It was a gentle 76 degrees outside on Saturday as we headed for the train station. Our first stop was the , Marienplatz, Munich’s city center. As soon as we were off the train we noticed an International Bookstore. This was an awesome find because now we can get any newspaper, magazine or book that we want—in ENGLISH! On the next block, I spotted a post office and I bought international stamps to Australia and the U.S. for further postal needs. Then, we spied a Lowenbrau passage that took us behind the Marienplatz to a lovely beer garden where I had my first German White sausage. It was delicious and the beer was perfect for a warm spring day.
Since it was the weekend of the “Fire-tag,” (two bank holidays—Friday and Monday) Steve had four days off. Judging by the crowds of people in the Marienplatz, everyone in Munich decided that it was a beautiful day to spend outdoors. Steve’s cell (or “handi” here in Germany) rang and it was Martin, a colleague of Steve’s who just began at Linde, although he is a South African who has been living in Germany and working for another company for ten years. Martin asked if we would like to meet him and another couple at the English Gardens. Since we were just one train stop away, we jumped back on the train and headed for the Gardens.
How to describe the English Gardens; http://www.blogger.com/www.Wikipedia.com begins like this:
The Englischer Garten or "English Garden" is a large public park in the centre of Munich, Germany, stretching from the city center with an area of 3.7 km² the Englischer Garten is one of the world's largest urban public parks, larger than New York's Central Park but smaller than London's Richmond Park. The name refers to the style of gardening; the term English garden is used outside of the English speaking world to refer to the style of informal landscape gardening which was popular in the United Kingdom from the mid 18th century to the early 19th century.
We met Martin and his friends at the Chinesischer Turm a beer garden. No less that 4 or 5 thousand other people were there at tables since it was the first weekend the beer garden opened. Thank goodness for handi’s or we would not have been able to find them. The cheeriness and joviality of the day, plus the liter steins of beer, made the afternoon fly by quickly. The table behind us was full of young men who were whooping it up and toasting everyone nearby. As soon as they learned we were an international table, a member of their group decided to come over and toast with us. He was a banker, with a great sense of humor, from Lichtenstein. “You know,” he said, “The country the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development listed as one of non-cooperative tax centers. You know,” he said, “The Black List!!” At this there were giggles and laughs, but he was not finished with his comedy. “Here,” he said, “Let’s toast to my country who we like to think is just a little bit above other countries in Europe.” This drew scofflaws from the German’s at the table, but he continued on. “Come on now, after all, we are now on the Black List and Obama is a Black president so this cannot be such a bad thing after all.” This garnered lots of laughter from all of us. I asked him if he liked President Obama and he held his liter sized stein up high and exclaimed, “Yes, I LOVE Obama. YES WE CAN!!,” he said.
The day had not ended and Steve’s boss, Hans, called and asked if we would all like to join him for dinner. We met him at the Hoffbrau Haus where we were treated to a epicurean delight, “White asparagus,” that only grows in the spring. Apparently there are degrees of gourmet flavor when selecting white asparagus and this was considered one of the best. White asparagus, hollandaise sauce, and an ice cold Helles. What more could a person want?
Since it was the weekend of the “Fire-tag,” (two bank holidays—Friday and Monday) Steve had four days off. Judging by the crowds of people in the Marienplatz, everyone in Munich decided that it was a beautiful day to spend outdoors. Steve’s cell (or “handi” here in Germany) rang and it was Martin, a colleague of Steve’s who just began at Linde, although he is a South African who has been living in Germany and working for another company for ten years. Martin asked if we would like to meet him and another couple at the English Gardens. Since we were just one train stop away, we jumped back on the train and headed for the Gardens.
How to describe the English Gardens; http://www.blogger.com/www.Wikipedia.com begins like this:
The Englischer Garten or "English Garden" is a large public park in the centre of Munich, Germany, stretching from the city center with an area of 3.7 km² the Englischer Garten is one of the world's largest urban public parks, larger than New York's Central Park but smaller than London's Richmond Park. The name refers to the style of gardening; the term English garden is used outside of the English speaking world to refer to the style of informal landscape gardening which was popular in the United Kingdom from the mid 18th century to the early 19th century.
We met Martin and his friends at the Chinesischer Turm a beer garden. No less that 4 or 5 thousand other people were there at tables since it was the first weekend the beer garden opened. Thank goodness for handi’s or we would not have been able to find them. The cheeriness and joviality of the day, plus the liter steins of beer, made the afternoon fly by quickly. The table behind us was full of young men who were whooping it up and toasting everyone nearby. As soon as they learned we were an international table, a member of their group decided to come over and toast with us. He was a banker, with a great sense of humor, from Lichtenstein. “You know,” he said, “The country the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development listed as one of non-cooperative tax centers. You know,” he said, “The Black List!!” At this there were giggles and laughs, but he was not finished with his comedy. “Here,” he said, “Let’s toast to my country who we like to think is just a little bit above other countries in Europe.” This drew scofflaws from the German’s at the table, but he continued on. “Come on now, after all, we are now on the Black List and Obama is a Black president so this cannot be such a bad thing after all.” This garnered lots of laughter from all of us. I asked him if he liked President Obama and he held his liter sized stein up high and exclaimed, “Yes, I LOVE Obama. YES WE CAN!!,” he said.
The day had not ended and Steve’s boss, Hans, called and asked if we would all like to join him for dinner. We met him at the Hoffbrau Haus where we were treated to a epicurean delight, “White asparagus,” that only grows in the spring. Apparently there are degrees of gourmet flavor when selecting white asparagus and this was considered one of the best. White asparagus, hollandaise sauce, and an ice cold Helles. What more could a person want?
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