Tuesday night, we arrived at the chic, clean, trendy, sleek, and minimalistic Motel One Munich too late to do much other than check in. One thing that I found pretty amusing off the bat was that the hotel reception was an extension of the bar. The hotel greeters/concierges or whatever you call them were also the bartenders. There was a pretty decent sized crowd hanging out in the lounge area, animatedly into their soccer game on the many tv’s hanging around the lounge. Everything including the dress (and the eyes) of the staff was teal, black, and white.
Work meetings went swimmingly again. We got a nice tour of the German office. It’s a brand new office for them with a nice view with the offices creating a U shape around a large, shared indoor courtyard with lots of light. The kitchen/lounge area had a cappuccino maker. At the beginning of our tour, Olaf took a “forecast” of how many of us wanted cappuccino’s. By the end, he had delivered the best cappuccinos of the trip and brought a couple extra as “safety stock” for any drop in orders for those who saw how much the rest of us were enjoying ours.
That night, we went to the city center near the Opera House. I was charmed and dizzy with the sheer volume of beautiful architecture in Munich. Miriam (my brilliant German coworker/guide) had made reservations for 12 of us at a place called the Spatenhaus. They had what I thought was an odd and profuse number of small, horned animal skulls on the walls, but this apparently is considered the standard in restaurant decor for Munich. The menu was huge! It rivaled the Cheesecake Factory’s menu, but instead of a huge section on
cheesecakes, half of this menu was devoted to booze. I’m ok with this. I was pleased to see Franziskaner, a beer that Tiberius’s father, Bill, stocks at his lavish Septemberfest party. Here there were 5 different flavors of Franziskaner but the waitstaff assumes that Americans only want the blonde. At Olaf’s suggestion, I had the crispy suckling pig with potato dumplings. It was as delicious as the name sounds and the Bavarian creme for dessert was incredible.
My American and English coworkers all headed home that Friday night or Saturday. Miriam & I scooted out at 5:00 Friday to begin a wonderful weekend. I must have easily said “Wow, that’s beautiful!” 100 times. The architecture, the people, the food are extraordinarily beautiful. I was humbled and impressed with how many people could speak English and speak it well – even after an impressive amount of beer. 😉
There was a beer festival going on. I would never have imagined to see so many liderhosen or dirndels! And the beer steins are as big as your head. The only people present at the beer hall that night that seemed grouchy were the poor waitresses carrying 6 per hand while squeezing through the drunken masses. The beer hall was huge inside and out with row after row of wooden tables; everyone standing on their benches while listening to the band play such songs as Dancing Queen, Sweet Caroline, and Ein Prosit. We found a couple open spots at the end of a table and climbed up on the benches with a fun, and friendly group. Miriam is a big fan of toasting, we said Cheers many times that night. Very cute. I wondered if all Germans toast so much or if it was just her.
The beer hall closed earlier than I would have expected. 11pm I think? So our new friends suggested going to a place called Ruby’s. Munich already reminded of my favorite local band Alacartoona, who’s female vocalist is the lovely and amazing, Ruby Falls. How could I resist going to a place sharing her name? What a great way to end the first evening in Munich!!
