The Eve of Leaving

My mom just caught me on Rosetta Stone. My flight is about 12 hours away, and I need to warm up on my German gutturalness....

Winter is just about coming back to California on the eve of my departure. I've been checking the weather in Munich and it looks pretty damn cold, but I think it's looking better than Boston.

As you can tell, I'm getting bored and my thoughts are scattered. This extended winter break was nice, but hearing about my friends and their adventures only gets me more restless. My mom and I sat down today to coordinate her European vacation in April and my stay there. We will be seeing Bach's Saint Matthew's Passion in Munich on Good Friday, a tradition in the German music community. I didn't realize the whole production will be 3 hours long. Come on Bach....really?

I've come up with 2 Beethoven Symphony Concert dates as well: 

-March 25th to Brussels for Beethoven's 2nd

-April 16th to Prague for Beethoven's 1st and 7th (TWO AT ONCE?!?)

I did purchase a Eurail Pass and the country's on it are France, Spain, the Czech Republic, BeNeLux, and Germany (of course). BeNeLux is Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

Both of my brothers are also going to try and visit me. Dan (the photographer) wants to go visit Prypiat where the Chernobyl disaster happened and photograph it. I've always wanted to go and will hopefully assist him in that endeavor. I think the other one, Kevin, wants a vacation...and to get some of that good German beer (who doesn't?).

11 hours now until I leave! AHHHHH!

Das beste Haus

It's a perfect 67 degrees in California and that's probably the only thing keeping me here. I will be in Germany in exactly a week and its only fitting that I learn about my housing today.

I will be living 5 blocks from Nymphenburg Palace:

Nymphenburg Schloss, the apartment is just to the left of this picture.

I remember visiting this palace when I was there over spring break 2010. The tour guide said that people live in the houses right next to it (in picture). Living next to history is not new to me - the American-Indians used my backyard as a dump, so we find shells and things once in a while. As awesome as I still find that, a dump is not a Rococo Palace. In addition, my apartment is only two stops away from Marienplatz, the center of Munich and where I'll be taking my language classes.

As my goal list for Germany (and Europe) grows, my goal list at home grows as well. Six months is a long time without a Chai-Mate at Java Beach, a sandwich from Gene's, or a burrito from La Cumbre. I went shopping today for some filters, a new lens, and memory card for my camera so I can capture my adventures better.

It's the home stretch of this extended winter break, but much is left to do....now to redo my German Residenzpass!

Goal No. 2 - Beer!

Before I get into the main body of the post I want to say that I spoke German two days ago. I met two Germans at the Boston College bowl game. They are working as electrical engineers at Mercedes-Benz near me. It was a lot of fun speaking German and even though it was only a few minutes, it got me 10x more excited to go to Germany. Now to the post....

“Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”

-Benjamin Franklin

Did you know that the Pilgrims landed the Mayflower at Plymouth because they ran out of beer? Look it up, it's true!

With our country founded on beer, it is only fitting that I taste some of the best in the world. I have become obsessed with beer and brewed my first batch of beer last summer. 

My friends and I bottling my beer from this summer. Those smiles are legit. 

In my 3 days in Munich I went to the big brew houses - Hofbräuhaus, Augustiner Keller, and Ratskeller. There are so many more in Germany and even in Munich. One of my brother's friends told me the other day that I should visit the Schneider Bräuhaus, but I can't find one in Munich. I'm pretty sure he is thinking of the Weißes Bräuhaus, which serves Schneider bier.

My brother also talked about a place right next to the Munich Hauptbahnhof, or main train station, called the Augustiner Bräustuben. Again, I've been too the Augustinerkeller, but the Bräustuben seems better, cheaper, and more local. I also went in early March, so their Biergarten was not even open. Imagine a summer day in Munich reading a book in the Augustiner Biergarten! AH! 

My friend Brittany was just visiting from Connecticut for the BC bowl game. We perused the 3 floors of City Lights bookstore in San Francisco and I found a great student guide to Germany by the "Let's Go" travel book company. In the Munich food section, the Weißes Bräuhaus and Augustiner Bräustuben are number one and two. Yet another recommendation. Being a student travel book, they've searched some cheaper, less touristy, more German-speaking brew houses like the Hirschgarten, Zum Flaucher, and the Chinesischer Turm in the Englischer Garten. 

I realize that I just used a lot of German on this page and it can get a little daunting trying to read it. So...good luck.  Here is a map of all the brew houses and gartens that I want to try to get to.

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View Munich Beerhouses and Gardens in a larger map

Goal No. 1 - The Symphonies

"Gimme, gimme, symphonies

Gimme more than the life I see"

-lyrics from Dan Black's song Symphonies form the album UN

I've have come up with some really lofty goals while I'll be in Germany for 6 months. I'll start naming them here before I go, and I might as well start with the loftiest.

I have seen 4 out of the 9 Beethoven Symphonies live and want to try and see the rest in Europe, ending in the divine Ninth. The best thing about seeing these symphonies is that they will get me out of Germany (for the most part). Via www.bachtrack.com, I have found the remaining 5 symphonies playing in Lisbon, London, Brussels, Prague, and Dresden. The latter 3 will be relatively easy to get to, but London and Lisbon will take a little more money and planning.

I tried to cheat a little bit and get one out of the way in Los Angeles before I left, but all three performances are still sold out.

This is the only goal that I want to finish 100%. I think that's all for now.