isolate. As king, Ludwig ruled from afar in his castles, but didn't pay much attention to matters of state, which made it easier for his Parliament to depose him on the grounds that he was insane. He drowned under suspicious circumstances a few days afterward. Mi thinks the story has great potential as a film, and I agree.  I can just see the film ending on a question - was the King murdered, or did he kill himself in the pond?

Then, there was some more driving, some twisting and shouting on the side of the road, a crazy horse that we though was going to jump the low fence and crash into the car, and we arrived in Munich!

Amsterdam

The Flying Pig advertises a free walking tour of the city, and the three of us managed to catch the first one in the morning after an awesome breakfast for some chocolate spread stuff on toast. I don't know what it was, since the label was in Dutch, but it was better than butter. I don't say that about many spreads.

But yes, the tour. We didn't realize it was going to be three hours long when we started it, but the time flew by. I learned so much about Amsterdam that I hadn't known about before (granted, I didn't know that much to being with) and really gained an appreciation for the city. Here comes a lot of history and info, so if that's not your thing, you might want to skim from here. I found it all pretty fascinating, though.

First of all, Amsterdam is well known for being a very chill city where gay marriage is legal, people smoke pot on the street, and for the red light district where prostitution is legal. They're a very tolerant people, and have three rules when it comes to deciding if doing something is okay. 1. If it's not hurting anybody 2. If it's good for business and 3. If it makes money. This was accompanied by a tale about how Christianity was illegal for a time in Amsterdam, but on Sundays, a rich merchant liked to hold church masses in his house for those who still worshipped. Their singing could be heard out on the street. When people went to the police to turn them in, they were reminded that it was a Sunday, and that the police didn't work on Sundays. And when the police finally went around to look on Monday, well, all the houses looked the same, and there was no singing going on, so nothing to worry about.

Then he moved on to the example of coffee shops, which do sell coffee, but are mainly known for their variety of marijuana. Everyone knows what goes on behind closed doors, but because there's at least a covert attempt, they don't care. After all, it's good for business, even if it's illegal.

Then there's the legality of prostitution, which is perfectly legal as long as you work for yourself. No pimps allow! The red light district is basically a bunch of glass store windows advertising their wares, which are barely dressed women. Apparently boys are also available, but you have to call special. No window shopping.



The Amsterdam crest

During the tour we crossed at least three dozen bridges, each with a picturesque view and bicycles locked to the sides. There are barely any places to park in the narrow streets,so bikes and buses are the main methods of transportation. If you hear a bell ringing, you'd better be getting out of the way! Our guide also said that you had to be sure to lock up your bike at night, because a lot of them seemed to find their way to the bottom of the canals with alarming frequency otherwise. Apparently it used to be horses that fell into canals the most and drown before that. And we heard a clever tale of a man who invented a rig to pull horses out of the canals, and if it was too late to save the horse, he'd make the owner a good deal for the dead horse and would have fresh steaks to sell in his butcher shop the next day.
We also learned about the history of Amsterdam's beginnings and how it was founded by a pair of stranded sailors and their dog, all of whom were drifting after a terrible storm. They promised to start a colony if they made it safely to land, and so Amsterdam began.



Anne Frank's statue

Toward the end of the tour, near the house where Anne Frank's famous diary was written, the guide painted a haunting picture of Amsterdam under Nazi rule; how things changed slowly at first, from a curfew for anyone Jewish to dismissing Jewish professors from the Universities, then how they could no longer ride buses or even bikes, because walking was supposed to be good enough for them. One night, some guards were hassling a young Jewish girl, and a bunch of Jewish boxers put a stop to it, chasing them deep into the Jewish district and beating them severely. The next day, the district was surrounded and bolted in, and 5,000 Jews were rounded up and put on trains to concentration camps. Seeing what was happening, some of the people of Amsterdam got together that night and talked. And the next morning, people ready for work stepped outside to catch a bus or train that never came. The strikers and those who didn't know what was happening eventually made their way to the center square where a massive protest was held for what was happening to the Jewish people. It was eventually shut down by the Nazis, but Amsterdam remains the only place where any type of protest was held against what was being done. It's called the February Rebellion now, and is celebrated every year.

We hid from the rain during lunch, then left when it cleared up to get some shots near the I AMstersdam sign, where I yelled at people to get out of the way so we could have a clear shot. Then everyone wanted me to yell for them. We also visited a few bars Mi wanted to see, including the oldest one in town. After that, it was to bed for an early morning driving to Germany and the romantic road.

Rouen

Joan of Arc's church, where she was burned at the stake

So many cobblestones in all of these towns! I keep thinking of mosaic paintings and how long they take to put together and the number of pieces involved, then consider how big these cities are. And it's the same throughout all of Europe! I don't think my feet are used to the uneven walking they cause, even if it's quaint. 



Sheltering the homeless

Rouen is known for being the place where Joan of Arc died, which is a bit negative for the town, I imagine. But the town is more a shrine to the memory of the saint she has become, the patron saint of France. I was surprised to learn that despite being a young woman leading the French army, Joan of Arc wasn't a feminist and dismissed all other women from the military. The way she came to power seemed interesting too. I guess she made a few military predictions that came true, and the French thought, why not, what we're doing now doesn't seem to be working, so let's try the teenager out on the battlefield. And it worked, for a while!

I was also amused to find that her church was being used to shelter the homeless, albeit informally.



Love me

As it was our last stop in France, I picked up some sweets for the road, an eclair and some other ball of chocolate covered goodness. The latter turned out to be two meringues sandwiched together with chocolate frosting, chocolate bits and powdered sugar. Difficult to eat, but definitely one of the best things I ate in France! I just love me my chocolate.

We made it into Amsterdam around 8pm, checking into the crazy popular Flying Pig Hostel before rushing out to meet T&B for a night boat tour of the canals. We managed to sneak in a snack of the local favs, fries with mayo. I'm actually a decent fan of mayo, but having it only on fries seemed wrong up until I tried it. It was awesome, if not just because their mayo has a different (better) flavor to it than ours. But maybe that's a good thing. I don't want to be putting mayo on everything all the time.

The canal tour was fantastic, more for the company than the commentary, though a lot of it was interesting too. Amsterdam prides itself on its canals, and for good reason. They're beautiful, and it was a lot of fun to be on a huge glass boat, protected from the light rain, watching the Captain pilot us through with inches to spare on either side. The lights on the bridges at night were the perfect ending touch.

The hooks to haul up the furniture

Venice was the only city I knew of that had canals, and while I still really want to see it, it kind of sounds like Amsterdam might outdo them on that front. Of course, this might just be the locals talking about the city they love. But the most common complaint I hear about Italy is how dirty and smelly everything is, especially the canals, and Amsterdam's canals are definitely not that. They have a lock system that flushes them out every few days (one whose height was raised after Katrina) and they scooped some water out of the canal into a glass and it was still really clear-looking.

The buildings in Amsterdam are kind of like San Francisco, in that they're narrow but with lots of stories. A lot of them are also leaning, some because of the foundation under them is slowly giving way and others because of the hooks that jut out at the top of them. Because the stairways are so narrow and steep, they have to use the hooks to hoist up furniture to be brought in through the windows for the upper stories. And to make sure they avoided hitting the houses as they did so, they leaned the houses forward a little in their construction. I'm not sure this is totally true, but it kind of makes enough sense that I'm willing to pass it along.


The lights of several bridges down the canals

While a house in the canal district is expensive, it doesn't compare to the price of a houseboat on the water, because several years ago the city stopped giving out permits for them all together. Now those who have them sell them for around $300,000. Not too shabby! It was really neat to float by the houseboats and see two couples having a dinner party inside, and another taking a chicken out of the oven.

Normandy

The American Monument at Omaha
Beach

We had a late start and trouble getting to the rental car place, and even more trouble trying to account for the fact that they didn't think we had requested an automatic. They wanted to charge us €200 for an upgrade, since they really don't have that many automatics in Europe. No thanks, Jennie! We made do with my pitiful manual driving, which actually wasn't bad at all. I survived driving in Paris with only a British understanding of what most of the picture signs meant, thanks to S, and being completely unable to read the directionals ones.

The rubble left over from the shelling

As expected, part of the drive consisted of a discussion of manual driving theory, which Mi put into practice for about two tries before deciding he was ready for the open road. Luckily (?) he stalled it out about four times in a row shortly after when we stopped for a tank and decided he needed more practice.

The rolling ground,
damaged by shells

I also learned today what I suspected in Paris, which is that Mi wants to kidnap any adorable European kid he sees (which is pretty much all of them) and Me wants to do the same with cats. And sometimes dogs.

We went up to point Eagle between the Utah and Omaha beaches, where the German militia had set up cannons to cover the area. We learned about the Rangers who breached in the wrong place and ended up being late for the D-day invasion, ruining their chance at surprise. But they took the guns anyway and held it by themselves for two days, until reinforcements arrived. The ground around what was left of the bunkers was cratered from the shelling of the American war ships, which was both cool and a serious reminder of the devastation at the same time.

An empty gun turret

We unfortunately weren't in time to see the American Cemetery, but we went and walked along the beach to the monument at Omaha. I think it might be my favorite monument. It just has all sorts of possible meanings, from blades to fire to waves, and it's really elegant in its simplicity. It was a really meaningful reminder of all the blood shed on that beach so many years ago. I had a quiet walk up to the ocean by myself to appreciate that, and to take it all in.

A boat that carried jeeps to the beach

We returned to Cean late, and found it practically deserted. We were the only ones walking around the street at nine at night, and it wasn't as if everyone was just at home, because there were no house lights either. They had all gone somewhere else. But we eventually found the college side of town and found something to munch on, then sat on the sidewalk to enjoy some wine and whatever the local beer/wine/lemon mix that Mi got that tasted amazing. Then it was back to the hotel with the strange bathroom for the night.

Paris, Day 2

Since M&M wanted to head to the Louvre, which I'd already done, I decided to head to the church of Saint-Pierre de Montmartre atop the highest point in France, since it was close to our hostel. Once I arrived, I realized I'd been before when on tour before my semester abroad. It's harder to notice and figure out where you're going when you're on a guided tour, where others pick out the points of interests instead of you doing your own research. I think I like the security of guided tours in countries where I don't speak the language, but I think I have a greater appreciation for most things when I look them up for myself. I also enjoy the freedom of being able to wander and stop whenever and however long I want to get a photo just right. I still walked up all the stairs to see the view. It was all right, a little hazy, but the church itself is just lovely (and massive).

I'm not going to hark back too much to my previous post about how Europeans think nothing of these seriously old houses and churches that litter their streets, but it does make me wonder a little about what I might be under appreciating at home.

The Arc du Triumphe. I hadn't realized that the Germans were the first to walk through it triumphantly, after taking Paris during World War I, seeing as Napoleon, who began its construction, began losing shortly afterward, never to see it while victorious.

I was lucky in that they were allowing people up to the top for free on Sunday, so I figured I'd give it a go. It was a pretty awesome view, a lot closer up than from Montmartre. They also had a cool exhibit inside that was a miniature Arc that rotated around and talked about the specific carvings.

Many bridges in Paris (and elsewhere)
are covered in locks, often with the names
of lovers etched on, promising to come
back to Paris.

After that, I hot footed it to Le Muesee Oree for the Impressionist exhibit mainly, though the sculptures are always cool. It's so neat to see paintings I've seen pictures of forever in the flesh, so to speak. You can look at the individual brush strokes and know that at some point, the painter was standing where you are, examining it with a critical eye as well. I also really love Impressionism for how they can make a blur of paint look like a person up until you're close enough to see it for the daub it is.

After that, I met up with M&M and we went into the bowls of Paris to find a carosel. It was on a dark scary street and was just as dark inside, though lit with a red light. People were singing along to songs we didn't know in French, and we were the only ones nervously not singing. We kind of left quickly.

The typical Parisian lifestyle. Copyright Marisa Corley 2012.

Alone, With Friends - Paris

The city of lights. The Eiffel Tower glitters every hour, on the hour at night, and our wine and cheese picnic on the grass in front of it lasted for at least three times of sparkles. It's one of those times when you keep looking up and are reminded of where you are. I'm in Paris!

I started the day alone, not sure what had happened to my friends who were supposed to check in the previous night. But I figured I would walk around and see some of the stuff I wanted and hope to meet up with them that night.

Choosing to walk instead of taking the metro was probably the best idea I could have had. I was in the middle of pure Paris culture, not just the touristy area. Everyone seemed to be carrying around a baguette and smoking. I took some great photos of narrow streets, sidewalk cafes and Parisians on scooters.

Our hostel is up near Saint-Pierre de Montmartre in northern Paris, and from there I walked down to the river and the Louvre, and enjoyed the Tuileries. It was a gorgeous day in the city, very warm, and strolling by the river brought a welcome relief from the heat. Even if some of the tunnels smelled faintly of urine.

I crossed over the bridge to the island of the city, where Notre Dame is, and I had no sooner made it to the main square when I heard my name being called. Randomly, in the middle of Paris, M&M had miraculously found me!

We headed over to a cafe and met up with their four other friends who were in Paris for the day before they headed elsewhere for the days before everyone is together in Munich. A lot more walking followed, through the Luxembourg gardens and the University area, passing the Pantheon and finally settling for a nice restaurant where I tried some garlicky escargot and found it strange but enjoyable. The mission to find famous macaroons was also a grand success, and our Eiffel Tower picnic rounded off the evening as we wandered back to the hostel enjoying Paris at night.