Meh-ünchen

As I mentioned before, Jeni and I have been able to take some long weekends, and these mini-breaks have allowed us to visit even more storied cities here in the Old World. Most recently we traveled to Munich,  the historic and political heart of Bavaria. München, as it's known in German, is well know for her beer halls, her crazy kings and of course her dubious denizens who went on to form the Third Reich in the beginning of the 20th century.

For those of you that have been keeping up with our kooky adventure for the last two-and-a-half years, thank you! You faithful readers also know that we are generally positive people, and its obvious that Jeni and I fall in love with places far too easily. Unfortunately I will have to bust this trend with our sojourn to Bavaria's capital city. Perhaps it was the cold and gray weather, maybe it was the fact that every significant edifice was undergoing renovations, or perchance it was the revelers that clogged the city streets that gave us a not so impressive view of this really fantastic city. Alas, there you have it…we just were't impressed with Munich, BUT do continue dear reader as there's bound to be some interesting tidbits!

Every edifice except, of course, the famous Glockenspiel.

The first thing we realized on the 45 minute train trip from the airport is that Germany's largest state is utterly flat. Pancake flat. I mean where are all of the Fairytale Castles Nestled in alpine mountains? If you don't believe me, just study this map…

See…dark "White Beer."

Munich's name is derived from the German word for, "Monk." It was these monks that originally settled in the area, and as we all know monks make beer. This beer culture permeates life throughout this region culminating in the annual Oktoberfest. Now, you know that I am not opposed to a nice beer from time to time, but these guys take beer-drinking to a whole new level. A small beer in Munich is 1/2 liter, and there is very little distinction among the various "varieties" of beer. A dark Weißbeer (yes, Virginia,  they do exist) tastes pretty much like the Helles which tastes exactly like the Pislner. This deserves our first, "meh." That said, the food scene in Munich is rather interesting. There are loads of vegetarian restaurants, and the Münchenern are certainly not afraid of experimenting and trying new cuisines. Munich definitely broke the bratwurst and sauerkraut stereotype. This certainly deserves our first, "woohoo!"

Veggie Burgers!

…and of course, the traditional Bavarian snack. 

Munich is also well know for her tremendous history, and for some amazing architecture. Again, unfortunately during our visit the buildings that weren't bombed flat by the allies were wrapped in construction tarps and scaffolds. To be fair Jeni and I didn't travel down to the mountains to see Crazy King Ludwig's masterpieces, but I am not exaggerating when I say every building of note was under some sort of renovation. You'd think the city elder's might have planned this a bit better. "Meh" number two.

Like the Frauenkirche Cathedral.

And the Theatine Church...

…which is really lovely inside!

This leads me to my third and final, "meh." Anyone who does not live under a rock knows that the Germans love their soccer, and Bayern Munich may be one of the hottest teams in club-league right now. The weekend of our trip to Die Roten (literally 'The Reds') lifted the Bundesliga trophy before thousands (?) of faithful supporters…all of whom started drinking beer around 10am. Needless to say, this may be one more reason we were lukewarm during our holiday in Germany's Star of the South.

Mayhaps, we are just spoiled. Probably so. At any rate, I wouldn't say we had a bad time in Muncih. In fact the people were warm and welcoming, and their restaurants exceeded expectations. In fact now that I reflect back on our trip, I would certainly say there were many interesting things we discovered while in Bavaria. Not the least of which was River Surfing on the Isar. Woohoo!