A toast to the Bavarian monks

It’s a grey, wet, chilly Saturday morning in Starnberg as I’m writing this. I’m at a little French café I hadn’t discovered until now, but I’m having the best little pain chocolate and cappuccino which means I’ll definitely be back. Today is a low-key day of cleaning in preparation for a visit from the landlords on Monday, but tonight should be anything but low-key. Sixteen of us “newbies” from MIS are heading into Munich later for the opening weekend of Starkbierfest. It’s the famous “strong beer” festival that happens this time of year at many of the Munich beerhalls – we’ll be going to Löwenbräu Keller. Historically, this was a time of fasting for the monks, so those clever clergymen decided to brew up batches of lager with higher carb content and higher alcohol content to get themselves through the lean times. You can’t eat, but you can drink a tasty, hearty beer! Thanks to those monks from long ago, we have another excuse to enjoy a long night of beer, food, music and dancing. Yes.

The reason for my landlord visit on Monday is because – I haven’t mentioned this yet on the blog – I’ll be heading back to Minnesota at the end of this academic year. I initially signed a 2-year contract with MIS, but with the events surrounding Tricia’s illness, it makes sense for me to cut things short and be home so that we have each other to lean on for all the upcoming tests and potential outcomes to follow. Of course this is not what either of us had planned, but I’m not upset about it. Life tosses you curveballs every now and then. You just have to learn to sit back on them, wait, and figure out a way to hit a sharp liner to the gap. We’ll make it. Lemonade out of lemons, right? I’ve had, and will continue to have, the most amazing experience here in Bavaria, so doing one year instead of two is chump change in the grand scheme of life. I’ll go back to MN, and Tricia and I will move on with our blessed, wonderful lives togethers. So, Monday is a meeting with the landlords to sign all the papers and prepare for my move out. Apparently, MIS has already found a teacher to rent my place next year – a teacher who wants most of my furniture! – so the transition will hopefully be a smooth one.

Following my “ski week” break in mid-February, Sammie came for a visit. She had a week off from her studies in Copenhagen, Denmark so she was able to crash with me for the entire time. With me busy working, we didn’t have a ton of time to spend together, but we made the most of the time we did have. We did a couple nice dinners out in Starnberg, including one in which Sammie was able to meet some of my new friends from MIS. We also had a super fun night in Munich one night, where we went to – apparently - the best football bar in the city to watch Bayern Munich take on Chelsea in quarterfinal Champions League action.

I don’t know if it’s the best football bar in the city, but it was pretty damn amazing. They have table seating and then risers around the walls where people sit in “stadium-type” seating. It was awesome. We had to get there two hours before game time to secure a seat, but we weren’t alone. People lined up outside and when 7:00 came there was a rush to find spots. We had something to eat inside while waiting for the action, then cheered along as Bayern beat Chelsea 3-0. A classic, “do what the locals do” night. We were the only Americans in the joint, I think.

The other highlight of time spent with Sammie was doing a full day of hiking in the Alps near Mittenwald, Germany just a few kilometers from the Austrian border. With absolutely no snow in Starnberg, we were surprised to see a solid base of snow in Mittenwald. We weren’t completely prepared to hike in the snow, but we didn’t let that stop us. After the train ride down there and a breakfast to get us started, we began the hike just outside of town. At first the trail was cleared – we walked by a stunning waterfall – and so it made the walking easy. There were two alpine lakes just an hour or so up the trail. Those were both beautiful. Then, with our destination being the highest elevation point on this trail, we set off into the snow. The hiking became much more difficult with steep ridges and tricky footing. We made it some time later, only to discover that the winds were raging on top of the mountain. There was a hut at the peak, so we made a beeline for that, finding it filled with a bunch of other hikers, and even some downhill skiers who had hiked up to the top and were preparing to ski down. We hunkered down in the hut for a bit, ate some of our food, then bopped back out to brave the elements. Near this point was mountaintop restaurant – much needed relief from the cold wind and our achy legs. We toasted with a couple of wiesbiers, then took a direct b-line down the mountain and back to the city. After a little strolling in town, we had a satisfying Bavarian dinner then boarded the train back for Starnberg.

On Sunday Sammie and I went into Munich and enjoyed a beautiful, sunny day in the city. We first hit the Bavarian National Museum, then went to the Englisher Garden and meandered around much of the city center. Late in the day, we said goodbye – Sammie heading to the airport, me heading back to Starnberg. It was sad to say “goodbye” but with plans for Tricia and me to visit Sammie in Copenhagen in April, it didn’t feel like it would be long before we’d see each other again.

That being said… Coronavirus. Yuck! It totally sucks, of course because people are getting sick and dying, and also because it might completely ruin some of the plans for our family this spring. The number of infected in Germany has kind of exploded over the past week, which has led to talk of our school closing and of potential restricted travel. Sammie’s worried her program will cancel classes and send students home. And I’m concerned that Tricia won’t want to fly to Europe in April, that Casey and Grace might be unable to come in May and that Sammie won’t be able to come back and visit after her program finishes. This virus has put a damper on so many things. At this point, I’m not sure what to think. Should the governments restrict travel more and put people on home quarantine, or should we just live our lives knowing the virus is going to spread eventually no matter what we do? What a pain. Add it to the list of unexpected happenings during my Bavarian adventure.

That’s it for now. Time to eat, do some cleaning and prep for tonight! Stay healthy out there everyone and drink a strong beer for the Bavarian monks. They'd appreciate it.