The Bearded Lady

Despite the evening of debauchery and beer, I woke early Monday morning. My day pack is starting to fall apart, so I was on a quest to find a cheap, cool bag to replace it! It`s about time, really. That bag has seen a lot! Anyway, I headed off to the main shopping drag. I stopped in a bunch of the Arab and Asian run shops, but the bags were ghastly. Glitter and sequins and metal accoutrements. Oh no. That won`t do at all. So, I popped into the first department store and found a black slouchy bag that would do, but it was almost 30 Euros. Hmmmm.... I better keep looking. After many unsuccessful visits to a variety of Bavarian bag peddlers, I finally found a cheap black bag that was ok!

With that taken care of, I headed down to the Town Hall with the famous Glockenspiel! I continued walking and enjoying the hustle and bustle of Munich! I eventually wound my way back to the Viktualienmarkt, which is an ancient open air market selling everything from handmade straw puppets to fresh meat and veg! It was fun to wander through! After all that walking and shopping, I was in need of a siesta! Oh wait!! Beer Gardens!! I found my way to one of many beer gardens, got a giant pretzel and a stein of beer, and sat down under a chestnut tree!

With my belly full of beer and sour dough, I headed back to the hostel! I ran into Tania and Krista, and after some deliberation we decided to go to Löwenbräu for dinner and.... oh yea.... more beer! We ran into this guy that Krista knows, so he joined us and we went and found Julianna. After a 15 minute walk, the Löwenbräu Beer Hall loomed ahead! Yeaaaaaa! Weiners and beer! When we get in, the place is packed! When the beer wench finally decided to come over, she spoke no English. And, no.... they did not have a menu in English. So, we all had a laugh trying to figure out what the hell we were ordering! I ordered the Brätwurst mit Kartofelpuree. Poor Julianna! She had absolutely no idea what she ordered. She simply pickjed something and hoped for the best!! So, after our drinks came, the beer wench brought each of us something "special" from the kitchen! Oh my! It was a slice of hell. It was a small square of what appeared to be some strange meat and a colorful assortment of veggies congealed in a gelatin loaf with a dollop of white fluid on to. Wow. My stomach turned, but we all agreed to take one bite. So, after much inspection, I did. And honestly, it didn`t taste all that bad. But I couldn`t get past the gelatin. Ugh! I couldn`t quite place the taste of the meat. Krista said it was probably horse, and I was finished. But I don`t think they eat horse in Germany. That`s more of a French and Italian thing. They eat a lot of horse in Italy. Why?? Anyway, the rest of the meal was great! Julianna had ordered chicken cordon bleu, so she was pleased! We left around 9 and headed back to the hostel.

After Krista left for her date, Tania, _Julianna, and I hung out and had a laugh! Tania had an overnight train to catch, so we walked her to the train station and said our goodbyes! Munich won`t be the same without her! She`s.... dangerous!! Tst tst! (I`ll explain this when I see you all! There are pictures that must be shown!)

Any-hoo.... I headed to bed. All the beer was catching up to me! And unfortunately, of my roommates got piss drunk and forgot his key. So, at around 5 am, he pounded on the door until I drug my exhausted ass out of bed and let him in. Arg!!! I only got another couple of hours of sleep before I was woken up by another roommate who was leaving that morning. Damn it!! So, I just got up. I had to go pay for my room anyway. So, exhausted, I slowly got dressed and headed downstairs. My plan was to go to Neuschewanstein Castle for the day, but when I got to reception, they informed me that the girl had neglected to make the reservation for me and that I couldn`t stay in the room. Oh. Well, I guess I`m leaving then. So, I decided to head to Bad Gastein early! So, since it was time to check out, I had to rush around and pack up all my shit. Since the train wasn`t until 1:30, I stored my bag and headed to Deutche Post. For a nice chunk of change, I shipped my final box back to the States. Feeling much lighter, I decided to grab an early lunch. I tried to find a Falafel shop that had chicken, but all the shops in Munich onlya have veal or lamb! So, I went to McDonald`s. Yea, well it was quick and cheap. Whatever. After I sat down, I looked at the .... person.... sitting at the table across from me. She/he had long gray hair done up in braids and a long gotee, twisted into a point. How very Kung Fu of her/him. I could not for the life of me, figure out if it was a man or a woman!! She/he had breasts and long finger nails, so it`s probably a woman. But that gotee! Oh, she`s the Bearded Lady! Oh my god... she`s a carnie!!! And you know how much they freak me out! I spent my entire meal watching her and trying to figure her out! I never did, though.....

So, after my rather interesting lunch, I rescued my bag from the depths of left luggage storae and headed to the Munich Hauptbanhoff. Wow. It was a zoo! There was some issue with the S-Bahn and a failed electrical thing-a-ma-jigger. But, after a 55 minute delay, I boarded a train heading south. I`m off to Bad Gastein in the Austrian Alps! I can`t wait!!