Surfing in Munich

On July 5th, my brother, Cameron, came to visit me, and we were able to meet up with our cousin, Rachel, in Munich after she finished her study abroad tour in Spain! We had planned this a few months ago, and let's just say that it was worth the wait!

We were fortunate enough to be hosted by some of my friends from UC living and working at BMW in Munich.

On Saturday morning, our first stop was the Munich Rathaus (city hall) Glockenspiel (clock tower). To give you an idea of what we saw, the ringing of the bells and "show" that goes along with it are the second most overrated tourist attraction in Europe (only behind the Astronomical Clock that is mentioned in my post about Prague; I hit them both!). In order to appreciate it, you have to imagine how entertaining it would have been before we had instant access to movies and music through the internet and TV. It is neat, but it I wouldn't make a trip to Munich just to see it…

We took a tour (details in a future post) and climbed the "Old Peter" church to get a nice view of the city. We were also lucky enough to be on the top to watch the excitement that is the Glockenspiel for a second time from a new angle! It didn't help. We left halfway through.

And, how could you visit Munich without a meal at the legendary Hofbräuhaus. We ate in a beautiful, outdoor beer garden and had a delicious meal. I also borrowed (with no intention of returning) one of their beer steins. Sorry, bros!

It just so happened that they were hosting a festival in Germany (they seem to do that a lot), so we hopped on over. Tollwood is essentially a giant fair held on the former Olympic grounds. Anton and his roommate, Fedi, joined us, and we were able to meet up with Julia (a German friend I met on our second skiing trip to Austria)!

She took us to the main event for the night, a silent disco. You wouldn't have been able to tell that it was the marquee event walking by the tent. Everyone uses headphones (you get two options of songs) and dances in apparent silence. It was a very interesting and unique (somewhat awkward) experience for all, but it was fun nonetheless!

Later in the trip, we took a lovely stroll around the English Gardens of Munich. There, we came across some typical German beer gardens, and something atypical in Germany: surfing! Now, you say, "Nate, you must have had too much of that German beer. Germany is a landlocked country! There is no way you saw people surfing!" To this, I would respond with the simple fact that Germans are incredible engineers, especially when it comes to doing things they love. They actually dug a ditch where the current is strongest in order to create a wave to surf on. No, it's not riding along a pipeline wave like in Hawaii, but it's still quite inventive!

Of course, what would a visit to the English Garden be without a beer garden and a giant pretzel!

We also paid a visit to the Augustiner Brewery and Restaurant, which is home to Munich's "best beer" (according to many locals). The schnitzel there is quite good also!