These past few days in Munich

Well well well...

Let's go back in a time a bit and talk about what has happened these past few days.

Thursday:
Spent most of my day at the museum, taking notes, etc etc... I really like the way they have it set up. Currently there is a temporary exhibit called "Last Exit Munich" which displays important pieces from Berlin (which is currently closed) paired with similar pieces from Munich. So I didn't even have to go to Berlin to see some of the cool stuff they have!

After that I started feeling pretty lonely and wasn't sure I liked the city that much. I walked around for a bit and went to the opera to see if I could get a ticket to the sold-out show of Othello.
I did - an 11 euro ticket that some lady was selling out front. Unfortunately, since I can't read German, I did not realize that this was a standing spot at the very top balcony where you can see absolutely nothing of the stage (hence the low price...I should have known!). I stayed for about half of it but it was not enjoyable at all since I couldn't see anything and standing for 3 hours would have been unbearable.

So I left that and walked around on a hunt for some food. I found a nice little Italian restaurant...and choosing it may have been the best decision of the summer!
There was only one table free outside and another girl who was by herself had asked to be seated as well. The waiter asked us if we would mind sitting together...why not?
This girl, Valeria, happened to be the sweetest person ever! She had missed her flight back to Barcelona and we were both glad she did by the end of the evening because we had such a great time! We had a great dinner and it felt like we had known each other forever!
We decided to go find something to do so we went to the oldest beer garden in Munich and sat down with some nice-looking people who turned out to be from Dubai. Turns out they were kinda boring and talked amongst themselves, but the people from the table next to us started talking to us and we ended up hanging out with them instead. These dudes were ridiculously entertaining! We ended the evening in a McDonalds ('cause that's what cool kids do) and then went our separate ways.

Friday:
In the morning went back to the museum and then did some shopping (I know...this addiction to clothes absolutely needs to come to an end. I'm coming back to the States with an entirely new wardrobe and I have no idea where I'm going to put it all!). I then checked out of my hotel and left Munich for Holzkirchen, a little town about 30 minutes away where I stayed (and still am staying) with my mom's friend. What a cuuuuuuute little town with a wonderful view of the Alps! ah!
Then I got an email from Valeria saying she was still in Munich!! (She was supposed to have left for Barcelona). I absolutely wanted to see her again, so I took the train back and we met up for some dinner! We ate at this really traditional restaurant with great decor. Next to our table was this guy just eating alone...and knowing how lonely it can be to eat alone, we invited him over to our table! His name was Marcus, an Austrian dude studying in the UK with perfect English and a great sense of humor! We had a wonderful dinner and then went to a beer garden to finish the evening..where we met up with John, the waiter from the restaurant from the night before.
Here we indulged in some traditional German desserts (the names of which I have already forgotten and are far too difficult to spell, but I'll try later).
After that we were not ready to part, so we went to discover the reaaaaal night life of Munich. Instead of having clubs spread out throughout the city, there is an entire district with just that! (agh, dream land basically!). The first club we found was awful though, we were basically the only ones there and we were supposed to get a free drink with our entrance fee but when we got to the bar they said free drinks ended at 1am (it was 1:03 am)...grrrr
We quickly left there and headed to a much better one where we dance allll night!
Saying goodbye was very difficult :(

Saturday: Slept most of the morning/early afternoon to recover from the afore mentioned night. In the afternoon, went swimming in a lake near the Alps with Bella. AMMMAAAAZZZIIINNNNGGGGG. I can't even describe to you the beauty of that landscape and the pictures just don't do it justice. The water was at first rather cold, but once you got used to it, it was fantastic. Then we visited another cute little town where we had some ice cream and walked around.
In the evening, we were invited to a barbecue at Bella's friends'. Boy do they know how to barbecue! The food was delicious :)

Today: Discovered the English Gardens here...a jewel within the city of Munich! It's not at all what you'd imagine...it's almost like going into the woods, a complete escape from the city! There's even a wave for surfers...a great spectacle for onlookers!
An even greater spectacle is that of the sunbathers on the lawn...completely nude! Quite normal of course, since nudity is not a problem here in Europe. However, most of the nudies are comprised of the older male generation that are not so pleasing to the eyes :P Well..maybe to some yes, but not mine.

Anyhoooooo, we then had a delicious traditional lunch of sausage, roasted chicken, and fries at this Chinese Tower place in the middle of the gardens. We were serenated by traditional Bavarian music played by gents in Leder Hosen...'twas lovely.
Then we had coffee at the modern art museum, also lovely.

Bella and Christoph headed back while I stayed in Munich to meet up with John-the-Waiter. We hung out for a while and had some pizza....where I learned a valuable language lesson. Here in Germany, if you would like a pepperoni pizza, do not ask for "pepperoni"...you must ask for "salami" pizza. If, like me, you ask for pepperoni pizza, you will find yourself eating "pepper" pizza...topped with chilli and banana peppers...hmmm

Am now back in Holzkirchen (yes, I copied and pasted that because there is no way I will remember how to spell it...not to mention pronounce it). Tomorrow I leave for Nürnberg where I'll meet up with my parents who are driving over from France! I am excited about the castles :)

Lots of pictures: here and here

I'll work on embedding the pictures in the text later...for now, sleep!