Surfing in Munich

A few days ago I went to a cafeteria, where travelers can give speeches about their experiences in countries all over the world. That time there was a speech about Kurdistan. Three students went to see the eastern part of Turkey and northern of Iraq. Staying there they were moving mostly by hitch hiking and sleeping in private places. To organize an accommodation they had used CouchSurfing and it reminded me of my own story.

It took place last year. My friend and I were looking for a short trip to any country, where was sunny weather that time, just to relax by swimming in the ocean, getting sunbathe, and reading books. After two months (such perfect decision makers!) my friend found a trip organized by German travel agency to Cape Verde. It sounded so exotic for us. I had never thought about going there, but we found it as an excellent opportunity to visit that place for a very low cost. But before there were two problems to solve. Firstly, we had to get to Munich. Secondly, we had only two days for it.


Munich had “always” been on my wish list of places to visit, so I wanted to spend there more than few hours for stopover. After checking a timetable of LOT Polish Airlines flights I asked my friend if we could stay there one day before the trip to Cape Verde and one day after. She agreed, so after buying tickets there were one night of the accommodation to organize. She decided to deal with CouchSurfing to make our holidays even cheaper.

We met with our new German friend close to his apartment just after his day in work. Left the luggage we went for a walk around the city. We walked past Müllersches Volksbad – public baths, a bridge over Isar river, and then entered the strict old town. We wandered the streets looking at many old buildings, such as the Old and New Town Halls, Karlstor, Isartor and Sendlinger Tor – three gates of the demolished medieval fortification, which have survived to this day, St. Peter’s Church, the Church of the Holy Ghost, the Cathedral of Our Lady and the Palace of Justice. 

Isara

The last point was a meeting with our host’s friends. We went to a small restaurant, where we met one girl originally from Egypt, one girl from Sweden and two German men, so the company was strongly international. I didn’t talk a lot, because I am a bit shy with my English, but on the other hand I had fun listening to others. I also was astonished in positive surprised by the Swedish girl, who is a beautiful feminist, who doesn’t shave like the most women forced by society to do it. Such a brave young woman! 

One of my favorite buildings: the Theatine Church of St. Cajetan

After our short trip to Cape Verde, what I write in another note, we were back in Munich at 5 am. So what to do then, when it was so early? Spent the night in a plain we had to refresh ourselves what we did at the airport. It was almost empty, so anyone caught us naked. Joking! We got to the city around 7 am and it was also almost empty. Now imagine what a pleasure it was to walk the streets looking at the building of the old town. A huge one!

We saw what I mentioned above, but also the Theatine Church of St. Cajetan, the Munich Residenz – the former royal palace of the Bavarian monarchs, the National Theatre, Propylaea and Glyptothek, but only outside, and the Englischer Garten, a large public park, where we watched men surfing and ducks walking at the street. Then we went back to the strict city center and we were surprised by a crowd of football fans. That day there was one of the most important football games: Bayern Munich against Chelsea F.C. 

The Palace of Justice before

The Palace of Justice after

Who won? Not hosts. We learnt it already at home, but we could feel the atmosphere before the game. It was a funny experience for me. A lot of people were singing, shouting, lots of them wore clothes in team colors, but Germans also traditional costumes of Bavaria. Everyone seemed to be happy, excited, and calm, despite the fact that they were drinking a lot of beer in beer gardens. 

A thousand of football fans in the train station

As a conclusion, my experience with a person who uses CouchSurfing is excellent, but I think that I am still not open enough to sign this social networking in and start asking about a couch by myself. Why? People are different and I am aware of it. But I will tell you if I take a risk.