Well, it looks like I’ve got a lot of catching up to do, so I’ll start where we left off: Munich. We spent our last few days in Munich seeing all of the sites that we missed out on while I was sick. We walked out to the Theresienwiese (Oktoberfest Grounds) and were shocked to find out that outside of the two weeks when it’s filled with 6 million drunk people at Oktoberfest, it’s actually a pretty calm place. Maybe we’ll just have to go back someday to get the real atmosphere! We also visited the Viktualmart, an open air market where tourists go to buy overpriced fruit, flowers, and souvenirs and locals go to drink a liter of beer outside on their lunch breaks. Of course being well-acclimated to the German lifestyle, Nate and I imbibed in liters of beer all while wishfully dreaming of the day when we might spend our lunch hours sipping the nectar of the gods….We mentioned the change in policy to Nate’s boss Dave while he and his wife Kim visited, but he didn’t bite… Finally, we went to the residence, the place where we had gone a week and a half earlier when I suddenly fell ill. Surprisingly, they let us use our old tickets even though they had already been stamped! We have found that the Germans are very trusting, and there are many tempting opportunities for exploitation, although of course we do not give into such temptations. Before departing Munich, we received a letter addressed from our past residence in Hoslwang. Much to our surprise, Vincent “The Count” had looked us up and felt the need to keep in touch. We have translated the letter below for your reading pleasure:
To my old roommates,
The weeks have been long and hard without you here…ah, aha, , AHHH, ahA….luckily the refrigerator is working better now, so Jenny no longer makes me drink chunky milk in my coffee. Now that it is getting warmer, I don’t need to keep the rug on my lap ah, ah, ah all day, although I still stoke the wood fire repetitively until the kitchen becomes a ah, ah ah, AH, sauna. Jenny is not any nicer to me. She still tries to pump more drugs into me when I cry at night. I am very sad that you left. What was it? Didn’t you like having dog hair in all of your food? Was it that Jenny slept all day while you worked? Was it because I walked in on Nate in the bathroom? I am so truly sorry, but I really had to change my catheter! You’ll understand someday.
Well, I saw my videos on YouTube today. Ah, AHH, ahaaaaaam, AHHHHHHAAAHHH! I didn’t even realize what a great looking man I am! You should have gotten video of my sexy body when I run around naked on bath day!
Ah, ah, ahahaharump *BURP* ahah, ah …Well I miss you guys already and I’ll talk to you in the future! Just write me on Facebook…
Yours truly,
The Count
I hope this brightened your day as much as it did ours…
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Moving on….on Friday the 26th of February we took off for Nuremberg, a medieval city halfway between Munich and Frankfurt. At almost 1000 years old, Nuremberg is thoroughly enchanting with its medieval city walls, castle, and cellars which have all been preserved and/or restored after being attacked in the Thirty Years War and in WWII. Nate and I spent many hours meandering the city and soaking up the charming atmosphere while licking waffle cones of gelato. We also paid a visit to the Kaiserberg (the castle), which hasn’t been renovated in the interior, but does have a lot to offer outwardly, including the ancient well house which still holds water all 47 meters down and a town affording spectacular panoramic views of the city. .JPG)
Beyond medieval history, Nuremberg also has as dark past as the central hub for the Nazi party. Nate and I took a 5 mile trek (we were too cheap and ignorant to use the intercity train system) out to the Nazi Party rally grounds, where Hitler grew his party and staged many propaganda videos. Later, Nuremberg was the chosen city for the trials against Nazi leaders, many of whom were hanged. The city’s rich history inspired Nate to spend hours reading about and watching YouTube videos of the trials…surely a noble and educational pastime, but maybe his homework would have been a little more pressing! Even with all of its rich history, Nuremberg still contains many modern elements. As the second largest city in Bavaria, it has plenty of upscale shopping and a lively bar scene. On our second night out in Nuremberg we ended up in a sports bar enjoying a few liters of beer, when we noticed that the bartender was in a terribly nasty mood. We didn’t know if his football (soccer) team was losing or if he was just having a bad day, but the guys was stomping around, slamming glasses, and being rude to the wait staff. Using a few of our excellent Dale Carnegie skills, Nate and I offered to buy him a beer. Immediately he cheered up, and by the end of the night he even bought us each shots of Jaegermeister and a glass of “mystery” dark beer, which Nate accurately guessed was Konig Ludwig Dunkel. The modern elements of the city also include one of the largest I-Max theaters in all of Europe, also boasting the largest hole in all of Germany with all of the 21 cinemas are all dug into the ground. Nate and I went here to watch an interactive 3D movie including moving seats…..kind of like something you would find at Six Flags. It would have been really cool if we hadn’t gotten terribly motion sick and had to avert our eyes from the screen!
Even with the rich medieval history, dark Nazi past, and bustling modern city, the part of Nuremberg that will stay with us the most is all of the great people we met there. Nuremberg’s Lett’m Sleep Hostel had a great common area where travelers felt comfortable socializing while sipping starkbiers. (Strong Beer, brewed during lent, contains higher alcohol content to sustain oneself during the Lenten fast. It makes skipping meals more enjoyable!)
The first group that we met in Nuremberg was a group of German weekend travelers who took us out for pizza. Somehow we got on the topic of organic foods, genetically modified organisms, and the like, which soon turned from a friendly conversation into an intellectual debate. It turned out that the group that we were talking to had spent the last few weeks petitioning to keep genetically modified organisms out of Germany. Given our background in conventional agriculture, Nate and I were quick to explain and defend our points of view on the matter. While no one walked away with changed minds, it was a surprisingly cordial debate and we did walk away still friends. The Germans are known for their aptitudes towards debate, and scoff at silly Americans who get emotionally wrapped up. Later we even went out on the town with one of the younger guys from the group….and didn’t make it home until 5 in the morning!
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The next group of people that we met had to do with a computer microchip convention taking place in Nuremberg. It sounded real interesting. NOT. The first was a young filmmaker who originated in Oregon but currently lives in London. He was at the convention to film the computer microchips…oh boy, how exciting! Later we met another Justin and an Al from Minnesota, who were computer geeks also in town for the convention. Nate and I spent several nights having in depth conversations with Justin, Justin, Al and a few others from the hostel about an array of topics including politics, religion, cultural nuances, and of course blowing things up in microwaves. Minnesota Justin had the strange hobby of experimenting with explosions in the microwave…check out some of his “work” on YouTube—just search “does it nuke.” Also a member of our nightly conversations, which eventually became something like a family get together, was a Danish girl named Stine. Stine had recently started an internship with Siemens and was staying at the hostel until she found an apartment to sublease. By the end of our week-long stay in Nuremberg, Stine had become so comfortable with us that she started picking on Nate for talking reeeaallyy slloooww to her even though she spoke perfect English. Maybe the stark bier had something to do with Nate’s linguistic ability, or lack thereof.
Also joining the conversations was Chris, a Swedish guy who was backpacking through Europe for a few months. Chris had been all over Europe, to America, to Russia, and to a few Asian countries and he had plenty of hilarious stories to show for it. When he was in Oklahoma, for example, he and his friends got pulled over and violently thrown to the ground by many police officers with large guns!! The weird thing was that they weren’t even surprised at this behavior and thought that all Americans cops acted like this….we still wonder what he thought of us…
To see and hear The Count, and to catch a glimpse at other aspects of our life abroad, check out our videos on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=nknaack&search_type=&aq=f
Also, be sure to tune in to our next blog post where we will introduce our new characters: Dave & Kim!
Ah, ah, ah, AHHH…
