Back In Spokane

Okay, so I have officially returned, and as promised, here is my in-depth travelogue from my jaunt around the Continent (that's Europe, for those of you who don't like to use my jargon).


Day 1

I left for the airport at about 3 this afternoon with Mom and Dad. After a brief stop at Starbuck's, I went through the security checkpoint, with no incidents to boot! I still had 2 hours before my flight left, which of course meant "Beer time!" I stopped at the "African Lounge" and picked up a ridiculously expensive 20 ounces of Mack and Jack's (my drink of choice). I can get the same amountfor about 2$ cheaper back at Fizzie's, but that's not the point. With some beer in my belly, I headed for the gate to catch my flight to Copenhagen. The 9-hour ordeal would have been worse if I hadn't been sitting next to a drunken Norwegian shipwright whom I shall refer to as "Lasse." Lasse soon became my airplane drinking buddy, for better or for worse. As the (more) sober member of this drunken duo, I got to listen to Lasse's winding rants and the like, trying to remain in his good graces. I think I succeeded on that count (he went so far as to invite me to live with his family for the year). However tempting that may be, the fact remains that I have obligations and rewards back home (such as Justin's Wedding). Let's face it: Lasse, cool though he might be, is only an airplane drinking buddy, while Justin is one of my best friends. It would take one hell of an airplane drinking buddy to get me to give that up (such as the sort who would make me the sole inheritor of his estates after a few beers).
At any rate, I arrived in Copenhagen quite tired, but ready for my connection to Munich. That flight was short and utterly unremarkable. I got into Munich, had a small dinner of Dunkle and BLT, and then caught the S-Bahn to my Hostel (Wombat's City Hostel). It seems to be nice enough, with clean rooms and a decent happy hour (a third of a liter of beer for 1Euro). My room-mates consist of 4 brits and 1 American, and they seem to be friendly enough. Time will tell I suppose. More to come tomorrow.
Things I learned:
1) You can't judge a German woman's age from behind.
2) Germany full of hot women (none so hot as Renee, but then, I'm biased there), but equally full, if not moreso, of said German women's strapping Teutonic boyfriends. Mote to self: don't piss them off.


Day 2

Last night, after a few beers on the town, I returned to Wombat's, and promtly had a few more. In the bar, I chanced to meet a guy from USC named Shawn. We had a good conversation, so he invited me to go on a bike tour with him and his friend Mitch, bringing us to today.
Knowing that I didn't have any plans for today, I took Shawn up on his offer. We left at 11, and after a brief tram-related detour, arrived at Marienplatz at 11:20, just in time for the tour. The tour proved to be excellent, hitting all the historic sites of Munich and a pleasant ride on top of it all. We got to stop at the Chinese Tower, the world's second largest beer garden. Over a lunch of brautwurst and a stein of helle (plus a half liter of dunkel on top of that), Shawn, Mitch, and I met up with a crew of Australians. Dylan, Chris, and Leigh proved to be excellent drinking companions, so we're all going to team up tonight to visit some beer halls for a roaring grand ol' time.
Some things I learned:
1) See #1 from Day 1.
2) The German concept of "dark beer" is somewhat misleading; they really should call it "not quite so light as other beers".


Day 3

The night out with Dylan, Chris, Leigh, Mitch, and Shawn proved to be most enjoyable. After a few drinks at Augustiner's, we decided to hit the Hofbrauhause. Unfortunately, we got there just as things were closing up. We opted thus to go across the street to the Hard Rock, which was not nearly as cool. We then returned to our respective hostels. There, I met up with another crew, namely Sheigh and her cousin Leighe from Australia, Marie from Spain, Adam from Perth, Tom from Florida, and Ashleigh (also from Australia). After chilling for a bit, we decided to go out. Unfortunately it was a church holiday, so all the clubs and bars (hell, even the strip joints) were closed. Seriously, we're in Munich, the beer capital of the world, and we couldn't get a decent pint! It was like the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," except it was "Beer, beer, everywhere, and not a drop to drink." Finally, we found a sports bar and had afew, and then returned to the hostel for some rest.
I woke up late after a long night and decided to visit the Deutsch Museum. It was really cool, though I probably didn't even see half of everything they had. However, one of the benefits of going by yourself is the ability to spend your time on the exhibits you actually care about. I spent most of my time on the aviation, Einstein, automotive, and astronomy exhibits. After some time at the Museum, I muddled my way throught the Munich rail system and returned to the hostel and had dinner. After a brief nap, I joined Leigh for a few drinks in the bar with Nina and some other American girl. I taught the barmaid how to do a Bavarian car bomb, which won some approval from the other patrons (1 half liter of schwarzbier, drop a shot of whiskey into it, and chug it down). After several drinks, we called it a night and slept.

Things I learned:

1) Know what train you're getting on.
2) Munchners always wait to cross the street. They'd wait for the proper signal, even if the streets were littered with corpses, and all cars had been systematically destroyed.


Day 4

How do I put this? A shit ton of nothing. Not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you. It's been "go-go-go" pretty much nonstop since I got here, and I just needed a break. I took a nice walk this morning away from crowds and all of that, and had some nice reflection time. I then went to an internet cafe and did some web surfing in earnest. Then I went back, did some reading, and took a wicked awesome nap. Then I woke up, ate dinner, and here I am. Don't know what I'll do tonight, and y'know what? I'm strangely comfortable with that. Tomorrow will be my last full day in Munich, so I'm going to make it count. Munich is a beautiful city with (mostly) friendly people, and lots of history, both good and bad.
Speaking of history, I've been doing some thinking (shocking! A philosopher is thinking?!?). In the grand scheme of things, the Nazis were really quite influential in Germany as a whole and Munich in particular, and not entirely for ill, either, though you'd have a snowball's chance in hell of actually getting a Munchner to admit it). It reminds me of something Alasdair MacIntyre said in After Virtue, namely that one's cultural history invariably influences one's ethical views, even if those views are diametrically opposed to what came before. Because ethical views don't form in a void, the radical rejection of the old is causally linked to the old itself. In concrete terms, Munich's radical rejection of all types of fascism did not occur spontaneously out of the blue; it happened because of direct cultural experience of a fascist regime, namely the Nazis. Throughout all of this, it seems that the people still aren't over it. There seems to be a real fear of it, as it is illegal to possess a copy of Mein Kampf, or do the "sieg heil." I'm not sure this knee-jerk rejection is entirely healthy, as it smacks of historical cover-up. Let's be clear, here: Horrible, horrible atrocities were committed here by the Nazis, and the wounds clearly still linger. However, the refusal to speak of the atrocities ensures only that healing will be superficial at best. My own country has committed countless atrocities (slavery, Japanese internment during WWII, Native American genocide and relocation), and it's hard for many to admit they occurred. We seem more concerned with cultural identity than individual identity, and so anything that threatens a positive perception of the culture is marginalized or pushed off to the side. If they were truly over it, they wouldn't be so apprehensive about discussion of it. I worry that in burying the hlocaust so completely, its horrors may be forgotten in the future, and eventually repeated. That's where my real fear lies, as the past has a nasty habit of coming back around to bite you in the ass when you're not looking. It can't be erased, and it can't be undone, but it can still teach a lesson, if one has the wisdom to see it.


Day 5

Last night, after a dinner with Adam, I met two of the new people who moved into my room, two girls from Colorado named Amy and Jaime (talk about rhyming; I never could keep them straight). We decided to take the train out to Dachau in the morning, using a three-person day pass. Thus, we woke up, ate breakfast, and then I helped them get their gear stowed in the train station while we took our excursion. Especially in light of yesterday's musings, Dachau is all the more creepy. The town itself is eerily cheerful and normal, especially considering the atrocities that took place right next door. It is very peculiar. The concentration camp itself was really disturbing, with it's grim slogan, "Work Makes You Free" on the front gate. Inside, a large memorial was erected to honor those who died in the camp. The museum itself was filled with photos and such of the victims. It was definitely hard to look at, but also necessary. The sad part was that most of the visitors were not actually German, but rather, tourists from other countries. Germany is obsessively progressive in some ways, and only chooses to look at those aspects of its past that speak of a grand tradition. As I say, I don't think this is healthy. As I looked at all the horrors, such as the crematorium, the gas chambers, and the prison cells, the true horror of the holocaust dawned on me. If the Nazis had simply been monsters of pure evil and malice, I think it would have been easier to bear. Instead, the guards of Dachau were otherwise normal people with families and friends, who went to church, and you wouldn't necessarily know what they actually did just by looking at them. If these people are capable of such tremendous evil, how different am I? Yes, by comparison, I am quite good, but that does not mean that I am without the capacity for such atrocities. This is the true horror. Nobody is so far removed from an inner darkness that they could never commit such acts.
After a day of unsettling sights, I decided to take it easy in the evening, with dinner at the Hofbrauhaus, followed by Star Wars. You know my thoughts on that. At any rate, so closes my solo portion of the trip.