Munich Tours and Folk Fest Frivolity

We made a plan to get together for breakfast at 8:30 so that we could be on the metro into town by 9:30. The only problem with that plan? Renata's beds are super comfortable and we were very tired! We were all down at breakfast by 9:45 and then we seemed quite content to take our time. Renata brought out a wonderful assortment of meats, breads, cheeses, fruit, coffee and tea. Marina stopped off at the bread store to buy some fresh pretzels and some sweet pastries. It was all so delicious. Renata let us know that this wasn't how typical Germans at breakfast. You could see the wheels in Michelle's head turning trying to see how we could fold this kind of spread into our normal breakfast routine.

Finally "tour guide Marina", as we are lovingly referring to her, kicked into action and got us moving towards the door with a shout, "Hey guys!" We made it to the metro station, not for the 9:45 train (oops!) But for the 10:15. A short ride and a jaunt over to the Marienplatz, Munich's main square, we met the other exchange student Tim and Michelle hosted many years ago, Pia . It was a sweet reunion for Tim and Michelle and also Marina since Pia has been studying and traveling.

As the greetings continued and while we waited for the glockenspiel show, Pia and Marina explained the scenes around us. We were standing in the middle of a protest with a high security presence. She mentioned how organized these events are with one day being those with right leaning political beliefs and the next day those leaning to the left, and back and forth they go. The problem, she said, was that they never really talk to each other. As for the buildings, in one direction was the New Town Hall buildings that have been restored since WWI and the other direction was St. Paul's church that was reconstructed from damage done during WWII. Then the marionette clock show began, demonstrating how they conquered their enemies. An exciting few minutes!

Marina and Pisa led us on a tour through Munich with many historical sites and cultural experiences. We walked through the Viktualien Market and enjoyed shops and booths of fresh vegetables, fruit, olives, decorations and our favorite, The Crazy Ice Cream Maker. We've been told he makes many great flavors of ice cream but always has a few weird ones he offers as well. Marina mentioned a german sausage ice cream she tried once, and Pisa said there was a salmon one once too. When you order your regular flavors you are then offered a taste of one of the weird flavors. This shop was a small one, so no weird flavors here. Instead we enjoyed lime&cherry, mango, white chocolate and a few other German named flavors. Delicious!!

Back to the tour, we walked past the large cubed Jewish Historical museum/monument. We stepped into the narrow Asam Church and awed at the beautiful dark baroque decor in such a small setting. Continuing on, we stopped at another church and learned of the legend that the builder made a pact with the Devil so that he could build the church higher. The deal was that the Devil would allow the tall height, but when he stepped into the church he didn't want to see any windows in the church except for the one at the alter area. The Devil ended up loosing, as the builder built the church so that there were no visible windows from the entrance, but once you stepped inside 5-6 steps you would see there were many tall windows covering the sanctuary. It is said that the Devil was so angry that he stamped his foot on the ground, leaving a permanent footprint in the floor of the church.

On the outside, along the bottom of the church walls were lined with headstones and relics. Around another corner was a car free shopping street which gave our group a moment to spread out and step into the Deutches Museum store of gadgets and innovations for all ages.

All this walking and shopping worked up our appetite for the famous Hofbrauhaus (HB). We sat outside and were entertained by college guys being guys and multiple groups of bachelor and bachelorette parties. As an appetizer we gobbled up the biggest pretzel we had ever seen with our pints of Belgium beer. With all this we still managed to have room for the traditional dishes of sausage, sauerkraut, purple cabbage salad, pork with potato and bread balls in a sauce.

Continuing through the shopping district, Pia showed us her favorite spice shop with three stories of global spices. Then next door we stopped at the tea shop and left with a few packages of tea to take home. Tim was rather patient as these two stores took quite some time for the ladies! (We are still hunting for more Marzipan tea for Michelle.)

The day continued with a walk through the Odeonsplatz (the square that links past and present Munich.) Here we saw the stage, Viscardigasse, where Hitler attempted his first coup and was later arrested. Also in this square was the church where sweet Pia lit a candle for our safe travels. Across from the church we strolled around the Residenz Munchen and through the royal court gardens (Hofgarten) and through the gazebo. We stopped at the Englischer Garten and watched surfers line the canal and alternate jumping in to do their tricks at the one wave. The strong current would sweep the fallen surfers quickly down the canal. We are thankful our active boys don't live near this extreme sporting site.

Nearby we stopped at the once broken down graffitied WC (water closet). Now the refurbished, Freulein's Grunier, offers a selection of beverages for those entering the beautiful park. Here we had iced coffee and our first Mezzo soda-a 50/50 mix of Coke and Fanta. Yum! Guess what European kid-friendly drink we will be making back home?

You might be thinking after all these events of the day and walking for hours that we would be exhausted and head home to sleep. Oh not at all! These traveling Hardley's & Jackson's have Folkfest to attend. This is small town version of Oktoberfest that travels from city to city in Munich throughout the year. Think Oktoberfest mixed with your local fair. One very large tent with all of the traditional Oktoberfest trappings (beer, food, a live band, lots of happy people and tables for them to dance on) and all of the carnival rides and games of your local fair. We were excited and happy that our visit coincided with the event.

It was a train ride out of the city, a pit stop at the house to grab a scarf (Tim's outfit does not change) and we were off. Thankfully Pia's boyfriend, Dominik and his friend Frank were willing to drive so we could all attend. Marina's mom Renata joined us as well. In all, we were a merry band of 9 that night.

Walking into the Folk Fest we were surprised to see so many people dressed I traditional Bavarian garb. Special dresses for the ladies and lederhosen for the men. It seemed like everyone, young and old, was wearing their traditional clothing for the occasion. Pia told us that you could tell if a woman was taken or single by the tie on the apron of her dress. If the tie was on the left she was single, if it was on the right she was taken and if it was on the back it meant she was a widow. She did admit that sometimes when ladies go to these events they will move the ties back and forth depending on if they want to encourage attention, and possibly have a beer purchased for them, or if they want to discourage attention, especially towards the end of a festive evening.

The food and company were great, and the band was a cover band playing a lot of popular German and American songs. We were all pretty excited when an American song came on, both because the Germans sang enthusiastically along with it and because we could join in as well. There was a bit of modern, but also some old classics (anyone remember AC/DC? They do!). We stayed into the wee hours of the evening in this surreal moment, standing on table seats with beer steins raised high singing at the top of our lungs and surrounded by thousands of new German friends. It was a memorable one for sure!