Munich day life

After a euro each and a dozen flights of stairs, Shaan, Aseem, and I reached a literal high point in Munich for a crash course in rooftops and parks, a life-size map to direct us to the English Garden. The tower was right next to a local, highly efficient (juice stands across from juice stands) outdoor market. Munich isn´t exactly full of sky-scrapers, more like a sprawling German town spotted with the occasional photo-worthy landmark (oh so many of these in Europe), but the view was still breath-taking, especially because with the exception of a couple days, the Dins so far have been the bearers of good weather. Well, that´s not exactly true. Rome´s weather was a little too good, which is why hiking in Austria followed immediately by a dip in a lake felt so good.

But while I´m talking about Zell am See, I´ve had two profound realizations since that stop. Dins couldn´t stop raving about that town. Perhaps it was actually the enthusiasm of the audience at our concert or the pleasant accommodations, but the guys constantly discussed how "beautiful" it was. Yes, after so many urban areas, anything natural is gorgeous, but let´s not go nuts. I realized that even I was overrating European hills and fields as I took pictures on the train between Strasbourg and Paris. So let me be a snooty Pacific Northwesterner and say that anything Zell am See has, so does Whatcom County. We have serene lakes surrounded by trees and hills, and we have enormous snow-capped mountains perfect for skiing and snowboarding, and we even have an ocean on our western coast. We have fields and pastures everywhere you turn, and the people are nothing but friendly. So what´s so great about Europe?

To answer this question, I bring up my second profound realization: everything is cooler in Europe. Perhaps this is because of the foreign languages, the endless history, the accents, the many quaint shops, the stylish clothes, or the old and thoughtful architecture, but something about this continent makes everything seem more interesting. I may just be eating ice cream, but I´m eating it while walking along the River Seine. Yeah, it´s still just a river in a big city, but the vendor near us is speaking French, and it´s the perfect opportunity to practice what Eddie Izzard taught me. ("Le singe est sur la branche et la souris est sur la table"). I may just be sweating my tails off in a tram, but I´m also suavely gazing at Roman ruins (ciao!). So let´s back up. I´ve now been all over Europe, and what on earth does Zell am See have that Ferndale doesn´t? Well, objectively, Zell am See is actually quite beautiful, much more so than anything in Whatcom County, but the main point is that even if it weren´t, it would still put anything in Whatcom County, even in America to shame. Europe is just cooler.

I´d like to close with a few words about beer gardens. Leave the invention of this concept to the Germans. Following that Munich tower, Shaan, Aseem, and I walked through the English Gardens and spent the afternoon at a beer garden situated on a lake in the park and sipped our weisbeers slowly as we soaked in the Germanness. After a couple half-liters we ventured into more unusual drinks. Who knew that you could mix Sprite and beer? And that wasn´t even the best one. Lemonade and weisbeer tastes like a cotton candy lollipop. The Germans certainly know the ins and outs of beer. Thank you, Shaan and Aseem. That was one of the most relaxing afternoons I´ve had for quite some time.

Shaan, we miss you already. I´ll keep you posted if any girls outdo the Luxembourgers.

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