I'm Off Today!
I got the call late Sunday afternoon from my boss that we do not have to go in to work on Monday because of Wilma. Woo Hoo!
Granted, we're only having tropical storm weather up here that can't even compare to south Florida, but still it's dangerous to be on the roads and what's the point of being at work?
It's raining pretty hard and sometimes no wind, the all of a sudden we're getting gusts of around 65 mph. It's a lot more fun to watch since we know we won't have the damage we had from last years storms and our roof finally got the repairs it needed. So Jeff and I are relaxing with the boys checking all the local news stations for the ticker saying OSC is closed.
What's funny is, is that I grew up in southwest Florida and in the 28 years I have been a Florida resident, I have never seen such a storm season like this year or last. We would have the occasional tropical storm and a small hurricane pass by. The only real bad ones I remember were 1987 we had some really bad storms and Andrew in 1992. I grew up in south Fort Myers and spent my childhood on Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel/ Captiva and Naples. Now you only see them in the news because a hurricane is coming. We saw shots of the Marriott in Marco Island, that's where I spent the 4th of July when I was 7, and the Naples pier being washed away. When I was 2 and my sister was 4 we had our picture taken petting a pelican on that pier and printed in the newspaper. I learned how to walk on Fort Myers Beach with my mom, sister and Granny Faust (who fed our English bulldog so much bread and butter she was scared of her). It's just sad to watch it being on the news like this. But whatever, it's Mother Nature, we live in Florida, that's why you have insurance, right?
I'm just happy the freaking roof is finally fixed.
Prost!
We're home.
Jeff and I had a blast in Munich. What a beautiful city with beautiful people and BEER!
Our flight was good, we arrived on time. Met up with our transport to the hotel, checked in and then hit the pavement for some dinner. We found the Der Pschorr beer hall and feasted on beer and sausages. The beer halls were a little crowded since it was rainy and people were leaving Oktoberfest.
Speaking of Oktoberfest, that was our Monday. We walked from our hotel and arrived in what Jeff would consider his own personal heaven. Beer tents lined up and down the walkway with people enjoying their liters at 9:30 AM! We checked out the Lowenbrau tent, but it was already packed, so we went next door to Paulaner. We started on our liters and sausages and met a real nice Army dude named Dallas who is currently stationed in Germany. We shared our table with so many families, toasted our liters, sang and met wonderful Germans who were eager to give us travel tips and Oktoberfest news. Afterwards I carried Jeff back to the hotel through the estimated crowd of 4 million.
Tuesday we spent time touring the city via bus and on foot. We saw the building where the Munich Treaty was signed, where Hitler made his speeches and carried on his book burnings, the original Lowenbrau brewery, castles and other historic buildings and a sculpture museum.
The we found our shared personal heaven, the Hofbrauhaus. A place Jeff hasn't been in about 15 years. According to him, it was still the same. Long tables where people meet and drink their liters, eat sausages and sing. Who are total strangers when they sit with you are new friends when they leave. I love that place.
Wednesday we took the train to Dachau. Probably the saddest places I've ever been to. I recommend anyone who gets the chance to tour places like Poland Germany or Austria should make a special trip to one of these camps. It's sad to see such a beautiful town like Dachau have such a dark and disturbing past and only be known for that. We needed some cheering up after, so we took the train back to Munich to spend another evening at the Hofbrauhaus.
Thursday we again took the train to Garmmish so we could see the Alps. WOW, pretty amazing and breathtaking. I was speechless when we made it to the top (mostly because the cable car freaked me out). We enjoyed grilled sausage and hot chocolate, made snowballs and just took in the view. We celebrated the Alps with another trip to the Hofbrauhaus. Jeff and I had the pleasure of sharing our table with two Bravarian engineers from Siemens who were in Munich for training. We shared stories, laughed tons, toasted to Bravaria and they informed me that in the English class they took, the word "pisshead" meant drunk. Well, we were all pissheads by the end of the evening. Jeff and I downed 4 liters each, I think he may have had 5, but were were pretty gone and payed for it the next day. But it was worth it because that evening is one of my favorite memories.
So on Friday we played it slow and easy. We needed easy food, so we sold out and ate at the Hard Rock Cafe. We putzed around Aldstat (old town), met a guy from Ohio who was living in Germany studying to be a brew master and just took in the last few sights before our departure Saturday.
I had such a wonderful time, but I'm happy to be home with my boys. I love Germany. Being there made me realize I'm not crazy when I'm efficient. All of Germany is like that, and because of my big fat German heritage, it made things a lot more clear, especially to Jeff, and I'm a sucker for the 'hosen. I'm sure there's a lot more to see, but we always like to save some for when we go back.
