Waiting...for the family

My family is finally arriving in Munich and I couldn´t be happier. They will be arriving here (God willing) tomorrow morning after making a one hour stop in Düsseldorf. I have prepared the super tour of Munich and its surroundings and hope that they get to enjoy and fall in love with this city as much as I have. Therefore I am anticipating that I will have little time to go to any Internet cafes to update the blog, but I promise to write a couple of lines from time to time as long as I can get to one. We will be in Munich Saturday and Sunday so they can get to experience some of the festivities of the Oktoberfest and then its off to Vienna on Monday.

Bis bald!!!! (Hasta pronto....till later)

Oktoberfest - Part I

Let’s get this party started.

My first beer at the Oktoberfest inside the Paulander tent

Ozapft is!!-the barrel is tapped- yelled the mayor of Munich at noon on Saturday after he tapped the first barrel of beer and so began the 174th Oktoberfest. Before the tapping ceremony there is a parade where horses from all the different breweries enter the Wiesn with barrels of beer. We got to the Wiesn at around 11 o’clock in the morning to try to watch it all; but forget it. The place was so full that it was nearly impossible to try to get a glimpse of the tapping ceremony. Everybody and their mother were at the Wiesn. Since the tents where already opened we decided instead to go inside the Paulander tent and try to get a seat. And even though we did not have a reservation (the school has the reservation for next Saturday) we lucked out. We found a table on the second floor that was only reserved from 4PM on. The good thing is that from the second floor windows we were able to see part of the horse’s parade. We sat down and waited patiently until 12 o’clock: they are not allowed to serve beer before noon since that is the time when the Oktoberfest officially starts. The tent was full of people, all eager for the mayor to finally do his thing so they could order their first of many liters of beer (Maβ). Just after noon, the band that plays at the Paulander tent walked inside the tent as they were playing some music, positioned themselves on the music podium, handed out a couple of beers, and got the party started inside our tent.

Horse´s parade -------Oktoberfest 2007

And what can I tell you: Oktoberfest is mad crazy, la locura total, lots and lots of fun, and lots and lots of beer. Everyone is happy, everyone smiles and laughs, everyone is having a good time. Everyone talks to you and you talk to everyone. Everyone is just part of a big happy family. I’m not necessarily the biggest beer fan but once again the German beer didn’t let me down. It was very good: good taste and very cold. Just before 4 o’clock we had to give up the table for the people who had it reserved. We walked then into another smaller tent and also found a place where we could theoretically sit down. There is actually not much sitting down at the Oktoberfest. Somehow you always end up standing up on the benches while singing traditional Bavarian music, German Music, or plain old English songs which are a favorite of locals and visitors (country rooooadddd take me home to the plaaaaace I beloooong West Virginiaaaaa; We are the Champions from Queen, Summer of 69 from Bryan Adams, Que Viva España, etc) and toasting with your neighbors. We left at around 8 PM, time at which we were starving but didn’t feel like having any German sausages or any other greasy fair food. So instead we decided to go to an Indian Restaurant near where I live. One of our usual suspects from the group is leaving Munich soon so this was kind of a farewell dinner. And I have to say that the Indian food finally redeem itself with me. Up until now, most of the true Indian food I had tasted was not to my liking; except the one in Ibiza which was kind of a blend of Indian/middle eastern food. But this place had authentic Indian food and it was very good!!!

Riding out the first Maß (1Liter beer)

Sunday´s Parade

On the first Sunday of Oktoberfest there is also a parade at the city center where the different towns and communities of the state of Bavaria march wearing their traditional clothing (trachter). There are also bands that accompany them. This time around we were able to get a good and decent spot to watch the parade. It was really nice as there were a lot of people of all ages marching with their “trachter”. And the weather couldn’t have been better. It was warm (without being too hot) and there was not even a cloud in the sky. It’s amazing how much the weather changed right on time for the Oktoberfest. The weather has been perfect during the last 3 days. Of course, after the parade we had to go once again to the Wiesn to continue enjoying the fun of the Oktoberfest. This time around we were able to get a seat inside the Hofbrau tent. This tent, from what I had been told, is the one where all the young people go to (the tent where I belong, the tent I was borned to be in during the Oktoberfest, ja ja ja!!!). I had to go there to be able to continue partying with my twenty-something year olds. So with all the young crowd coming to this tent, you can imagine how crazy it was in there. Everyone was standing on the benches or the tables, everyone was singing (well actually yelling while they pretending to sing), and lots and lots of people just standing up on the hallways. It was almost impossible to walk from one side of the tent to the other. But nevertheless it was once again lots of fun. A good thing is that there are lots of security personnel and police officers both inside and outside the tents. So they do a pretty good job controlling all the drunk people. I still haven’t seen the first fight or the first scary incident. I’ve only seen like 2 or 3 men being escorted out (peacefully and without any sign of resistance or violence) of the tents. Now, what I have seen is quite a few people who have to be taken in a stretcher because they are way too drunk. This is funny; they lay them down in a stretcher and they cover them completely (including their faces) with a yellow plastic. They do this so it is not such a big embarrassment for them to be taken out of the Oktoberfest in such a state and also so the other drunk people along the way don’t start making fun of them or taking pictures of them. And I know what you may be thinking but NO!!! I haven’t been taken out in a stretcher…..at least not yet!!!. With only drinking a beer during each stay at the Oktoberfest I don’t think I will be needed one at all.

Hofbrau tent

Someone who had too much to drink being carried on a stretcher

This week I do not have class so I’ll be enjoying the Oktoberfest in the meantime while I also get ready for my family’s visit (they arrive on Saturday). OK, I have to leave, Oktoberfest awaits me….but I promise to have a beer in your name and toast for all my good friends "on the other side of the blue sea". PROST!!

Hoy (Today)

Hoy comprobe una vez mas, que no se mueve la hoja de un arbol sin la voluntad de Dios; que todo tiene su razon de ser; todo lo que nos pasa es parte de un plan que poco a poco vamos descubriendo, sigilosamente aceptando y alegremente disfrutando....con una sonrisa en los labios, en el alma y en el corazon.

Today I confirmed once again that not even a leaf moves without God´s will, that everything happens for a reason, everything that happens to us is part of a plan that we slowly discover, cautiously accept and happily enjoy....with a smile on our face, our heart and our soul.

Introduction to the Oktoberfest

Picture of typical German dresses

Oktoberfest is only a couple of days away, and I’ve learned so much about this beer festival from just talking to people, from my teachers, from reading and from watching TV that I had to put it all in writing and share it. Yesterday, I also decided to go to the place where the Oktoberfest is held to look at how everything was being set up: the tents, the rides, the booths, the kiosks with food etc; and of course I made some pictures during the tour. I’m really glad I went. It gave me a chance to look at the place without the millions of visitors that will be there next week and it gave me also the chance to go inside the majority of the tents; something that I think will be very difficult to do next week. After seeing the place I’m all excited and really looking forward the “Wiesn” (that is how lots of locals call the Oktoberfest. Later you’ll learn why). I have already made plans with different groups of people to go to Oktobefest and I can´t hardly wait. Not that I´m necessarily the biggest beer lover but there is such a good vibe around it and in the city as a whole that I´m sure it will be lots of fun.

The first Oktoberfest was held in 1810 as an invitation from the royal family to the commoners of Bavaria to celebrate King Ludwig’s marriage to princess Therese of SachsenHildburghausen. No wonder then that the place where it is held is called Theresienwiese (this is why locals call the festival “Wiesn”) or Therese’s Medow; a big fairground close to Munich’s downtown which hosts other festivals and events throughout the year. The celebration turned into an annual event and this year we are celebrating the 174th Oktoberfest; the largest beer festival in the world. Oktoberfest has only been cancelled in times such as the first and second world wars and an estimated 6 million people visit it during the 2 weeks it lasts.
Here are some of the highlights on the information I’ve gathered:

• Even though it is called Oktoberfest, the festival always starts at the end of September, it lasts 2 weeks and it ends on the first Sunday in October. This year it will run from September 22nd through October 7th. The original celebration took place just in October but over the years it was moved to late September to try to have it during a slightly warmer time (I guess they figured however many more Celsius degrees of warmth they could get were worth moving the party to an earlier date without its name technically loosing validity).
• Each one of the 14 (I believe they are 14 but do not quote me on that) most important breweries in Bavaria set up a huge tent at the Theresienwiese with picnic style tables and benches where they sell of course beer along with traditional Bavarian food. The tents hold up anywhere between 5000 and 9000 eager beer drinkers and they are also set-up with stages for live performances of traditional Bavarian folk music.
  

Parenthesis:
Before visiting the Wiese I thought the tents were just plain old white tents with their white plastic curtains filled with tables and chairs. Just like the tents I got used to at the staging sites during the different FPL hurricanes/storm restorations of 2004 & 2005. Well, I was totally wrong. As you can see from the pictures the tents are much more elaborated than I could ever imagine; both on the outside and on the inside. On the outside they look like traditional Bavarian houses, with the white and blue checkered Bavarian flag (the colors come from the particular white and blue colors of the Bavarian sky) and with typical Bavarian symbols and images such as men and women wearing traditional clothes. And on the inside the tents have been all set up with wooden floors, nicely decorated ceilings and corridors, walls with paintings portraying typical Bavarian landscapes and images, plants, flags, you name it. Some of the tents even have a smaller seating section on a second floor.

Hofbrau Tent (entrance) ----Inside Hofbrau Tent

Augustiner Beer Tent ( look a the white and blue Bavarian sky )
Inside Augustiner Tent – about 2 or 3 tents were serving some beer and food

• In addition to tents, the park is filled with other amusement park type of attractions or rides for kids and adults such as roller coasters, ferry’s wheel, a haunted house, etc.
  The tents open sometime around 8 and 9 o’clock in the morning when they start selling breakfast. Beers is not served until 11 o’clock in the morning and the last call is around 11:30 P.M.

Attractions

• It is very hard to get a seat in one of the tents and they won’t serve you beer unless you are sitting down. The tables are reserved way in advanced (almost a year in advance) and your best bet, if you do not have a reservation, is to go early in the morning, especially during the week. I lucked out because my school has a reservation in one of the tents (I don’t remember which one right now but I’ll tell you all about it later on) for Saturday at 7PM. The reservation is for 40 people and from what I understand they reserved it all the way back in January.
• In the tents the regular beer is served by the liter (a Maβ Bier or Mass Bier in German, well actually in Bavarian dialect) and of course they have a premium price because it is Oktoberfest. Regularly, a maβ (1 liter) costs between 5 and 6 euros. During Oktoberfest the maβ costs between 8-10 euros.
  All the breweries prepare a special brew of white beer for the Oktoberfest which is only sold during this time of the year. The beer is produced in March and because it has been ready since then the alcohol content of the Oktoberfest beer is higher: 7%. On a regular basis the alcohol content of the beer is 5%. No wonder I hear that everyone at the Oktoberfest gets drunk, wasted, smashed, re-chucky, totally gone.
• The Oktoberfest will get kicked off at noon on Saturday (like it always does) by the Mayor of the city who is in charge of tapping the first barrel of beer (a 200 liter barrel) with a hammer. He has to tap the barrel as many times as necessary to get the beer to come out of and then be able to serve the first maβ of beer. Apparently this is a very important deliverable and quite a stressful task for everyone serving term as the Mayor of Munich. All of the press is there to watch him tap the barrel and serve the first liter of beer from the Oktoberfest. If the mayor takes more than 3 tries to break the barrel it won’t look good; and therefore he goes to a special “barrel-tapping” camp to train for this very important day. The one mayor who took the most tries broke it at the 9th tap (pretty embarrassing) and the record is 2.5 (2 hard ones and a soft one). Once the first maβ is served the Mayor hands it over to the Bavarian Minister President (the Governor of the state of Bavaria) and the party gets started.

I hope you enjoyed all the history and trivia behind the Oktoberfest; especially my friends who love beer and I know would love to be here one day to be part of the celebration. I promise to drink a beer in your name!!!!!

But before I conclude this post there is something else I wanted to share. As you know, Germans are all about efficiency and good planning. They think of everything; and I guess that in thinking of everything that the beer consumer at the Oktoberfest may need they came up with what I ran into during my tour of the Wiese: something that only the Germans could think of and that left me quite speechless. I have no words to describe it. A first-aid vending machine where you can insert a couple of euros and obtain everything from band-aids and antiseptic clothes to tablets for throat and stomach aids as well as an alcohol and drug test. Pretty clever no??? But I want you to also pay attention to number 14 (Can you guess what it is)????

First-Aid Vending Machine

Answer: A pregnancy test. (!?!?!?!?!?!?)

Weekend in Munich

After 9 cold, gray and rainy days the sun finally shone over Munich (Yes, we did count the days and there were 9). It happened last Thursday afternoon. I hate to talk about the weather once again but I don’t remember something like this ever happening to me. After a couple of days where you do not see the sun it starts getting to you. The lack of vitamin D definitely has an effect on the way you feel: you have less energy, are less motivated and feel like doing fewer activities. I don’t remember ever experiencing such an overwhelming joy and happiness from just seeing a clear sky, from just seeing the sun. That morning the sky was cloudy and gray, just like the prior nine days, but when I got out of school and I saw the sun I couldn’t stop smiling. And I was not the only one. You could feel a new vibe all over the city; you could feel how happy and bubbly people were out on the streets. The cafés, restaurants and beer gardens set up once again their tables and chairs outside on the sidewalks, people were sitting outside enjoying lunch, a coffee, an ice cream or a beer, a lot more people were driving their bikes and a lot more were out walking. But as the days go by and we get deeper and deeper into the fall the continuous gray days will be more the norm than the exception so I just need to get used to it; and just like a good friend told me the other day: this is all part of the whole experience as well.
So given the weather conditions I explained earlier, most of my time last week was spent just between school, studying at home, jogging, and watching some of the movies I’ve purchased. However on Friday I went out to walk around the city center since I had not done it during a while. I had a long lunch with a friend, did some window shopping and went to Hügendubel (the German version of Barnes & Nobles) where I purchased a fantastic European guide from Lonely Planet (1284 pages with information on all the countries in eastern and western Europe) which I’m now carefully studying and have begun to make a preliminary plan of my backpacking trip early next year. I was surprised by how full downtown was. There were a lot of events taking place that afternoon. All of the stores in the area were for example opened until midnight (they usually close at 8pm) in what was the longest shopping day in Munich. The stores were testing how people would respond to them being opened until later. To make this a livelier event and attract more shoppers as well, the city then planned a series of street performances or concerts all over the downtown area.

The streets were also crowded on Saturday. Everywhere you went in Munich you saw a mass of people: it was great!!!. There was a Street Festival on the “Leopold Strasse”: a street right next to the university which is full of cafés and restaurants. The place was filled with artists displaying and selling their work, music, food, and games. There were also lots of people who were wearing their shirts of the FC Bayern since there had been a game earlier in the afternoon; and even though there was not really a winner – the game was tied 1-1 -, fans from both teams were out celebrating. And I also saw a big number of people wearing the traditional Bavarian dresses (leather pants for the men and the Dirndl for the ladys) all over town. I can only guess that all of this was a preamble to the upcoming Oktoberfest which starts next Saturday, September 22nd. That afternoon my friend Eliana G had also driven to Munich from Frankfurt with a friend. So I caught up with them in the infamous Marienplatz later that afternoon to give them a tour of the city. I have to admit that since this was my first time giving an official tour of Munich and I basically had cero advanced notice to prepare for it, we even ended up walking by places I had never been before and for which I did not have all the historical background and general information I usually like to give. But nevertheless I think I did a pretty decent job with the rest of the tour. Afterwards we went to eat to a French Restaurant where the food was to die for and where Carlos F caught up with us to once again have ourselves a little German school reunion. For me it was great to change from the German and Italian food which is where I always end up eating whenever I eat out in Munich.

Street Festival on Leopold Strasse -- Adri, Carlos F, Eli

On Sunday I had already made plans with some friend to have a Fondue cookout in my apartment (in my little matchbox or Streichholzschächtelchen…..remember?!?!). Now, don’t think I already knew or that because I’m here I’ve learned how to make fondue. No, no no. Not yet at least. We have a friend from Austria who had all the tools required to make a fondue; he even brought the special fondue cheese from his recent visit to Austria/Switzerland. Due to popular demand I took the opportunity that I had some people over to make a short video of my apartment. Well, now that I´m here trying to upload the video it ends up that it is too big and this blogger website does not allow me to upload it. So I´m going to try to edit it to try to shorten it or else I´ll have to creat a new video. Just stay tuned.

And since the days have been so nice lately I also decided to make a couple of short videos of my neighborhood so you get a feeling about the area where I’m leaving. Disclaimer: since this blogger website does not take very big files I made several short videos instead of a long one.
This video just shows me in one of my favorite’s hobbies: being somewhat of a clown (payaseando) and talking smack!!!

The videos show my route to the subway-tram station. As I leave my building and walk past a Laundromat I make a right, walk 2 blocks (past a bunch of apartment buildings, little stores, 2 or 3 beer gardens, some restaurants and bakeries) to the tram stop that takes me to school or the entrance to the subway station that takes me directly to downtown Munich (Munich central station) in about 5 minutes.

Frankfurt

View of Frankfurt downtown from the river promenade

Trying to avoid the "I almost missed the train" experience I had when traveling to Stuttgart, I got to the train station at 5 o’clock on Friday afternoon: 56 minutes before the train’s schedule departure. I had already told a friend I would meet her at the station at that time to have a coffee and to lend her a couple of German movies I just bought so she could watch them over the weekend. Knowing how time flies I do not want to wait until my last week here to purchase books, music and movies in German so I can continue practicing the language once I’m back home. Last week I went on a small DVD shopping spree and started my collection of German movies: Summer in Berlin, One day in Europe, Die fetten Jahren sind vorbei, Alles aus Zücker, Sophie Scholz, and a couple more. Ok, it was 5 o’clock and Eliana S, Sebastian and I met at the designated time and our designated meeting point every time we meet at the main train station: right in front of the "Service Point" underneath the big screen that displays the train departure information. We walked to a nearby Starbucks -it is amazing how many you see now in Germany and how full they always are- where I had a very good vanilla latte. This was actually the first time I had a Starbucks Coffee since arriving in the old continent. After the coffee, they accompanied me to purchase something to eat for the road, walked me to my train and waited until I went inside the wagon, looked for a place to sit down, and waved a final good-bye. As great of a feeling it is to arrive somewhere (airport or train station) and have someone waiting for you, it is also a great feeling to have people accompany you when you leave, say good-bye and wish you a good trip; especially in a train station. I don’t know why but I love train stations, trains and that entire ambiance that surrounds them. I felt like sticking my head out the window, taking out my white handkerchief and waving it out in the air while they yelled at me "No, please don’t go!!. We will miss you!!" and while the 3 of us had this long and sad face. But I didn’t. I think all the businessmen in my wagon who were commuting back home wouldn’t have appreciated it. And in any case, I don’t even own a handkerchief. I guess I just have been watching too many old movies.

So after kissing that idea good-bye I just sat down and began reading my new book: Caballo de Troya I from J. J. Benitez. This time around I took the ICE (Intercity Express) which is the high-speed train of the German Railway system. It took a total of 3 hours to reach the 397km long stretch between Munich and Frankfurt making only 3-2 minutes stops along the way. As the train moves there is a screen which sporadically displays the traveling speed. In between reading and taking a power nap the highest speed I was able to see was 264 km/h although from what I understand the ICE on this route reaches a speed of up to 300 km/h (199 miles/h) depending on whether the train is a first, second, or third generation ICE. I got to Frankfurt at 9PM where Eliana G, another friend from the German school in Medellin, was waiting for me. From the train station we walked about 10 minutes to her place and with me being tired from only a couple of hours of sleep the previous night and a hectic Friday we decided to stay home chatting and catching up and leave the "tour de Frankfurt" for Saturday and Sunday.

Frankfurt´s Skyline

After having ourselves what I consider to be a true and delicious German breakfast: a variety of breads with butter, marmalade, nutella, cheese and coffee; we left the apartment and went on an all-day walking tour of downtown Frankfurt. The weather during the whole weekend was rather cold. The temperature was around 15 Centigrade during the day, but the good thing is that it never rained although it was always overcastted. Frankfurt (population 660,000) has become the banking and finance center of Germany. All the main banks have a sky-scraper here and therefore the skyline of downtown Frankfurt looks more like a city in the northeastern U.S.A. The Commerze Bank for example, with an altitude of 850 ft, is the tallest building in the European Union. The European Central Bank, the bank responsible for the monetary policy of the European Union, is also located here.

European Central Bank

Old Opera House - "To the true, the beautiful, the good"

From the banking district we walked to the old city passing historical buildings and landmarks such as: Römer Platz (what seems to be the main town square and where the city hall is also located), the Dome or cathedral, and the St. Paul’s Church. We then ended up once again by the river. Just like most of the big cities in Germany, Frankfurt lies between the " River Main" which adds a lot of life to the city. There are multiple boats where you can take a trip up and down the river, several promenades along the river where lots of people jog, bike, roller blade or just simply walk, and I also saw quite a number of groups who were rowing. There are of course a good number of bridges to cross the river. What is particular about them is that each bridge has a different look. Some bridges for example are only pedestrians. And from what I was told there is a one they call the "San Francisco" bridge because it resembles the Golden Gate Bridge in that city and then there is another one that is called the Brooklyn bridge. At around 5PM we stopped for a very late lunch or very early dinner: Flammkuchen. This food is actually a French specialty from the region of Alsace. However it is very popular in Frankfurt. Imagine a very very very thin oven baked bread dough (which looks like a pizza crust) with "fresh cream" (something similar to sour cream), onions and bacon. Mmmmmmm very very good. After dinner we made our way back to the finance district and headed to the English Theater, a theater where plays are presented in English. We had tickets to watch Tennessee William’s Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. I’m no theater connoisseur, none at all, but I enjoyed the play a lot and I think it was good. In my humble opinion I think the performances were very good as well. The play lasted circa 3 hours (plus a 30 minute intercession). After the play we just went for a little bit to a nearby bar to have a drink together with a friend from Eliana who had joined us for the play. But don´t fear, I continued with my Apfel shorle diet (I continue refusing to drink beer….at least until the Oktoberfest)

Römer Platz with its half-timbered façades

On Sunday morning we went out with another friend from Eliana to have brunch. Once again I enjoyed a delicious German breakfast: a variety of breads, an even bigger variety of marmalades, cheese, nutella, coffee, etc etc.. And at the end the best part of it all: a lightly warmed apple strudel with a vanilla sauce to die for. Just writing about it makes me want to have another one: Right Now!. I have to google the recipe as this has definitely become my favorite German dessert. After brunch we walked to Sachsenhausen and Alt-Sachsenhausen (Old-Sachsenhausen): a part of the city we didn’t visit on Saturday. The old part of this neighborhood is an area where you can find a small pedestrian zone filled with bars and restaurants. The small and narrow streets on the pedestrian zone are made out of stone and the restaurants and bars are very old houses with what I just discovered is called half-timbered façades. As we entered the area of Alt-Sachsenhausen I stopped, took a look around and said to Eliana: "Eli!!! This is the place we were when Germany won the 1990 World Cup. This is the place where we watched the final against Argentina and this is the place where we celebrated with all the drunk and euphoric Germans" Well, it so happens that when we came for the student exchange experience seventeen years ago we were all reunited in Frankfurt the day before flying back home to Colombia. On that last night in Frankfurt, Germany was playing in Italy the final of the World Cup (soccer) against Argentina. So you can imagine how the streets of Frankfurt were on that night after the game was over. The youth hostel we stayed in that night (which we also walked by and took pictures of) is located basically behind the zone where the restaurants are located and right in front of the river. The funny thing is that as we walked around this area we made another very interesting discovery: a Colombian Restaurant; Sapo Rey – Fonda Colombiana. Of course we ran to it to look at the menu and see what they had to offer. We did not eat anything there but now I know that if I want a bandeja paisa I have to travel to Frankfurt on Wednesdays or Sundays. So instead we went to a very good Mexican restaurant on another part of the city (Bornheim) where I had a delicious Enchilada de Pollo and where the music being played had the following formula:

A song from Los Diablitos (Heavy Vallenato) + El Combo de las Estrellas.

I can only guess that the "DJ" was also Colombian. There is no other nationality possible for such music selection. But in a city like Frankfurt this all did not catch me by surprise. Frankfurt is a multicultural city. Just by walking by I found for example a lot of restaurants from different countries, something very different from Munich where you basically just find German and Italian restaurants and small fast-food places where to eat a Turkish Döner Kebab.

Alt-Sachsenhausen -- Sapo Rey, Fonda Colombiana

I left Frankfurt at 9 o’clock on Sunday night having had yet another wonderful and unforgettable weekend!!! Once again it was great to spend time with old friends. Even though I see Eli often and talk to her frequently I finally had the chance to see where she lives and let her give me a tour of the city where she has been working for almost a year now. Even tough I have to say I almost asked for my money back: she didn’t know exactly what all the places were or even where they were. For example the only time we took the subway: we took it on the wrong direction and ended up having to get off on the last stop as everyone got off the train and the lights inside the wagon were turned off; and we didn’t visit the Palmen Garten (Palms Garden) because "the palms in there are exactly like the ones in front of her house in Medellin" (even tough I have to agree with her on this one. Everything they find exotic in here and for which you have to pay a premium price –plants, animals, fruits – you can find out in the open anywhere in Latin America. I almost had to fire her but then I realized I was her first customer as a tour guide of Frankfurt. Thank God we had a book that helped us identify the most relevant places. It included a walking tour which we completed about 80-90%. But nevertheless, this gave us a lot of good material to laugh about. I had a scheduled 10 minute train connection in Würzburg but the arriving train was delayed so I had to wait about 25 minutes. I got to Munich’s central station 10 minutes before 1 o’clock in the morning and ran to catch the second to last subway for the day at 1 o’clock. By the time I got home, unpacked, and got everything ready for the next day I ended up getting only about five and half hours of sleep. But it was all worth it!! I planned it so that I would leave in one of the last trains to be able and spend as much time as possible in Frankfurt!!!!

Tegernsee

Tegernsee

All the signs are there. Everyday it gets a little bit colder, we get more clouds, more rain and less sun. The first snow flakes already fell at an altitude of 1,200 meters on the mountains near Munich. The leaves of the trees are just beginning to change their color and you can find more and more dried leaves on the floor. The TV channels began this week to release their new programming: new shows and new seasons of German’s favorite shows such as CSI, Law and Order, Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, House etc (Thank God because the programming was awful). The radio stations have began to minimize (and hopefully will stop very soon) playing the “Summer Hits of 2007”. Those songs that will become the “Azerejes” and “Macarenas” of tomorrow (Eeeyyy Macarena aahha!!). The types of songs that get played over and over and over on the radio and on TV, on all types of bars and clubs, and in the stores while you are shopping and which you can’t help but to sing along since they have such a contagious rhythm and easy to remember lyrics: usually silly and meaningless. (Note to myself: I’m talking about “Vayamos Compañeros”, “It’s going to be a hot summer”, and “The questions is, what is the question”). This is just so I remember in the future which songs I’m talking about since I refuse to get them. Ok, I’ll continue with my train of thought. Everyone is returning from their 3-4 week long summer vacations and getting back into their routines. In other words what I’m trying to say is that THE FALL IS DEFINITELY HERE. Monday night I slept with the window closed for the first time since I arrived here. On Tuesday the temperature was 45 degrees when I went out jogging at 5 PM and it started to rain half way through my journey. I have to say I’m very lucky I did not catch a cold. And then last night I had to turn on the heater for the first time. However, towards the end of the week and the weekend the temperature is supposed to be around 50 for the lows and around 72 for the highs. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed in hope that the meteorologists are right since I’m going away for the weekend. But this shouldn’t surprise me. Just like we had an unusual summer it seems we will have an unusual fall. Everyone keeps telling me that it is never so cold this early in September.

This past weekend was a rather quiet one and I ended up doing what has by now become a habit every time I’m here for the weekend: visiting a lake near Munich. This time it was the turn to go to Tegernsee. We visited this vacationing town and lake for a couple of hours and had ourselves a picnic while enjoying the views of the lake and the mountains. Tegernsee is a small town about 1 hour south of Munich where lots of well-off people have a weekend home. The town, to my surprise, is very lively with lots of people walking all around, cars driving by and a rather big arts and crafts market. I said “to my surprise” because I was expecting this small town to be very quiet. On the most part the small towns in Bavaria (actually in all of Germay and maybe even most of Europe) are extremely quiet and calmed down on Sundays. They are basically ghost towns: all stores are closed, there are only a couple of cafés opened, the streets are empty and everyone is either in their homes or visiting relatives, or they are gone on a trip to nearby place. But Tegernsee wasn’t like that. Even tough the day was somewhat cold and therefore there were no people sunbathing or practicing water sports, there were still lots of people who were taking a ride on their boats.

Another thing that caught my attention is that there were lots of people doing parasailing or Han gliding from a mountain near the lake. As we sat down to have our picnic we could see the many parachute-like equipment (I have no idea what it is called) coming down!!! Mmmmmmmm….there is an idea ;-)

Jogging

Nymphemburg-Front facade with Swan´s Pond

On Monday I went back to school and started a new course level: C1. This is the first part of the advance level where we now don’t use a textbook: we mostly read newspaper and magazine articles as well texts on particular subjects. The goal is now to expand on our vocabulary and also to learn a lot of synonyms. Last week for example we read and completed grammar and vocabulary assignments related to marketing and economics: market niche, market share, market leaders, products, revenue, stocks, dividends, surplus, deficits, price dumping, etc; and the verbs and expressions related those terms. This week we have learned so far a lot of vocabulary related to crime: different types of assaults and/or felonies, words used in the court (judge, jury, different types of attorneys, laws) etc. Believe it or not this has helped a lot in understanding for example the news on TV. We also continued improving our grammar and based on our input the teachers have focused on those areas were we have weaknesses. Now that the summer is basically over and we are experiencing the first signs of the fall, there are less students in the school. It does feel different not to see so many people and hear so much commotion in the mornings before class and during the break. Last week for example there were 6 students in my class. This week is only 3 of us. With this being probably my last month going to school to learn German, this is actually a good thing. It should give me a chance to work together with my teachers on those aspects of the German language that I need to strengthen.

Once again the week just flew by between school, getting together with friends for dinner, a movie, a coffee and a couple picture taking tours in Munich; and with my housekeeping activities: cooking, grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry, and ironing. I’ve also been very good and disciplined with my jogging. I’m jogging 4 times a week and for the past 2 weeks I have increased the time to one hour. This has allowed me to reach further the parks where I normally jog (parks which are close to where I live) and discover other pretty and cool areas within these parks. I leave my house (I jog in the morning when I don’t have class and in the late afternoons when I do have class), turn on the i-pod, begin jogging and then decide which direction I want to go: Northwest to Schloβ Nymphemburg or Northeast to the Olympia Park. As a matter of fact, before moving to Munich I always wished I could live near Schloβ Nymphemburg, the Olympia Park or the Englisher Garten (my 3 favorite parks) so I could go jogging there. So not bad, I’m close to 2 out of 3.

SCHLOβ NYMPHEMBURG
*Disclaimer: some pictures are a little bit blurry since I took them while jogging.

Canal leading to Nymphemburg Castle ----Section of the Castle from its garden

5 minutes after leaving my house I reach the grounds of the Nymphemburg Castle: a very long canal that runs along 2 streets and ends up on a pond full of swans right in front of the castle. Schloβ Nymphemburg, which used to be the King’s summer villa and was later transformed into a castle, is the birthplace of King Ludwig II and even tough it is not as striking as most of the castles located outside of the city (specially the ones built by Ludwig II) I still find it to be a very pretty one. To reach the castle I jog along a special road for joggers, bikers and walkers that is right next to the canal. The only obstacle along my journey is having to wait for the green light to cross the main road that leads to the entrance of the parking lot for the castle. Well…actually depending on the day of the week and the time of the day I may also have to overcome another obstacle: the tourists who get out of their tour buses and just stand there without looking or paying attention to the oncoming traffic of joggers and bikers because they are too busy looking at the castle, taking 58,000 pictures, making videos of the swans and ducks that swim on the pond, and feeding the ducks pieces of bread and crackers.

20 minutes after leaving the house I find myself jogging past the castle’s entrance/ticket booth and stepping into its garden. What most tourists see, which is the same I had seen until recently, is the first section of the garden with its nicely shaped bushes, colorful flowers, statues of Greek and Roman gods, and its big fountain in the center of it all. But if you continue past the garden this one eventually turns into a 500-Acre park (Nymphemburg Park) which is also home to the city’s botanical garden (I’ve only seen a very small fraction of the park) From what I’ve seen so far, the park is a series of forests connected via several gravel paths that divert in all directions. To jog along these paths is a pleasure. It is very quiet and peaceful. Since there are a lot of trees the air feels very cool and fresh. You can sense the pureness of the air as you breathe in. This weekend I already saw the leaves of the first couple of trees change their color to a yellowish tone and I also saw more dried leaves on the floor. With a temperature of 15 degrees Centigrade (about 53 Fahrenheit) and a cloudy sky as I was jogging on Saturday morning I can say that the first signs of the fall are here.

Tourists, Tourists, Tourists -- Gravel paths inside Nymphemburg Park

I discovered this new feature in this website which allows me to upload videos. So I have decided to add a very short video I made while jogging on Saturday to test it. If it does look good I may add a couple more videos related to some of the stories I’ve told you before.

Jogging in Nymphemburg Park - Video

OLYMPIA PARK

Jogging trails in Olympia Park

8 minutes after leaving my house I reach the grounds of the Olympia Park. 5 minutes later I’m enjoying the beautiful views of the park: the stadium, the lake, the TV tower and the BMW building. This park has several jogging trails that go for 3, 5 and 7 kilometers long. Inside the park there is also a small hill which gives you the chance to jog up a trail and get an even more intense workout out. Here, the only obstacle I have to overcome is crossing one big intersection located just before the entrance to the park (the intersection between Landshuter Allee and Dachauer Str). I usually just jog in place for a short time until I get the green light to cross the 2-3 lane streets and the 1-2 lane tram corridor. Well, and I also make sure not to go to this park on Saturday afternoons since there is usually some sort of concert or event taking place at the Arena or the Stadium. This makes it almost impossible to jog without having to stop for the crowds coming into the park to attend these events. The paths on the park are on the most part wide and give you plenty of space to avoid once again the tourists that are taking pictures of every possible and imaginable angle of the stadium or the BMW building, the many couples that go for a walk on the park, the parents pushing their baby strollers and the park employees who are constantly moving all over the park either setting-up or dismantling the tents, stages, booths, and platforms for the different festivals, fairs and events that take place there.