Meissen to Munich, 6/11/09

Up at dawn, as we had a ways to go and lots of things to see. It gets light very early (and stays light very late) this far north, so I was up and going strong by 5AM. The hotel breakfast hadn't started so we went to a backerei down the street for coffee; always fun going to small local places and talking to people. So Radec brought the bus onto the street so we could load our suitcases, but in a few minutes here came the polezei, who said that he was blocking traffic and he had to move. I don't know why German police are so intimidating, but they are. Of course anyone with a badge and a gun is scary, but these guys, I don't know, they are just so steely-eyed. One of them was a blonde woman, not unattractive, and I was still nervous seeing her get out of the car and walk over to Radec. "Paranoia it strikes deep," as the old song goes. So anyway, of course there was traffic whizzing by, since it was the morning rush hour, and they had him move to the other side of the street; in the fullness of time we got our suitcases loaded and there we went. I hate to have a heavy and awkward suitcase but hey, I'm a big guy and my clothes and shoes and all are big. Plus I always carry too much stuff.

So we leave Meissen and are headed to Munich, but as we're leaving town Radec turns down this tiny little road, instead of following the big obvious sign that points to the Autobahn, because he's following the GPS. We've all heard tales of someone following GPS directions off a cliff or into a river, but this was the first time I'd seen it happen. Steve screams at him to ignore it, but it was too late; the road was so narrow and twisty that there was no way to turn a bus around; it would have been hard with a car. So we keep going, tree branches scraping over the roof, the bus tires going off the road into dirt, and then here comes a farm machine that takes up the whole road, coming the other way! Radec has to pull all the way off the road to let the guy by, Steve just fuming the whole time. We wander over hill and dale, past these tiny little villages; not even villages, just a farm house and some outbuildings, and eventually come to a main road that leads us to another road that comes to the Autobahn. It took over an hour and we ended up about as far from our destination was when we started in the morning. It was very picturesque, though, despite the violence to our schedule and Steve's blood pressure.

So by this point my feet were being hammered into condition; I had only some sneakers and my river shoes, but they were holding up on the cobblestones and steep paths. I felt pretty good even though I'd been eating a lot, those heavy German breakfasts and dinners, but it was all that walking; I hadn't walked that much for a long time.

It was pretty cloudy and rainy on the way south; a good day to be on the bus, although as we headed south Radec was obviously falling asleep, he kept rubbing his face and hair, so Becci and I were watching him closely; I didn't want to end up in a ditch because he drifted off the road. So we finally stopped outside Plauen for a break in one of the really well-run rest stops that are a feature of the Autobahn. These are a far cry from the sleazy, greasy, sketchy truck stops that are the usual fare on US freeways; they are modern, clean, well-laid-out, efficiently staffed, stocked with all sorts of drinks and snacks and maps (and even German porn!).


They also had the Sanifare system, which is a sort of automated entry to the toilets. You go through a turnstile (watched by the ever-present pissenfrau, or pissermann as the case may be--I don't think those are real German words, just ones I made up to describe the people who watch over the toilets), and you pays your .50E--there was always a scramble for .50E coins whenever we stopped--and you get a coupon back from the turnstile that allows you to use it on a purchase, even German porn if you were into that sort of thing.


So we all go in and relieve ourselves and buy snacks and drinks--I bought a good map of Germany, I had been hating myself for not doing that before we left; I think if you can't read a map you should stay home, forget all this GPS stuff--and I'm walking back to the bus in the rain and here comes, who else, Herb, our erstwhile leader. He comes rushing up and asks me "when are we leaving!?!" which was, well, right about now, since we've been here for half an hour. "D'oH!" he didn't say but should have, since he's such a Homer Simpson character, "I got to talking and missed the stop." Dipstick! He is so clueless I can see why his program is being dropped at the school. He still can't get that when Steve says it's time to leave or time to get on the bus or time to get up, that's the time; not half an hour later, not some other time, but then! Now! We are leaving at 9:40, not 9:freakin' 55!

Also decided to try to get along with the Princesses, despite their obnoxious arrogance, starting in the morning by saying hello to Karen, their teacher. For all their sneering at the rest of us, at least they are always on time and squared away, unlike our own leader!

Strange Czech muzak on the bus stereo; still raining but very pretty. When we were here ten years ago, you could tell the old border of East Germany by the Autobahn. On the west side it was smooth, modern, well-lit, but as soon as you crossed the old border it narrowed and was rough, had potholes, and you couldn't see at night. Now that distinction is gone, and you can't tell where the border was at all.

Steve started playing songs about the unification, speaking of; "Uber Sieben Brucken" ("over seven bridges?"); "Winds of change," and even "Deutschland uber alles." When he started talking about important songsI thought he was going to mention the "Horst Wessel Lied," But I guess that one has rather fallen out of favor these days!

Definitely a different landscape as we go on, rolling hills and lots of little lakes. Still raining though, with lightning to the east, clearing out to the west. Just learned that we'll make a stop at Regensberg, yay!

Later, leaving Regensberg. Very beautiful place, wow! We got off the bus illiegally, at a city bus stop, with all of us dashing off the bus and Radec zooming off before the polizei saw us, then walked through the little streets toward the center of the city; it had stopped raining, mostly, by this point, so the streets were just wet; there were a lot of shops, but all of them were closed, this being some Catholic holiday; Corpus Christi?).. Then we came out in the square and there was the magnificent cathedral, which was immense, you could put the Salt Lake Temple inside of it and still have plenty of room, and it's not even one of the biggest in the country. Outside the cathedral were all these birch branches laying all over the place; it had been really stormy but there weren't any birch trees to be seen, it was a public square with no trees. So someone with an internet phone looked it up and found out that birch branches have something to do with the holiday; apparently we had just missed some big Catholic procession and/or ceremony. Oh well, I was never one for ceremonies anyway. So then we all sort of split up, to get lunch or walk around town. We walked down to the river; some of the group went to a bratwurst stand that dated from 1340, apparently the oldest such in Germany, but as good as that sounded I really wanted to see the place, not stuff my face. It was very crowded, anyway. The bridge and the river were really pretty, made me want a boat! So Becci and Sarah and I walked over the bridge and back, for the view.

Becci and I at the Regensburg (or is it Regensberg?) Bridge

After a bit we all joined back up and went to see an old Romanesque chapel that was attached to the cathedral; and then to an amazingly decorated baroque Alte Kappelle; all gilt and white and incredible, they really know how to do up a church, I tell you. So by this point it was time to head back to the bus, so we start through the city, and stop at a fountain for a photo; when we all gathered up to go back to the bus, who is missing? That's right, Herb! As we were waiting for the bus here he comes, dashing down the street, saying that as he was taking a picture of the cathedral his camera battery died and as he was replacing it he didn't notice that we all left. The Princesses had already taken off, since their leader had been a student there for a year; good riddance anyway. As we were walking back I saw a doorway that was scattered with rose petals, so I stopped to look at the plaque by the door; it said (as much as I could decipher, anyway), that this was a private chapel dating from 1200 or so. Whew! The age of these places is amazing; apparently Regensburg was a Roman city, and somewhere in town there are Roman ruins, which we didn't get to see.

So we finally get all back at the bus stop, whistling and rocking back and forth on our heels, trying not to look like what we were doing was totally illegal ("what, me, officer?"); so while we were waiting a couple of our kids spot a McD's across the street and dash across for fries and burgers, since we hadn't had anything to eat; caused a minor problem with the others who wouldn't take the initiative and go do it, even though we said Go, Go, the bus won't leave without you; even Steve said for them to go. But they would rather whine instead. I wanted to say you knew everything would be closed, so don't make your lack of planning into my problem; but I kept my counsel to myself and my mouth shut.

So after we all finally got back on the bus we heard one of the Jesuit teachers complaining that our kids were noisy! As if! Her little angels suck down Red Bull drinks like they were water and then act like apes. Figures, though.

So Steve is getting us ready for Munich by playing "oompah" music, but then he asked us to guess what the most popular song in the beer gardens was, the one all the beefy Bavarian buergers link arms and sing when they are sloshed. Guess? You would never guess this in a million years, "Country Roads" by John Denver. That was outta the blue, I never would have thought that; I can just imagine them all belting out the chorus in between trips to the pissoir.

So in the fullness of time we got Munich; before we went to our hotel we were doing a drive-around tour, which unfortunately always act like chloroform on me; I really do want to listen to the tour guide but there is just something about the droning in a slow-moving bus that's soporific. The tour guide, John, was an English expat who had come to Munich to work on the 1972 Olympics and never left. He was oh-so-knowledgeable, droll, and quite funny, as he took us around the Ring, the Nymphenberg Palace,



and all around the city. We dropped him at the Stadsoperahaus, the State Opera House, which is where the bus tour ended and the walking tour began. Steve marched us around a bit on the way to the main square, the Marienplatz, so that we could see where we were to meet the next day, and on the way walked through the Hofbrauhaus, the big old beer hall in the middle of the city, to look at the stein lockers. On the way Becci took a picture of some dozing old drunk in lederhosen and got yelled at for being a paparazzi! That was pretty funny. At the Marienplatz, which was just jammed with people, we split up. Our group, me, Becci, Sarah, Brooke, and Ruby all went back to the Hofbrauhaus for souvenirs and beer for me; I mean how can one go to Munich and the Hofbrauhaus and not drink at least one beer, come on! Plus the Hard Rock Cafe was across the little street and the girls wanted souvenirs from there (for some teenage reason). So we did so, found a table and ordered a big pretzel and a Radlerbier, a beer mixed with lemonade, which we all enjoyed immensely; I wish I could have sampled a few more! But we had to get back to the Marienplatz to meet the bus, so we tore ourselves away, and caught the bus to the Hotel Imperial, our home for a couple of days in Munich.