Tag: München

Auf der Wiesn with Democrats Abroad

Democrats Abroad raised funds again this year by hosting a visit to the Wiesn, as it’s known. We had a swell time with the Zurikas last year, and were immediately keen to reserve some spots for us this time around too…and we had the pleasure of the company of some pals from Heidelberg, too.

We departed Regensburg bright and early on Sunday morning to beautiful weather. Our reservation was not guaranteed for arrival after 11:00, and we had to pick up our tickets between 09:00 and 10:00 in the Munich Hauptbahnhof — which meant a departure from Regensburg at 07:44. Ugh — but it’s all in the name of a party, and proved to be worth it in the end.

When we arrived at the Theresienwiese around 10:00, we found the main thoroughfares not quite hopping yet with people. But when we made our way to the Schottenhamel tent closer to 11:00, we found out why — they were all getting their sunny outdoor beer tent patio buzz on, or else queued up a hundred yards long. Lots of excellent flanking maneuvers for position in typical German crowd style. If you’ve ever waited in line for anything in Germany with locals present, you know what I mean.

After we got our fill (and believe me, we were voll), our local expert Scott led us to the Teufelsrad tent. Lots of Oktoberfest carnival stuff makes kind of a weird impression on me (did you spot the Mack Truck / Geordi LaForge / windsurfing montage on the bumper cars display above?), but it’s usually a concept not completely foreign to me. The Teufelsrad was something completely new for us. Here’s the gist:

  1. The announcer calls groups of kids, teens, adults, families, whatever to pile on to a disc-shaped platform.
  2. The effects of inertia are applied, and augmented as necessary by the staff.
  3. Merriment ensues.

With the Damen und Herren gemischt, a slightly saucier sense of humor began to emerge. First some hulahooping (reminiscent of the old Wheel-of-Fortune prize carousel) to “Mambo No. 5.” And then after instructing the men to lay prone, heads toward the middle, the advice to the women was (loosely translated)

Ladies, pick out an available butt and have a seat. Don’t worry — in this position, men are completely harmless.

A final word of caution for the men:

Gentlemen, please do not turn over; this is not the company picnic.

Man Butt Rodeo from Cliff 1976 on Vimeo.

And then the announcer chose a couple of scrappy little guys to bob and weave while we cheered them on.

It was a nice way to spend a sunny afternoon with friends. I am looking forward to next year already.

Getting a burrito in Munich

Two choices here, both courtesy of Emily over at Servus München (thanks!). Sarah noticed her nod to Wahaka, and later she clued us in to Milagros.

Wahaka

Not far from the Munich Hauptbahnhof, we ducked in there on a chilly Saturday afternoon. We both had chicken burritos and they came with the stuff you’d want: a nice limey salsa, guacamole, black or pink beans, seasoned rice, sour cream, shredded cheese. Sarah had a beef burrito once there, and the beef was Typical German Weirdbeef™ — but the chicken ones when I was in attendance were great. And about 5 lousy German corn chips.

So don’t go there if you’re expecting Dolores (like in Berlin). Given the reported Weirdbeef™ and chips, I’ll be cautious about trying other stuff. But the chicken burrito worked and I’d do that again. Just not on a Sunday, because they’re closed then. Also, there appeared to be a downstairs Party Room, possibly decorated with Piñatas in staircase. ¡Fiesta!

Milagros

But Milagros at the Viktualienmarkt is open Sundays. We stopped in there a couple Sundays ago for an early lunch. Viktualienmarkt, when everything is closed and slushy, is really depressing. Good thing the restaurant was open, warm, and inviting. We were the only guests in there the whole time, so I think they’re either still getting the word out, or Viktualienmarkt is just like that Sundays around noon.

I had a burrito and Sarah had a chicken enchilada verde. They brought over a little pico de gallo and some outstanding corn chips. And the pico was wonderful — heavy on the lime and cilantro. The menu got me looking forward to cilantro soup, but sadly, it was unavailable. The burrito I got was kind of a letdown, flavor-wise. It might have been too much Mex and not enough Tex. But Sarah’s enchilada was excellent. As much as I liked the pico de gallo, chips, and the salsa verde on her enchilada, I think my favorite part of the meal was the stroll downstairs to see a man about a horse. The facilities were beautiful talavera tile and sinks, spotless, and generous. And playing on the Muzak de baño was a cute little vocabulary lesson intended for the German traveler making friends and visiting an internet cafe in a Spanish-speaking country.

Both places are worthy of another visit under the right conditions. Maybe I’ll call ahead next time to make sure that cilantro soup is really an option.

Five Munich Christmas Markets and an upcoming trip to Turkey

Englischer Garten near Chinesicher Turm

Englischer Garten near Chinesicher Turm

Yesterday we headed down to the Munich Airport in Freising to scope out some deals for Christmas travel. We were thinking about some place exotic, and at least kind of warm (though a fantastic deal on a trip to Iceland would not have been out of the question), wanting to add another country to our list. Cyprus, Egypt, Turkey, Morocco and even Thailand were in the mix. In the end, we opted for a 10-night stay in the Turkish Riviera region at an all-inclusive resort. Since we’re going toward the end of December, we’re not expecting weather particularly well-suited for pool lounging; rather we’re hoping for more opportunities to check out the area. The travel agent assured us that hotel-arranged and public transport would meet our needs for getting out and around. Feedback in advance about the area will be much appreciated!

After that, we met up with the Zurikas and caught a bus to the Chinesischer Turm in the Englischer Garten in Munich. We hit the Christmas Market there and snagged some adorable mugs as memorabilia. We didn’t have to renege on the deposit at all — they’ll happily sell you clean, unused mugs for the same price as the deposit on the one you just drained.


After that, we spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying four, yes four! additional Christmas markets:

  • The artsy one in Schwabing
  • The one at Sendlinger Tor, where I purchased some really nifty “glittens” — fingertipless gloves with a removable mitten-like hood over the otherwise exposed fingertips (these will be perfect for winter photography and bike-lock fumbling)
  • Pink Christmas
  • The renfesty one (near Odeonsplatz), which was suprisingly crowded, considering the lack of soup-in-a-bread-bowl until we got ourselves some Feuerzangenbowle (see the goblets with rum-soaked sugar cubes on the side? Yeah, they light that stuff on FIRE!)


Aw, bummer, we’d just missed him!

WEBUM 2009 Munich

Another WEBMU is now behind us. I was very glad to see friends from last the last meetup in Bremen again, and sad that others couldn’t make it this time around. But that’s part of the experience, I guess. Some made it to this one who weren’t at the previous one, and some of those were new to me, and I’m glad to have met them, too.

I’m posting the best of the photos I took to the WEBMU Flickr group graciously administered by Snooker, and ones involving meetuppers will be marked private by default, unless said subjects give the OK to publish them publicly. Sarah and I don’t mind if any of the pictures you took of us are publicly or privately viewable. We’re pretty sure there’s nothing of us terribly incriminating anyone managed to capture.

So now, we get a few months to bask in the glory that this meetup provided, before the voting and planning cycle can start all over again. I’m excited. Big thanks from me to the driving forces behind the planning and execution of this meetup and to all the attendees. Our hosts showed what a great city Munich is to walk around or have a relaxing Biergarten meal and our participants reminded us (yet again) that while all we nominally have in common is being foreign bloggers, when we get together, we have a rockin’ good time.