Munich Rules

I have returned from the land of my ancestors and it's not clear to me why they left in the first place. They had everything they needed right where they were. They must not have known how good they had it.

We spent three nights in a small village in the Alps and three nights in the beautiful, cosmopolitan city of Munich. The thing that made this trip possible was the discounted rate we received on our hotel because a relative works in the hotel industry. As a result, we stayed in hotels that were so swank they made me feel like James Bond. Thank you, Anne!

Short summary of our trip - lots of beer, churches, castles, pretzels, and bratwurst. I renounced vegetarianism for a week so I could get the real German experience. Bavarians aren't known for their vegetarianism and there wasn't a whole lot of tofu on the menu. The word that best describes the Bavarian diet is "hearty." A lot of Munich - the cuckoo clocks, steins, and food - reminded me of holidays at my grandparents house.

Everyone in Munich is thin, fit, and athletic despite drinking beer from enormous tankards in the afternoon (see above photo). I normally don't drink beer but I developed a taste for it and now I have to find out where they serve Paulaner Pils and Heiffen-Weisan (sp?) here in the states.

And I think I speak for all Americans when I say Biergartens - where you drink a beer outside on a sunny day in a park - is an idea whose time has come for America. We should import the concept, although German drinking is different than American. In Germany, I saw many people drinking and only one clearly drunk person. I suppose that is what happens when your beer is so damn good and not cheap.

Quick notes:

- Munich is home of BMW's headquarters. BMW is the maker of luxury automobiles, you may have heard of them.

- Downtown Munich, which is a car-free historic district, is a shopping capital ranking up there with London and Paris. On Saturdays it is as crowded as Times Square.

- I thought it was an exaggeration when people said German trains were always on time but their system tracked the clock to the minute, I never waited more than 10 minutes for one.

- Just about every German speaks some English but I always felt like a presumptuous ass forcing people to speak my language. As I've felt after all my international trips, I have renewed compassion for people who speak English as a second language here in the US.

- In a foreign country, you can tell whether you blend in or not by which language the airline attendants use when they first start speaking to you.

- Germans have deep respect for law and order. Signs reading "Stay off the grass" mean exactly that, no one jaywalks, and employees aren't afraid to forcefully tell you to knock it off if you are behaving incorrectly. The Germans have an expression, "The nail that sticks out gets the hammer."

A friend of mine who once lived in Austria told me a story about his time there. It was late at night, around 2:00 AM. He looked out the window and saw a guy who was so drunk he could barely stand up. The man was waiting patiently on the corner for the sign to turn from "Don't Walk" to "Walk." There wasn't a car in sight. Quite a contrast to America, where I've jaywalked in front of cops.

Sometimes the German mindset comes across as a bit restrictive but man, we sure could have used it on our return flight when we were surrounded by screaming kids with parents who wouldn't discipline them. That experience made me long for Munich.

Speaking of kids, this is the last vacation we will have before our first child arrives in late September. I forgot to mention that my wife is seven months pregnant. It's a girl and her name will be Fiona Lilah.

It's good to be home. I'll post pictures in a bit.

Comments

[Colleen Wainwright]

I'd say the same thing about Germany and my ancestors, too, only mine were, you know, Jews, so I'm kinda glad they relocated. I loved my trip there, too--such beauty and order and amazing cities--but I confess to feeling a bit uneasy the entire time. FWIW.

To completely change the subject, congratu-f**king-lations! And boy, howdy--now we know that Dave Greten sure can keep a secret!

[Dave Greten]

Hey Communicatrix,
What you say is very true and I'll agree it was a wise migration. I suppose my ancestors' migration was a good idea too considering they didn't have to endure the war and their hands were not marked with the stain of genocide. Thank God.

Did you ever read "The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay"? That book gave me a lot of insight into how Jews had to deal with anti-Semitism during the 30s and 40s. A real eye-opener.

>congratu-f**king-lations!<

That made me laugh out loud and thank you :-)

[Colleen Wainwright]

Funny you should mention K+C--I'm reading it now. Or I should say, I'm reading it while I'm at The BF's. I keep a stack of books at both pads and dammit, this cold has kept me from finishing a truly spectacular novel. That Mike Chabon sure can write, can't he?

[Dave Greten]

>That Mike Chabon sure can write, can't he?<

He's one of those guys (him and Eggers) who write so well it sometimes makes me angry. Envy is a horrible, horrible thing.

[tomc]

great news, dave. congrats & love the name!

for neat baby gear & other cool stuff, you might want to check out Grass Roots Modern (http://grassrootsmodern.com/). the author of that blog just had a baby ...

[A guy named Dan]

funny way to find out the sex and name of your baby. Technology! What a world we live in.

Great pics!