A Solitary Weekend

After the eventful trip to the EPO, and with many students traveling to foreign lands in the last weekend before jetting back across the pond, I looked forward to a solitary weekend. A little exploring by myself was what I needed after three weeks of constant social life : ). I went for runs in the English Garden and brushed up on my German at coffee shops and restaurants. I started to feel a little like a local, and liked it.

One the of places I traveled that weekend was Konigplatz. This is a large plaza architectually based in Greco-Roman style. Historically, Maximillian built this area as a tribute to old Rome (I believe). Hitler gave his propoganda speeches to his ranks from the steps of the building above. I'm sure you have seen the films, here is where they were set.

A favorite place to hang out, shop, eat and drink beer was Marienplatz. Above is a picture of the entrance to Marienplatz. It is the center of city, and blocks from where we had our classes. I decided to travel to Marienplatz to do a little shopping on Sunday afternoon, but forgot that everything is closed on Sundays: shops, grocery stores, basically everything but restaurants. The Germans need a place to drink their beer of course!

The weary travelers came home on Sunday evening and a few of us went out to dinner at the Augustiner and catch up on each other's weekends. This was my dinner. All German food was wonderful, but this was my least favorite dish: wienerwurst. It is basically just a fancy hot dog. But you can't go wrong with the German potato salad - yum! I miss it so much!

Everynight we had to eat, and German food, as great as it is, was getting tiresome. We wanted other things to eat - like Chipotle! But alas, no Chipotle, so we found this fantastic Mexican restaurant with great drink specials. Think mas beer sized margaritas ; ). Here we are at a table outside, the weather was perfect. From left to right: Ely, Trent, C.J., me, Chris, Denise, Andrea & James. After dinner the waiter gave us mojito shots and did one with us, just like they did at the Greek restaurant! We must look like a crowd that likes to party ; ).

The Chucky Cheese of beer gardens, Menter-Schwaige. The program acquired a group of tickets to see a soccer game (TSV 1860), so of course we had to go to a beer garden to warm up before the game : ). This garden was near the stadium, but in a very residential neighborhood. There was a playground and lots of families. Thus it was coined "the Chucky Cheese of beer gardens". Kids were drinking apfelschole from little mugs, which looked exactly like beer. They train them young over here! Must sign off and get some sleep - busy day tomorrow - back in the real world ...