Munich

Alla and Tole with one of the many decorated lions currently gracing the streets of Munich.
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Munich is awesome. Some Germans we met later in Romania told us it´s even more expensive to live in than Berlin. If they´re right, we could see why that might be true. In contrast to Prague and Salzburg, it´s less about a medieval old town and castle than it is about a vibe. Munich is all the best of the stereotypes, and I mean that in the best way. We had the yummiest beer there, visited the coolest beer garden, and visited the most impressive museums. But more than that, the town just feels right. The way I see it, you can tell when a town is loved by its inhabitants, and that fact, the evidence of which is both tangible and intangible, can make or break the town. Munich, it seemed, is very loved.

Yep, that's a full liter! Yum!
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Highlights definitely include the English Gardens, where Alla was excited to find, FINALLY, a nudist enclave in the heart of Europe. (Just kidding!!! She and Mark went home, while Tole and I took in the sights, ahem.) The park also has a fantastic beer garden smack in its middle, at, of all places, the so-called Chinese Pagoda. Here, it seems half of Munich gathers on a Friday summer afternoon. When we were there, school bands were playing and dancing around the Pagoda, the sun was sparkling through the tree tops, and the full liters of the best beer on the planet were there for the taking. Yes, I said a full liter. You gotta do it at least once. Or more than once, as the case may be. ;)

performance art punk rock spoken-word piece put on by a nearly nude post-op transexual with a mustache?

Chinese Pagoda beer garden, English Gardens, Munich.
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That night, on the way home, we stumbled across a large stone gazebo glowing in the dusk. Attracted by the music drifting out, we came closer to find a group of folks of all ages dancing the Tango. The entire place was bathed in murky orange light, everyone was dressed to the nines, and they were setting that impromptu Tango floor on fire. I was completely mesmerized, and wracked with a burning desire to learn that sexy, impossibly complicated dance. Of course that didn´t happen, but shortly afterward, just across the lawn, we crashed an equally interesting, completely different event. We witnessed a free performance, in German of course, of what we could only surmise was some sort of performance art punk rock spoken-word piece put on by a nearly nude post-op transexual with a mustache? Gotta love those Germans. Seriously, though, what a cool, fun town.