Weekend in Munich, Germany. "Home Sweet Home."

My weekend “back home” in Bayern met and exceeded my expectations!
Not surprisingly, I was unable to grab any shut-eye on the train (I think I just get anxious when I travel). To my luck, the views afforded from the train were absolutely breathtaking. The train took us through Linz and then Salzburg – the tiny alpine towns en route were tucked in amongst the snow capped Alps, and with my iPod blasting some of my favourite tunes, I felt like I was passing through a dreamland.

The Hauptbahnhof (“main train station”) in Munich was a bit of a nut house upon arrival. Kim was supposed to arrive on her train from Innsbruck four minutes before us, but she was nowhere to be found at the planned meeting spot. A quick phone call informed us that she was already waiting for us in the (warmer) hostel, a mere couple minutes walk down the road. Asides from the ideal location, our hostel “4 You Muenchen” was a great choice. The staff was friendly, the rooms were clean, the lockers were huge.. The one downside was the water pressure in the showers (it pretty much just sprayed in all directions), but we were told by the owner that they would be replacing them in the next few weeks. (Great timing, eh?) The inexpensive nightly rate also included what would definitely be considered a better-than-average (hostel) breakfast each morning.

After dropping our luggage at the hostel and checking-in, the three of us girls set out for a late lunch. It was immediately obvious from the way the three of us chitter-chattered away that it was going to be a great weekend..and to think Morgan and Kim had met only minutes before! We wandered away from the over-touristy (and therefore over-priced) Marien Platz, and onto one of the side streets, where we found a tiny tucked-away tavern. We each ordered our first beer of the weekend, and I went through the menu explaining some of the typical Bavarian dishes to the girls. Already I had my mind set-on Weiss Wurst and Brezen – basically white sausage eaten without the skin and dipped in sweet mustard, coupled with a freshly-baked giant Pretzel. Traditionally, Bavarians don’t eat Weiss Wurst after noon, but as a tourist I exempted myself from this rule. Both of the girls decided to try one of my other favourites, Käse Spätzle, cheesy egg-type noodles served with fried onions.

After a satisfying lunch, we continued to explore around Marien Platz before deciding it was time to head back to the hostel to get ready for our planned evening activity - At 5:30 we were to meet in front of the Rat Haus (City Hall) in Marien Platz for a “Beer & Brewery Tour”. The tour promised an insider’s glimpse into the history of beer and breweries of Munich, as well as (most importantly), some beer sampling. Beer has a very rich history in Bavaria, and of course the Bavarian’s claim to make the “best beer in the world”. Beer brewing originally began in the monasteries of Munich, and some of the big brewers still have the names of the monasteries from where they originated (ex. Augustiner – from St. Augustine). Today, there are six main brewers in Munich; these are the only six allowed to participate in Oktoberfest, as the requirement is that the beer must be brewed within the Munich city limits. Each restaurant, pub, etc. remains faithful to a particular brewer, only serving beer produced by them. Apparently this can be slightly awkward when planning a dinner or drinks out with friends, depending on each person’s beer preferences. After visiting a couple of famous beer houses, we ended with tour of a Paulaner microbrewery. We tried “Helles” (light), “Weissen” (Wheat) and also “Bock”/”Stark” (Strong) beers. It happened that we were in Munich during the “Starkt Bier Festival” (Strong Beer Festival) - during Lent, many of the breweries offer a strong (12% alcohol content) beer. Historically, the Monks fasted during Lent, and in lieu of food were given a ration of 5 Litres of strong beer each day throughout the Lenten season. I’m sure this was an interesting time of year in the Monasteries ; ).

Following the tour, we headed back to our Hostel to check-out the Hostel Bar. Because we had booked online, we were given “Happy Hour passes” for the entire weekend..which basically meant that any hour was Happy Hour! We quickly befriended the bartender, as well as the Hostel owner, and other fellow travellers. From there we received advice on where we could go to dance the remainder of the night away.

Day number two, Marienplatz was an absolute madhouse! We attempted to browse around a few shops, but after H&M (and one scarf later), we quickly gave up. We set off for the Viktualen Market, where already in March the beer gardens were buzzing with excitement. We marveled at the stands of fresh cheese, exotics fruits and vegetables, and fresh-cut flowers. We saw several people walking around with what appeared to be giant pickles, and set-out to find them. It was literally a giant (pickled) cucumber, and obviously the most exciting and delicious thing a pickle-lover could ask for.

At the end of the market, there stood a double-decker tour bus; I had never been on one before, and a glance at the map showed the bus would take us to spots that would be quite a hike by foot, and so we jumped aboard. Unfortunately it wasn’t a “live” tour, and instead we listened to the (broken English) explanations through head phones, but the tour nevertheless gave us a good overview of the history of Munich and some of the most important monuments.

Our tour bus let us off again in Viktualen Markt. The smell in the air was absolutely incredible, and we noticed it came from everyone around us eating “Leberkaese” sandwiches. Leberkaese translates into “liver cheese”, although I am pretty sure that it is made from neither “liver” or “cheese”. Basically, it is a meatloaf shaped hot dog, cut into slices and served on a round bun with sweet or spicy mustard. The description I had offered to the girls the day before was met with looks of disgust, but there was no denying that the sandwiches were absolutely delicious. (We even had them again the next day for lunch!) Our overall consensus from our favourite foods in Austria and Germany is that it is often the most simple dishes that are the most delicious. (Wiener Schnitzel, Sausage from a street vendor, or even a bakery fresh bun topped with a few slices of deli meat.)

We had hoped to have a brew in the famous Hofbrau Haus, but like Marien Platz earlier that day, the place was absolutely jammed, and so we took some pictures and left. Instead we set-off for the Augustiner Keller, a beer house just down the road from our hostel which served my absolute favourite beer, Augustiner Helles. There was a beer festival taking place in the festival hall, but as we were only looking to have one beer, we decided to forgo the 7 euro entry. We were eventually seated at a corner booth, where we were quickly joined by several other small groups of people. This camaraderie is one of my favourite aspects of German beer culture – why turn away a thirsty customer when there is plenty of space available at an (already occupied) table. After our first Litre of beer, we could hear the festival in the neighbouring room was getting pretty rowdy. A peek inside showed that already by 8 o’clock, many people were up and dancing on the long benches and tables, and enjoying the live band. It was quickly established that another night out at any old club could be repeated anywhere, and this was an opportunity not to be missed. We were not disappointed, and quickly joined the throngs of people for an atmosphere and a night not to be forgotten!

Day three we headed to Schloss Nymphenburg, the summer residence of the Bavarian Monarchy, and also birthplace of the “fairytale King” Ludwig II. I had been through the rooms and Museum before, and so the best part of the day was definitely our long stroll through the (seemingly) endless gardens surrounding the castle. We were fortunate to have sunny, Spring-like weather for most of the weekend, and we finished off our expedition with a coffee on a sunny patio in the castle botanical gardens. Unfortunately by this time it was late afternoon, and time to head back to our respective destinations. Our four-hour train ride back to Vienna was absolutely packed, but thank goodness Munich was the first departure station and we had seats, unlike the many unfortunate ones who had to camp-out with their suitcases as seats in the hallways. (Note-to-self, the 3 Euro it costs to reserve a seat in advance might be a worthwhile expenditure!) Even after an exciting weekend away, it was nice to return to Vienna, and I can tell you I had a very restful sleep back in my familiar bed in my other “home away from home”.

Viva Bavaria! Back home to Bayern :)

I'd like to apologize for not having wrote a new blog in quite some time. I guess I've felt that I'm really getting into the swing of things here, and that my day-to-day life isn't quite exciting enough to ramble on to you all about.

But that said, keep tuning in, as that should change over the weekend. It is actually just after 7 A.M. Vienna time on Friday morning, and I am ready earlier-than-expected to catch an 8:20 train to Munich for the weekend. Joining me is Morgan (a new and awesome friend from my residence here, who is a native New Yorker on exchange at the University of Vienna). In Munich we will be meeting up with Kim, a friend who lived with me first-year in South Res at Guelph, and is now on exchange in Innsbruck, Austria. (Lucky for Kim, the train ride to Munich is only 1.5 hours or so..for Morgan and I it'll be 4 hours..definitely hoping to catch some Zzz's!)

For those of you who don't already know, my year-long Rotary Exchange three years ago was actually to a small town only about an hour or so from Munich. It might seem strange to some that I have not chosen to embark on a new European destination for the weekened, but for me, a part of me really feels like I am "going home". I am also delighted to have the opportunity to introduce some new (and old!) friends to the Bavarian culture and folklore which I have so missed. Already my mouth is watering at the though of delicious Pretzels, Sausage and my very favourite Bavarian beer - "Augustiner" - which is brewed right in Munich.

Have a great weekend,
and expect a new update soon :).

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” - Lao Tzu

Back from Budapest, and wow, what a weekend!
Six exchangers from our Uni (5 North Americans plus an Aussie) met-up at Vienna’s West Bahnhof at 9 A.M. Friday morning for our first big ‘Euro-trip’. From stories I’ve heard from other travellers, I’d say travel by train is definitely the way to go. It might be slightly more expensive than the bus, but we managed to get a six-person cabin to ourselves for the three hour journey, and it was a very comfortable ride. I had hoped the views would be a little nicer, but it was basically just flat agricultural fields.

Upon arrival in Budapest, we fell into the roles of lost and confused tourists. We quickly found a counter to exchange our Euros into Hungarian Forent. The exchange rate was about 300 Forent to 1 Euro, so we felt pretty cool with our 10,000 dollar bills. We would have to rely on public transit to get us to our hostel, so we next set-out to buy a three-day transit ticket. (As in Vienna, one ticket will give you access to subways, trams and buses.) Unfortunately the ticket machine didn’t seem to like our money, although we were eventually able to find a ticket booth salesperson who spoke English (somewhat). The language barrier in Hungary was definitely more obvious than in Vienna, where just about any person you meet speaks English. Also, Hungarian is in a league of it’s own as far as languages go. Generally while travelling, German or the minimal amounts of Spanish and French that I know will get me by as far as reading signs and such, however the next closest language to Hungarian is actually Finnish – therefore, no comprendo.

Riverside Hostel was easy enough to find, tucked away in an old 19th-century house on a fairly busy street in the “Pest” section of Budapest. The hostel had a real homey feel to it, and the girl working for the weekend was super friendly and helpful. The six of us stayed in a massive room, with ten beds/bunk beds. I believe the hostel also had one more similar ‘dorm room’, as well as several private two to three-person rooms. We were provided with sheets, blankets, towels, and lockers, all definite pluses when searching for hostels. We were also given full access to the kitchen, and the living room was equipped with various movies and games. (We watched “Borat” the first night. Kind of suitable considering we were in ‘Eastern Europe’ I suppose.)

After dropping our things off at the hostel, we set out to explore. One notable difference from Vienna was the amount of garbage on the streets. It seemed to be piled everywhere! (However, I have heard from other Europeans that Austria is exceptionally clean.) Our first goal was to find some ‘real Hungarian food’. (Funnily enough, Kebab stands seemed to be even more prevalent than they are in Vienna.) None of us really had any idea what ‘real Hungarian food’ would entail, with ‘goulash’ being the only dish that came to mind. Eventually we stumbled upon a place called “Hungarian Fast Food”, which seemed a fairly obvious choice for a quick and easy lunch. The place was set-up cafeteria style, and we had actually read about similar places in travel books we had brought with us. Apparently they are typical hang-outs for the working crowd. Lucky for us, the man working quickly realized we were English-speaking tourists, and went through the entire display of food, explaining each item. I went with what else but – Goulash! It was basically a tomato-based stew-type dish loaded with other veggies and chunks of beef. (It actually wasn’t beef so much as fat cut into worm-like strips, but either way, it was actually pretty delicious.)

With our bellies full, we made a plan to go and find St. Stephen’s Basilica, the largest church in Budapest, and home to the mummified arm of St. Stephen. From the Basilica, we made our way down to the river (the Danube). We walked across the famous “Chain Bridge” from Pest over to Buda;. the early evening light provided for a very majestic atmosphere, and made for some great photo ops of Castle Hill and the lovely Parliament buildings.Our walk eventually led us back to our hostel. By this time, we were getting hungry again, so stopped into a neighbouring grocery store to grab some munchies. We had actually planned on going out (both nights) but by the time we settled back in at the hostel, and cracked open some bottles of cheap (and deliciously sweet) Hungarian wine, staying in and just getting to know each other better seemed like a better idea.

Day number two we were up fairly early, and decided to do a city tour to get an overall broader picture of the city and it’s history. The hostel staff recommended “Budapest Free City Tours” to us. Apparently these free tours operate in all large cities across Europe, and you simply tip your tour guide at the end of the tour, based on their performance. Our tour guide quickly informed us that this was not going to be a typical touristy tour, where the tour guide points out buildings and explains their importance and history. Instead, he would provide us a detailed recollection of Hungary’s political, economic, etc. history, so we would have a better idea of why Hungary and Budapest are the way they are today. While this all sounds very interesting, we were slightly disappointed when an hour into our tour, we still hadn’t moved an inch from our meeting point. This same trend continued, as we stopped at various, little-wind-as-possible spaces for our guide’s long stories to continue. (It was absolutely freezing! Although we did luck out, because they had been calling for rain the entire weekend, and we barely saw a drop.) The tour was quoted as being 2.5 to 3 hours long, but far past the 3 hour mark, we had just made it up to the top of Castle Hill. At this point, we decided to tip the tour guide and duck out of the tour to do our own exploring, the tour not being quite the “sightseeing” endeavour we had hoped for. We had a late lunch at a small café, and I braved it and ordered goulash again – this time goulash soup. (Delicious, and a little more in line with my Hungarian cuisine expectations.)

The afternoon was spent Sz échenyi Spa in the City Park. Budapest is known as a city of medicinal baths, and apparently not going to the baths is like going to Paris and not going to the Eiffel tower..I was more than happy to comply with an afternoon at the Spa.

On our last day, the bitterly cold weather made a visit to one of the city’s many museums a fairly obvious choice of activity. We decided on the “House of Terror”, a museum set-up in the former headquarter of first the Hungarian Nazis, and then later two other communist terror organizations. The exhibitions were historically interesting and informative, very moving emotionally, but also very visually stimulating, and I had a very positive overall impression.

After the museum, it was unfortunately time to head for the train station, to ensure we made it back to Vienna for some of the gang to get ready for school the next day. (Not me of course, since I have Monday’s off : )!) Our pockets were still heavy with Hungarian Forent, which are apparently difficult to exchange back to Euro, and so we used our last minutes in Budapest running around the train station buying Hungarian chocolate and treats. The ride back to Vienna was peaceful, and all of us commented that it really did feel like we were headed “home”. The familiarity of the city and the language was definitely an unexpected surprise.

Overall, our first Euroventure was a great success, and to no surprise, I am already busy planning the next one! (Feel free to send any suggestions my way!)

Back to school, back to school...

Finally another update!
I figured I must squeeze in a blog tonight, as tomorrow morning a group of us are hopping on an 8:30 A.M. train to BUDAPEST for the weekend!

This week marked the beginning of the ‘Summer Semester’ at BOKU, and so I thought I would use this post to describe some of my courses and experiences at BOKU so far:

‘Environmental Risk Analysis & Management’ – This was my very first class on Tuesday afternoon. After Mike (an American) and I finally managed to find the seminar room, we waited at least fifteen minutes until the professor showed up. (I assumed that the professor was just “running late”, but after witnessing this in several of my classes, I was informed by an Austrian student that the class doesn’t “technically” begin until about fifteen minutes after the stated time. Interesting.) When the professor did walk in, everyone was suddenly silent as he went to the front of the classroom, pulled down the overhead screen and proceeded to boot-up his computer. Mike and I exchanged glances, surprised by the apparent hostility and formality of the situation. As it turned out, our first impression of the professor was far from the reality. Professor Nachtnebel (translation = “nightfall”) was a comedic elderly fellow who had a real passion for his research (water management), and some great stories to share. Within the first twenty minutes, we were asked to find partners and choose from a list of topics for our final written paper and presentation. Mike and I were two of the first to raise our hands, and lucked out with the topic of ‘water pollution’. We are thinking (I guess obviously) of presenting the topic from the perspective of problems within North America, since it turns out we are the only “Americans” in our class. The class was three-and-a-half hours long, far longer than the usual fifty minute classes I am used to at Guelph (but that said, the class is just once a week.) Thank-goodness for the assorted “vending machine” coffees which can be found just about anywhere on campus. (Don’t mock them til you try one. I recommend the “Schokoccino” – chocolate cappuccino. You’ll need about 5 of them to equal a coffee of standard North American size.)

‘Psychology of Landscape & Natural Resources Management’ – I was first attracted to this course not by the name and course description, but because it was being taught by an American guest lecturer from the University of Arizona. The title of the course is a bit out of the ordinary at first glance, but after a short explanation, the connections between Psychology and Natural Resource Management (or any management situation) makes perfect sense. Terry and his colleagues at U of A found that after speaking with students who had graduated from the Natural Resource Management program, the students described the hardest part of the job to be not the actual “managing of resources”, but the “management of people”. (This makes sense, after all, trees are really fairly co-operative with what we want to do, people on the other hand are not.) So far the discussion that has taken place has revolved around “how people see nature”, “why we see nature the way we do”, and “how we can attempt to modify that behaviour” ie.) how can we make people want to recycle, go green, etc.. For those of us looking to get credits from the course, Terry is willing to work with each of us individually to design a paper, research proposal, etc. that is in line with courses back home, or other interests we might have.

The only other classes I have had so far are my ‘economics’-based courses, so I won’t bore you with the details on those. I’ve definitely lucked out with my class schedule, as I’ve managed to avoid both Monday and Friday classes – the ideal situation for an exchange student looking to travel, that’s for sure! It also turns out that several of my classes won’t begin until May or June (after which they will be “intensive”, or nearly every day for a specific block of time), which is kind of a bummer since this will be the time when the weather starts to get really beautiful.

Some interesting cultural differences between Canadian and Austrian Universities are noted below:
-Austrian students pay (next-to) nothing for their University education. Apparently they tried to implement a small tuition fee (a few hundred for a semester) some time ago, but there was widespread outrage that they should be entitled to a University-level education so long as they were willing to work for it.
-The above reason might explain the limited attendance of students in lectures. After speaking to one Austrian girl, I learned that they typically attend a particular class in the first week to receive the course outline, and to find out whether attendance is mandatory and whether notes will be available online (they almost always are). In her opinion, because student’s didn’t pay hideous fees for school, they didn’t feel the same “obligation” to attend classes as American students tend to. If a student chooses to do so, they can simply register for a class and then show up only to write the final exam. (A final exam is often the only contribution to the grade in a particular course.)
-There are no rules in classrooms surrounding eating or drinking, and students wander in and out of classes as they please. (I’m pretty sure one student had a picnic packed into his book bag for our three-and-a-half hour lecture.)
-If you refer to University as “school” when in conversation with any European, they will have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. “School” is the education received at highschool level and below. We don’t go to “school”, we go to “University” ;).
-At the end of the lecture, students knock their fists on the desk to indicate a “job well done”. I find it a nice and subtle way to end the class, and show appreciation to the professor.

Next post – BUDAPEST!
Viszontlátásra!
(Apparently that’s “good-bye” in Hungarian. Doesn’t look like I’ll be picking up any of that language over the weekend!)