Sojin Josephson

It was 8:30 p.m. last Thursday and as usual, we had waited far too long to go anywhere inexpensively. My roommate Kim and I sat down with our computers and searched Milan to everywhere on every possible website to find the cheapest places to go. Nowhere. After we’d given up all hope I came across a flight to Munich that was over 100 euro less expensive than every other flight or train ticket. Germany had never really been on my radar of places to go, aside from Berlin, but Munich popped up as No. 2 on most of the top 10 places in Germany. We shifted into high gear and messaged Stas, Michela and Melissa to see if they wanted to go. After an hour of chaos, we had five tickets to Munich and a hostel booked.

Munich was a weekend of those moments I previously talked about. The too-perfect moments that can’t be described well. Even my camera lens couldn’t capture the sights I saw. The weekend will only be accurate in memory, but I’m going to try and recap.

Arrival

6 p.m. We arrived at the airport outside of Munich, bought our train tickets into the city, met a lovely lady on the train who gave us great advice and led us to our stop. We found our lit-up hostel less than 100 yards outside of the subway station. That was a first.

7:30 p.m. We left the hostel with our sights set on finding Hofbräuhaus—one of the most famous, if not the most famous, beer halls in the world. The beer here is brewed using original recipes handed down by Wilhelm V, Duke of Bavaria. This hall is one of the biggest contributors at Oktoberfest. Visitors of Hofbräuhaus include Mozart, Vladimir Lenin, Hitler and the Nazi Party. For the next two hours, we had really good beer, pretzels, pork, potatoes and even dessert. I’ve never been so uncomfortably full. I’m not a beer connoisseur. I didn’t like beer until a month ago and loved it here, so that should tell you something. If you ever find yourself in Munich (which I highly suggest) leave time in your schedule and room in your stomach for this experience.

Day 1

9 a.m. Our walking tour started at 10:40, so we wanted to gather our surroundings in the daylight and get breakfast before. We went to a restaurant and ordered the “traditional German breakfast” from the menu. It consisted of white sausage with sweet mustard, pretzels and sure enough…beer.

10:40 a.m. We met at Marienplatz Square to find the walking tour—a free way to see the city and learn all of the history. Our tour guide was a 31-year-old Englishman named Jon. We stood in the square for approximately 12 minutes while the glockenspiel played. Apparently it’s rude to leave in the middle of it. Jon suggested we make shirts that say, “I survived the glockenspiel.”

12 p.m. This is the best story of the trip. After booking the trip to Germany, I remembered someone mentioning Munich to me. I scrolled back through my WhatsApp messages with Claire—one of my dearest friends in the world and roommate in Missoula. If you’re friends with me on any form of social media or have talked to me in the last six months, you know about her. But sure enough, she said she was planning a trip to Munich for that same weekend. The short of it is that I very excitedly messaged her and we made plans to meet Saturday night. In Germany, my phone didn’t work at all so I was worried how I’d find her. But on the tour, I was walking into a church with the rest of the group and Claire happened to be coming out at the exact same time. It’s sort of an indescribable moment and you’d think it had been years since we last saw each other, but we made a Scottish man in a purple scarf from my tour group cry. He actually cried and then asked me about it later. We also got silenced, but it was a wonderful moment and we’ll remember it forever. Claire and I went our separate ways, but she informed me she booked a room in the same hostel and we made plans to meet there at 8:30.

3 p.m. We finished up the walking tour and then Kim, Melissa, Stas, Michela and I walked through a beautiful open-air market, ate bratwursts in a beer garden and wandered through the English Garden.

8 p.m. We headed back to the hostel to take a breather and meet up with Claire. That’s when we also met Max from Macedonia who came to dinner with us and we enjoyed his good company. Then all seven of us went to a different, smaller beer hall for dinner.

11:30 p.m. It seemed like a waste to go home so early, so we found an Irish Pub, surprisingly one of the only things open, and hung out with a bachelor party from London for a few hours. It was a really fun evening.

Day 2

9 a.m. We decided to split up on our second day. Kim, Melissa, Michela and Stas went to Dachau concentration camp—the first one opened in Germany. Claire and I went to Neuschwanstein Castle a couple of hours outside of Munich (one of Claire’s lifelong dreams).

12 p.m. We arrived at the castle and waited in line for tickets while drinking our second cappuccino of the day. The tour wasn’t for a few more hours, so we walked around the Alps catching up and laughing a lot.

3 p.m. We climbed up to the actual castle, found postcards, more hot drinks and picturesque views. Then we headed inside and took a tour. The history of the place was so interesting and it was so extravagant. I kind of think it would have been cold and lonely with all of the stone and massive rooms and echoes.

6 p.m. Claire and I headed back to Munich on the train after a fairytale of a day. I can’t really describe the views we saw that day because they didn’t seem real.

8 p.m. After getting back into the city, we met the other four girls back at Hofbräuhaus where we had another excellent dinner and hung out with a local Münchner and his English friend. We made many friends on this trip, which is the fantastic thing about constantly traveling.

The next morning, our flight was at 9 a.m. and I made it back to Milan just in time for my 11:30 a.m. class.

Although the trip was a very last-minute decision, we all agree it was one of the best weekends yet. It was filled with a lot of bier, brezeln and brats…and of course good friends. But hopefully we won’t procrastinate trips anymore. We have the next five weekends planned, so I think we’re learning.

This was also my first hostel experience. It is kind of an odd concept to get used to, but it is so inexpensive. The five of us booked the same room, which had eight bunk beds (double-decker beds as Max called them). All three nights, there were three men with us. Aside from Max, there was also a man from Bologna, Italia, who recently finished his PhD and was searching for an apartment in Munich. Then there was the tall guy who had a ponytail, a mustache, wore all black, was completely silent and would stand in the middle of the room with his only belonging: a plastic bag. I am still trying to figure out that one.

Well, I’m off to Paris after my morning class tomorrow. I’ve had pictures of Paris slapped on my walls in Big Timber for years, so I’m checking a big one off the list this weekend. Revoir pour l’instant, les amis!