I figured out why I felt so unwell on the plane. I woke up Sunday with the flu. I probably had a fever while I was flying, but I just didn't notice with the extreme temperature change (-39C to +5). I spent all of my flight and all of Saturday just sweating profusely, but it didn't really occur to me I might have a fever.
So...I started the start of my trip with the flu. The pharmacy was closed on Sunday, but they had some kind of emergency services where they'd help you out if you rang the doorbell. I speak about twelve words of German, and the pharmacist probably only had as many in English, but with a lot of miming, I managed to get some cough losenges for my throat and some paracetamol for my fever. It was kinda expensive, and I was annoyed about it, but I was also annoyed about being fluish, and annoyed at the weather, too.
Sunday I mostly took it easy. I had a slow morning and just hung out at the hostel, and then I walked to an art gallery. It was misting on and off, and I really wasn't feeling well, but I didn't want to spend my time in Munich cooped up in a hostel room. On Sundays in Munich, most museums and galleries are only 1 euro admission, so I ended up going to three different museums.
Afterwards, I went to Museum Brandhorst, because there was supposed to be an Andy Warhol exhibit. Except it was under construction, and I stared at some really, really weird contemporary art, that I just didn't "get", instead. Oh well. It was a euro.
I grabbed some lunch at a salad bar and headed to Neue Pinakothek. I read that the Neue (new) Pinakothek was opened to the public in the 19th century by Kind Ludwig I to house 'contemporary art' ...and that's where all my favourite artwork lives. Mid-19th century contemporary art is now what we know as the romantic period, and realism, and impressionism periods, aka Rubens, and Van Gogh, Monet and Manet, etc.
I spent the rest of Sunday back at the hostel. The art galleries wiped me right out, and I just hung out with my fever at the hostel. I ended up chatting with an Australian guy named Romain, who's an aircraft mechanic, and we basically became 24 hour best friends. He was super stoked to meet another airline employee. We also chatted with a french woman, but I never caught her name. She had a yellow fanny pack, and I learned that Aussies call them bum bags, and the French refer to them as une banane (a banana).
Yesterday (Monday), I was still very unwell. I popped a few paracetamol and went on a free walking tour of old town Munich with Romain. It was raining pretty hard, but the tour was good and informative. We met at Marienplatz, and walked around to Frauenkirche, watched the glockenspiel - a life size music box that dances for seven minutes four times a day, in the tower of the Neues Rathuaus (new town hall). It shows the story of a knight of bavaria and a knight of austria jousting it out, and then below, there is the story of the cooper's dance. Our guide was telling us that in the middle ages when the plague went around, people were afraid to go outside for fear of getting the plague, so the coopers danced in the streets for two days, until people started to come outside. Miraculously, the plague stopped spreading when people left their homes, and they took the coopers dance to mean magic. So for a long time, every year on the same day, the coopers would get together and dance around town to protect the town from plague. Nowadays, the tradition is carried on once every seven years, and the next time is January 2019.
We also went to St. Peter's Church (who's towers I climbed today), and to the hofbrauhaus (a really, really big beer hall). The tour was well done, and despite being a little spacey from the flu, I really enjoyed myself.
After the tour, Romain and I split up, and I found a brauhaus to get some lunch in. I tried pork knuckle for the first (and probably last) time, but was mostly confused as how to eat it. I wasn't sure what to do with the bits that weren't meat. I feel like the answer is to 'eat it' ...but I couldn't figure out how to eat the fatty crispy bits, or the chewy bits. Really, it was a waste of money...but at least I can say I've tried something local now. The saurkraut served with it was on point, though. 10/10 saurkraut.
After much resting, and hanging out with some randoms at the hostel, a big whole group of us headed out for an evening of debauchery at one of the Christmas markets. Tollwood Christmas market is held at the site of Oktoberfest, and it's really, really big. There was a fellow from Saltspring Island named Max, who lives in Munich, and was trying to enjoy his last night of freedom before he finds out if his work visa expires (I never did find out the outcome - I wish him well!), a tall Greek who loves photography, one of my hostel-roommates who's name I didn't catch, but who is from Banff and was hankering for an awful lot of liquor (his words), a Spaniard who sounded British sometimes, a couple of crazy Columbians (Carlos and his father. They were great. His father didn't speak much English, so we did that funny English-Spanish thing to each other), a Mexican woman, Javier from Miami, and a couple from Florida. There were more of us, but those are the people who stuck out in my mind for the most of the night. We drank gluhwein (mulled wine) and I stole the mug as a souvenir, and I tried a Bavarian street food called currywurst, which is exactly what it sounds like. Wurst (sausage) covered in curry sauce. Weirdly delicious? Deliciously weird? ...I'd eat it again.
I left the group around 10 and walked home alone, but I bumped into a few of them today and apparently they were out late last night. Gluhwein headaches all around, seems to be the consensus.
On a down note, I unfortunately woke up Monday morning covered in huge, red, angry, and itchy bites. We slept with the window open, so I assumed it was just an errant mosquito. I was wrong. This morning (Tuesday) I woke up with more, and found a bed bug in my bed.
I immediately let the front desk know, and showed them the bug and my bites/welts, and they were really good about it, actually. They refunded me one nights stay, gave me money to do my laundry in the machines for free, told me if I needed medicine they would front the cost, gave me free breakfast for tomorrow, and helped me change rooms. I'm the only one in that room that's gotten bites, so I think it's just confined to the one bed, but they were going to rearrange people so they can clean out the room properly. It sucks (especially on top of the flu), but the hostel has been really professional about the whole ordeal, and it's not the end of the world. I'm itchy, but I'm also almost over the flu, and these things happen when hundreds/thousands of people pass through the same bed.
Everyone in the room I spoke to about it was really surprised about how level headed I was being over this, but I just don't see the point in getting angry or making a fuss. It happens, it's not the fault of the staff, and what would being angry and shouting have achieved? Maybe I could have got another night refunded, but I would have been worked up and angry, the staff member I spoke to probably would have felt really uncomfortable, and I just don't feel like it's very productive anyhow.
Bed bugs. C'est la vie.
Update: They rearranged everyone into new rooms, quarantined the room we were in, and offered everyone free beer and breakfast tickets for the inconvenience! Now I'm sure I'd stay again. That's great of them.
So...I started the start of my trip with the flu. The pharmacy was closed on Sunday, but they had some kind of emergency services where they'd help you out if you rang the doorbell. I speak about twelve words of German, and the pharmacist probably only had as many in English, but with a lot of miming, I managed to get some cough losenges for my throat and some paracetamol for my fever. It was kinda expensive, and I was annoyed about it, but I was also annoyed about being fluish, and annoyed at the weather, too.
Sunday I mostly took it easy. I had a slow morning and just hung out at the hostel, and then I walked to an art gallery. It was misting on and off, and I really wasn't feeling well, but I didn't want to spend my time in Munich cooped up in a hostel room. On Sundays in Munich, most museums and galleries are only 1 euro admission, so I ended up going to three different museums.
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| A foggy, misty Sunday morning |
First, I went to Alte Pinakothek, and marveled at the line up to get in! I arrived ten minutes after opening, and stood in a 50 person line up to buy my ticket. It was even busier a little while later. Alte (old) Pinakothek is a huge, two story art gallery, featuring collections from the middle ages through the renaissance, into the baroque period and into the end of the 18th century. The stairs were made out of siltstone and had ammonoid fossils in them. I took a lot of breaks, and even spent some time sketching one of the rooms in my makeshift sketchbook I brought with me. Halfway through, I got myself a tea and honey from the cafe, and mostly just took it easy.
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| The backside of Alte Pinakothek in the fog |
I grabbed some lunch at a salad bar and headed to Neue Pinakothek. I read that the Neue (new) Pinakothek was opened to the public in the 19th century by Kind Ludwig I to house 'contemporary art' ...and that's where all my favourite artwork lives. Mid-19th century contemporary art is now what we know as the romantic period, and realism, and impressionism periods, aka Rubens, and Van Gogh, Monet and Manet, etc.
I spent the rest of Sunday back at the hostel. The art galleries wiped me right out, and I just hung out with my fever at the hostel. I ended up chatting with an Australian guy named Romain, who's an aircraft mechanic, and we basically became 24 hour best friends. He was super stoked to meet another airline employee. We also chatted with a french woman, but I never caught her name. She had a yellow fanny pack, and I learned that Aussies call them bum bags, and the French refer to them as une banane (a banana).
Yesterday (Monday), I was still very unwell. I popped a few paracetamol and went on a free walking tour of old town Munich with Romain. It was raining pretty hard, but the tour was good and informative. We met at Marienplatz, and walked around to Frauenkirche, watched the glockenspiel - a life size music box that dances for seven minutes four times a day, in the tower of the Neues Rathuaus (new town hall). It shows the story of a knight of bavaria and a knight of austria jousting it out, and then below, there is the story of the cooper's dance. Our guide was telling us that in the middle ages when the plague went around, people were afraid to go outside for fear of getting the plague, so the coopers danced in the streets for two days, until people started to come outside. Miraculously, the plague stopped spreading when people left their homes, and they took the coopers dance to mean magic. So for a long time, every year on the same day, the coopers would get together and dance around town to protect the town from plague. Nowadays, the tradition is carried on once every seven years, and the next time is January 2019.
 |
| Quite possibly the weirdest thing in all of Munich. Attached to the statue of a local composer, the Michael Jackson shrine. Fastidiously swept and immaculately kept every two days by some local person, fresh flowers and all. |
We also went to St. Peter's Church (who's towers I climbed today), and to the hofbrauhaus (a really, really big beer hall). The tour was well done, and despite being a little spacey from the flu, I really enjoyed myself.
After the tour, Romain and I split up, and I found a brauhaus to get some lunch in. I tried pork knuckle for the first (and probably last) time, but was mostly confused as how to eat it. I wasn't sure what to do with the bits that weren't meat. I feel like the answer is to 'eat it' ...but I couldn't figure out how to eat the fatty crispy bits, or the chewy bits. Really, it was a waste of money...but at least I can say I've tried something local now. The saurkraut served with it was on point, though. 10/10 saurkraut.
 |
| world's best disco ball at Tollwood Market |
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| Just one of many food and alcohol stands at the market. |
On a down note, I unfortunately woke up Monday morning covered in huge, red, angry, and itchy bites. We slept with the window open, so I assumed it was just an errant mosquito. I was wrong. This morning (Tuesday) I woke up with more, and found a bed bug in my bed.
I immediately let the front desk know, and showed them the bug and my bites/welts, and they were really good about it, actually. They refunded me one nights stay, gave me money to do my laundry in the machines for free, told me if I needed medicine they would front the cost, gave me free breakfast for tomorrow, and helped me change rooms. I'm the only one in that room that's gotten bites, so I think it's just confined to the one bed, but they were going to rearrange people so they can clean out the room properly. It sucks (especially on top of the flu), but the hostel has been really professional about the whole ordeal, and it's not the end of the world. I'm itchy, but I'm also almost over the flu, and these things happen when hundreds/thousands of people pass through the same bed.
Everyone in the room I spoke to about it was really surprised about how level headed I was being over this, but I just don't see the point in getting angry or making a fuss. It happens, it's not the fault of the staff, and what would being angry and shouting have achieved? Maybe I could have got another night refunded, but I would have been worked up and angry, the staff member I spoke to probably would have felt really uncomfortable, and I just don't feel like it's very productive anyhow.
Bed bugs. C'est la vie.
Update: They rearranged everyone into new rooms, quarantined the room we were in, and offered everyone free beer and breakfast tickets for the inconvenience! Now I'm sure I'd stay again. That's great of them.
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