Another Day in Munich

9-6-2008

Not going to lie, after last night (see previous post) this morning was a little rough. However, that didn’t stop me from tagging along with the group to visit Nymphenburg Castle.  It is a beautiful royal summer home with a massive pathed garden that made me wish I would have taken my running shoes along.  

That was a relatively short tour and later in the day, a group of us journeyed out to the Englischer Garten, a park that dwarfs Central Park in New York. After getting off at the wrong U-ban stop and asking a kind old lady to lead us to where we needed to go, we made our way into this beautiful piece of real estate. Right in the middle of the park is, not surprisingly, a beer garden full of Germans and tourists enjoying a beautiful Saturday afternoon. In a Chinese pagoda a live polka band towered over the gardens and filled the park with a grand German drinking accompaniment. 

Let me back track just a tad to the old lady. This woman is a prime example of the selfless kindness most Europeans posses. I asked this lady to point us in the direction of the Englischer Garten. Instead, she walks us a good kilometer out of her way to get us on the street we needed to be on. Perhaps she realized none of us spoke German so she couldn’t explain directions. However, even if that is the case, she could have waved us off and went on her merry way. But she took the time to get us where we needed to go.  Kind people please me.

 Anywho, moving on with the story: We grabbed a beer and just chilled in the park for a few hours, getting to know each other and seeing some peculiar sights. Afterward, we made our way once again to the Haufbrauhouse and enjoyed a light dinner, and a few liters. The walk back from there was rather leisurely as we took in the sites. I stopped with a fellow traveler to listen to what I think was probably the most talented busking group I’ve ever seen perform.