Raptor Zebra Geese

1:04 AM Munich

I really do apologize about the delay in blog postings – Munich is like one big party and I feel really lucky to be a part of it. We’ve met a handful of new friends and I really hope you do all forgive me for spending time getting to know them instead of blogging :P We’ve generally been staying in the hostel bar in the evening because it’s the best bang for our buck (or euro) and it’s where we really feel free to mingle with people from all over the world (but mainly the United States and Australia). We met a married couple, two years older than us, from the Salt Lake City area and now living in San Diego. We’ve really been enjoying seeing them at happy hour at the bar, at breakfast in the morning, or sitting around with a pitcher of beer later at night. Besides them, we’ve met a good amount of Australians. Australians get about twice as many paid vacation days during the year than we get here in the states, and a lot of them use them to travel to Europe. According to our walking tour guide yesterday, the largest international presence during Oktoberfest in Munich is always the Aussies. They also are the most likely to lose their passports during the festival. Officially, the nearest Australian Embassy is in Berlin (7+ hour train ride) and it’s actually illegal for foreigners to travel anywhere without their passports. To make fix this problem for all the lost Australian passports during Oktoberfest, they actually have a temporary embassy inside the British Embassy here in Munich. Reportedly, it’s just a guy with a folding table handing out Australian passports. The Aussies are a blast though, seriously, I’ve never met one until this trip – they’re social, fun, and quick to buy the next round ;)

So today we had an awkward check out and check in, here at the hostel, because we had to switch rooms. We were enjoying the luxury of a private double room with our own bathroom… but it wasn’t available for all four nights. Rather than staying at two completely different locations, I booked the private room for two nights and an 8-person mixed dorm for the other two. In this pretty large room, there are four sets of bunk beds and one traditional shower+toilet+sink bathroom. When we booked dorm style hostels, we went for the largest room size possible (hence the 32 person one in Amsterdam) because we believed that if there were creepers, we’d be safer in larger numbers. However, I wouldn’t really recommend this method because the people in hostels generally aren’t too creepy and the more people you have in the room, the smellier it is, the louder it is, the messier it is… and in this case, the more bathroom competition you have. All hostel rooms, such as these, have a locker that you can keep your belongings locked up in (no need to sleep with your backpack!) and this one is so nice that the key card they give you at check in activates and locks your locker. Generally you have to use your own padlock. 

We love it here, in Munich. A lot of that is attributed to where we’re staying, though. I’ve really be enjoying talking to people in the bar or breakfast area about their travels and how similar yet how different we are from them. For instance, the married couple we’ve been hanging out with, is traveling for a month to celebrate his honorable discharge from the Navy. Meanwhile, other people we’ve talked to are traveling for 2-6 months, meeting friends and family members in different locations, travelling alone, on a tour bus, and just so many other circumstances. It’s crazy to hear about all the travel opportunities that people take advantage of for the sake of seeing the world. We talked to someone from DC who is planning on working on a farm in southern France that will cover her housing and food in return for the work. An Aussie that we spoke with at breakfast works on a guided tour bus that mainly caters to Aussies and New Zealanders, and while she has to work many days in a row and long hours, the paycheck is just enough to keep her afloat and travelling for 9 months out of the year. I’ve come to the conclusion that there really are very few excuses not to travel – it’s safer than your paranoid friend says it is, and there are many opportunities to do it cheaply. Andy has sworn off any country in political turmoil and basically all of Eastern Europe, but we’ve talked to a lot of people who fell in love with Prague, Greece, Istanbul, and are excited to get to Croatia, Estonia, and so many other places in Europe. Travelling is what you make it. If you go with an open mind, and take necessary precautions (do your research!), you’re likely not to have a problem visiting the places you want to see!

This evening we talked to an Aussie – and although we didn’t ask his age, he looked late 30’s at least – who saw snow for the first time in his life, a few days ago in Salzburg. He assured me that he was up in the mountains and that we shouldn’t be snowed on in Salzburg! That would just be the icing… wouldn’t it… haha. Lots of travelers (and locals, honestly) are talking about the weather and how unusually cold and wet it is this spring. It’s unfortunate luck that we’ve had so much rain, but the weather seems to be looking up from here on out, so we just keep moving forward.

10:49AM - The next morning

Yesterday we got some laundry done and walked to the English Gardens, north east of the city center. It’s really beautiful up there – I couldn’t believe how big it was. It was like the Champaign main quad on steroids. There's a really random Chinese Tower and a huge beer garden with hundred of tourists and locals sitting in the first bit of sunshine we've seen in days having a beer. We had had quite enough beer the night before so we just observed :P This might come as a shocker but I'm actually pretty sick of beer and I've only been here for three nights. It's really all about the quantity over quality and variety, and the novelty of drinking out of a liter sized stein wears off pretty quickly. Andy and I are pretty hard beer snobs and we genuinely miss the variety that American beer has to offer. Munich is home to the largest and most famous beer halls in the world and there is typically three different beers to pick from at most. The Original (tastes like Budweiser), the Weiss, and maybe a darker version of the original. I liked Belgium a little bit better for the variety, but I really just miss IPAs... lets be honest.

In this park there are a ton of birds... not just your average geese that you see in the states, but oversized duck-like birds and most interestingly, raptor zebra geese. These birds were the size of geese, had zebra stripes, and moved like they were raptors. Have a hard time picturing it? I don't blame you... So here's a few pictures.

We stood and watched them for a really long time because they didn't really behave like other birds do... they were extremely territorial, they had their young with them, and they were just constantly charging and honking at each other like evil mini velociraptors. I kept thinking about Megan and how I understand why she wants to study animal behavior... it's so fascinating! :P

I'm running out of time - we have to check on our train to Neuschwanstein Castle :) It's a beautiful day and we're really looking forward to seeing the palace that inspired Cinderella's castle.