Entry 16- Brezen, Dunkel, and Wiesswurst

Good day to you all!
   After seeing most all of you over Christmas Break, and a certain holy, and law binding union of two people, I set off to conquer to greater western European continent. First stop on Paul's World Domination Tour... Munich, Germany. After getting quickly to London Heathrow, and enjoying a quick meal that can neither be described as breakfast, lunch, or dinner as my internal clock was way off, I was informed that my flight to Munich was delayed by half an hour. No worries, I'll  just read some brain stimulation literature... Surfer Magazine. Very soon however, they delay time changes to one hour, then two, and then three. If for some reason you were out of the loop during the Christmas season, here is the scoop... Europe got throttled by so much snow it looked like San Francisco's Tenderloin District sneezed mid-crack snort, thus spewing millions of dollars worth of cocaine across western Europe. Now that image may be a bit drastic, but it makes sense in a sick sort of way. Well, they eventually got me off the ground, and I landed safely in Munich. Time for a little History lesson; Munich, which lies in Bavaria is considered an independent republic, and is one of the largest German states. Though they sided with Austria during the Austro-Prussian War, they were defeated and annexed as a German state during Germany's Unification in 1871. They are a key German state, and have always been one of Germany's the most powerful. Munich is also the birthplace of a certain WWII movement which then conquered most of Europe until dear ol Uncle Sam came in taking names, and breaking necks until things got sorted out.
  Well, enough of that, I got to the hostel which I was meeting Becca at, and we set out to get some dinner. Of course we went straight for some traditional German food. With both of us having some serious German ancestry, we thought this was our time to pay tribute to those before. Therefore dinner consisted of sausages, liverwurst soup, pretzels, and beer. (Note: I am pretty sure I only ate meat and carbs on this trip... and I am very proud of that). As I said, this dinner was a tribute, and for me it was a tribute to my Popi, a man who always had pretzels, meat, and beer on hand. I like to think that my love for pretzels stems from the fact that Popi always had them in his bread box, and I am now sure it stems from some German necessity to have those tasty little twisty dough angels close at hand. On the second day in Munich, some of our hostel mates told of us a beer tour that night, that goes to some of the most famous beer houses in Munich. We thought that would be fun, and bought our tickets. After a little introduction from the girl leading the group, Becca and I started talking to some guys next to us. Turns out these guys, Chris and Palmer were from the East Coast, and Palmer went to Colby, which is not too far from Bates, where Ben went. Small world. We set off on the tour, and being the men that we are (excluding Becca), we ordered MasBiers (Liters) at the first stop. It was tasty, we finished, and set out for the next stop... The Hofbrau House, which is the oldest beer hall in Munich, and one of the oldest in Germany. There we were told to order the Dunkel (dark beer), which happens to only come in a Mas (which again is a liter). About halfway through this Mas, we started to calculate out how much beer was in one of these things, and came to the conclusion, which happened to be at the end of that Mas, that each Mas was about 4 beers, that means 8 beers, four of which were dark. I promptly ordered a water at the next stop. That night wound to a close and Becca and I decided to join Chris and Palmer the next day on a tour of Neuschwanstein Castle.
   Crazy King Ludwig of Bavaria built this epic castle, which was the inspiration for the castle at Disneyland. It was a beautiful castle, and though much of it was never completed, it is immense in both size and style. His bed took four carvers and three years to build, and had some of the most beautiful wood work I have ever seen. He also had a massive hall built for parties that he never held because he was crazy as bat guano. Our tour guide was kinda odd, not in a creepy sort of way, just in the way where you aren't completely settled with the way someone talks and carries themselves. The kind where you need to check that they are never sneaking up behind you to whisper something in your ear. That's probably just me, but what the heck, I was uneasy in her presence. After the castle, Chris, Palmer, Becca and I set out back to Hofbrau House for some food, ONE Dunkel, and some live entertainment. I forgot to mention that, they have live German entertainment every night. There was some polka, this crazy German dance that is said to resemble a quail dancing for its mate, and these guys who could crack whips really loud, and make it sound something like music. Again, I thought of Popi, and how much he would have enjoyed this trip. At the end of the night, we set off, and decided to all go to Dachau Concentration Camp the next day.
   Dachau was one of those places that you want to see in hopes that the world will never reach that kind of devastation again. We went on a real cold snowy day, which made everything seem so hopeless and bland. While Dachau was never an extermination camp like that of Auschwitz, it was troubling to know that so many people had suffered here, dying because they were different. It started as a work camp for political prisoners, but soon enough, Jewish people from all over Germany were sent here, forced to slave away in unbearable conditions. Dachau was one of the first, if not the first camp liberated by American forces towards the end of the war, and spelled out much of the atrocities American troops were to discover across Germany and Poland. After the tour ended, Becca and I traded email and numbers with Chris and Palmer as they headed off to their next stop, and we spent a few more days in Munich.
   On New Years day, Becca and I discovered that everything closes at two in the afternoon. We were rather hungry, and finally found a traditional restaurant that was still open. Upon opening the door however, we realized because it was still open, it was very crowded. Two guys in front of us looked around for a table, and then turned out the door. As we were about to do the same, an older gentleman at a long table waved us over. "Two?" he asked, and we nodded yes. After some broken english, he learned that we were from California, spoke little, that is no, German, and were ready for lunch. There were two other couples at the table, and older couple from Germany, and their friends from Portugal who were younger, around my parents age (hear that Mom and Dad, youngsters, just like you guys). They all spoke more english than the older man did, and informed us that we were lucky, as this guys was head honcho of the restaurant. Turns out this guys had been coming for like 30 years, his grandfather was on the wall, and he knew the entire staff quite well. They told us what to order, and after some more conversation, the older couple invited us to New Year's dinner at their house. We obliged, and parted ways until later that evening.
   In the cab ride to Gerhard and Brigitte's house Becca and I agreed that we should let them taste all the food first, that way if they are trying to kill us, we can get out with our lives. As I am sure you can imagine, they were in no way trying to kill us, and had prepared an amazing feast. Homemade pumpkin soup, a slow roasted veal shank, vegetables, salad, and bread, all of which was insanely delicious. Both Gerhard and Brigitte are teachers, and their friends from Portugal come and visit every year. After dinner, we traded email address and they took us to what they thought was the best discotecca nearby. It was called Skyline, and you were able to see most of Munich from up there. Becca and quickly discovered that everyone in the club was Russian for some reason, but as midnight struck everyone was dancing up a storm, and fireworks went off over Munich for the next two hours. It was truly an amazing spot to spend the new year, and cap off 2010.
   The next day we set off for Salzburg, Austria to meet up with my dear friend Bud and his girlfriend Annika. But that is a story for another day. However before I leave you, I must implore you to go to Munich, if for one reason, do it for the Pretzels. German pretzels may in fact be the very reason God created salt, butter and dough. They are magical, and you can have them at every meal, all soft and salty with some sausages and some mustard. If a+b=c, then  "a" must equal "c", thus meaning if pretzels are amazing, and life is amazing, then pretzels must be life (see Dad, I did learn things in high school math). I will post some pictures of the trip tomorrow or later today depending on how much I school work I get done. I do have priorities you know, I can't just be expected to write entertaining literature to fancy your young and malleable minds all day. Anyhoo, stay sharp, stay smart, and I will be writing more very soon.

Until Anchor Is Weighed Again,
The Pirate Crew

Entry 15- The Life I Have Lived

And you guys thought I forgot about you!
   Well of course I did not! How could I? Week one of semester two has just drawn to a close, and previous to that I was spending my time, merrily frolicking throughout western Europe. My "Winter Holiday" took me to such beautiful locations as Munich, Salzburg, and Paris... well Disneyland Paris. Instead of hitting you all with one, long winded, drool inducing story of my adventures, I thought I would break it up nicely by country. That way, I can hit you with three, long winded, drool inducing posts. So over the course of the next two weeks (I do go to school you know), I will dutifully transcribe my journeys, starting with: The Land of Pretzels (Munich), The Sounds of Music and Mozart (Salzburg), and last but not least, Europe's Happiest Country, Disneyland Paris (it is a separate country once inside the gates. C'mon, everybody knows that!).
   In order to save you some time, check back in a week or so on Friday, the 28th, for the Munich post. Following that, over the course of the next two and a half weeks, the other posts will follow. Or simply wait in unabated anticipation for all three... now wouldn't that be something to make a day special. I hope you are all well, and are enjoying the blessings of another year.

Spring Winds Are Out There Somewhere,
The Pirate Crew