Life, with the garden
Location: Munich, Germany • • • Visit: June 2013
I’ve arrived in Munich and am lying on Max’s couch. At Max’s, I’m not really a couchsurfer, since he isn’t a complete stranger (he couchsurfed at my place in Stockholm for four nights in April, after all). But it feels real enough. I’ve interrailed for eight days. I’m in the fifth city of my trip. I’ve experienced delays, missed my connecting train and had some long, odd conversations with fellow travelers. And now I’m lying on a couch in my blue sleeping bag. This is the real thing.
Max is a geography student, an amateur photographer and a really good cook. The first thing he did, once we woke up after my first night on his couch, was to set the table for an incredible, super delicious vegan breakfast. Good food, interesting conversation and a little bit of sunshine, isn’t that kind of the main things we want out of life?
And this just continued. I spent four mornings at Max’s, and every morning he made something new for breakfast. We ate vegan pancakes, and a really delicious vegan omelets made with nuts and vegetables. I was out all day and in the evenings, we usually met up downtown and did stuff, so we didn’t get a chance to cook any other meals together. But Max’s breakfasts could have convinced me to stay in Munich for weeks.
Yet again, I find myself really liking a city I’m visiting, but at the same time knowing that the impression might be impossible to separate from how I feel about the people I met there.
Munich can boast the largest city park in the world: Englischer Garten. I don’t know where they got the English thing from, because it doesn’t look like an English garden at all. Instead, it is a lush park with forest-like areas alternated with big open lawns and smaller, cozy openings. And the beer gardens, of course.
Through all of it flows the Eisbach. At the spot where the underground river enters the park and flows into the open air, the constant wave that is created is perfect for surfing. So, there I was, walking through this city park in Munich, and suddenly a guy in a wet suit and a surfboard under his arm appeared on the path. Such a weird sight. I had to check it out. And, yes. People were really surfing. The surfers in Munich, a city without an ocean coast, have been resourceful, indeed.
But the park is big. In a more secluded part, the sun shining through the red leaves on the trees by the Japanese tea house, creating a beautiful romantic shimmer.
And the big center lawn, with the Monopteros monument in the background, would have been a perfect place to spend a lazy afternoon in the sun. Unfortunately for me, the sun was already about to drop behind the treetops, which meant I had to start heading back to Max’ couch.
I had borrowed a bike from Max, so through the Friday happy Munich night, with Verdi sounding from Ludwig Strasse, I slowly rolled back toward the west. With the wind in my face and the movement in my body, I felt perfectly content. Munich had welcomed me with open arms.
Katja Malmborg 