Fish, Precious!

The food. Oh my god, the food.

But we’ll get to that. First the garden.

I woke up early again (I’ve been doing that), snuck downstairs and fired off a few emails, then grabbed Amy and we set off in search of breakfast. Unremarkable, in all, and we came back to the hotel, Amy fired off some emails, and we finalized details with my dad for the place in Freiburg (we’ll be staying in a rooftop flat that’s been in my mother’s family for decades, trading off with my dad), and then took the U-Bahn (the Untergrundbahn, or underground, as opposed to the S-Bahn, or Straßenbahn, the street car) to the Englischer Garten (English Garden) to see the Chinesischer Turm (Chinese Tower).

Complex transit systems in foreign countries are always confusing, but once we got our bearings this one was amazingly easy, fast, efficient and comfortable. Seriously, if BART could be rebuilt to those standards, nobody in the Bay would need a car. Add the S-Bahn for local (block-to-block, instead of only every half-mile or so) and you’d be set. We surfaced, were completely turned around, picked a random direction, started walking, found a sign reading “Englischer Garten,” changed direction, and entered the garden.

Two things: first, the “garden” would be considered an unusually large and well-manicured park in the US. Close-cut grass, clay and gravel walkways, charming bridges, creeks and geese. Second there was no gate. Not “the gate was open”- there was no gate. And no fence. Public spaces aren’t fenced off in Germany, they’re there to be used. In fact, this extends to managed forests (anyone’s welcome to hike in them), some private lands (private parks, such as castle gardens, are about as well fenced off as fenced in public parks in the US, and camping is permitted on large parcels of private lands provided you don’t infringe on the owners and stay out of sight) and a lot of other space. Fences are rare, fences higher than a decorative, hip-high iron fence are almost non-existent without a major reason such as a hole in the street.

Anyhow, the garden was gorgeous. Huge, more like English grounds than a garden, with a lake, creek, massive, multi-tiered Chinese-style pagoda, a Japanese teahouse (we didn’t see it), boat rental on the lake, etc. It was snowy and muddy for most of it, and we had the interesting experience of being both rained and snowed on at the same time, but it wasn’t too bad. Chilly, but only slightly drizzly, muddy, but not too deep. Those paths are well built. I got some new shoes yesterday, and am happy to report that they’re extremely waterproof and very comfortable.

The Chinesischer Turm was rather impressive, in the way only Western-built versions of Asian architecture can be. Large, solid, maintaining the post-and-beam construction and fluted roofs of the original, but still letting the stalwart, severe German medievalism shine through. It’s impressive. Seriously, go and Google “Chinesicher Turm München” right now. I’ll wait. There- wasn’t that totally worth it? And totally worth it in person!

And the food. There was a touristy Weinachstmarkt in the garden, but the only non-meat AND non-sugar food we found was Plätzchen mit Rahm und Lauch (flatbread with cream and leeks). Oh my god nom! A crispy, stone-baked sourdough flatbread with thick cream cheese like cream and leeks spread on, baked, and then fresh leeks sliced onto the top. Amy’s had Speck (bacon, but not quite American bacon- more like shaved prosciutto), which she said was delicious. Then Glühwein and Heisen Weisen (“hot white,” a white Glühwein), and back to the U-Bahn.

Then we came back to the Weinachtsmarkt to do some Christmas shopping, and find coffee. This was the first time in Germany I actually saw mochas on the menu, and had to get one- very interesting. It came in a small, narrow glass, and was about half foam with an extremely sweet chocolate syrup across the top- I’m glad I asked for no cream! The cherry/biscotti cheesecake was also delicious. I swear, I’ve been subsisting on variations of bread, cheese, coffee and the occasional beer here. Heaven!

Then Amy got some nifty new boots, and we headed back to the hotel to take a nap and drop off the shopping.

Finally, we headed back out again to find some t-shirts (I’m out of clean shirts, and since I need some anyhow, I figured I might as well buy them here and avoid the hassle of a washing run just for t-shirts) and dinner. Finding shirts was a total bust- it’s amazingly hard to find cheap staples like that in a city you don’t live in! We tried American Apparel, since they’re generally a source for reasonable, well-made shirts, but at 22 Euros for the cheapest ones, I decided I could hand wash. Next up: food!

We’d  passed a Thai restaurant this morning and had resolved to try German Thai food, but by this time beer sounded damn good, so we headed over to the local Gasthaus. There was a small section of side salads, a “small and healthy section” with four dishes (two, and possibly all four of which, were undoubtedly not much more than appetizers), and then a huge section of entrees, all of which included meat, a huge meat dishe section, then a wild game section, a selection of weekly specials that read like a taxidermist’s catalog, and deserts. Nary a fish or serious vegetable dish to be seen, which isn’t hugely surprising for the capital of Bavaria, but sad nonetheless.

We passed a tasty looking café, but a glance through the window revealed that I would be the only man without a tie (or, indeed, more than a couple of buttons on my shirt), and Amy would be the only woman wearing a color other than black, white or expensive red. We moved on.

Then we found an Italian place that advertised a salmon pasta. I’m a sucker for good fish, and hadn’t had any in a week, so that’s where we went. The salmon pasta wasn’t on the menu inside, but grilled salmon in green pepper sauce was. Oh, holy nutballs was that tasty! I like good food as much as the next person, but I’m no gourmand by any stretch- still, this was divine, no doubt about it. Buttered rice and crispy fried onions on the side, garnished with a sprig of thyme, scallions and a drizzle of reduced balsamic, respectively. The fish was perfectly cooked, light, flakey and moist, the sauce was rich without being at all fatty, peppery without being spicy, with quiet notes of herbs and, well, the whole, fresh pepper corns that floated amongst them. Amy had a seafood pasta with cherry tomatoes, which was also quite good from what little I tasted, but quite fishy- I don’t think either of us expected that, and while it was very well made, it’s not a flavor set either of us go wild for. I also had a Dunkeles Weissbier (“dark white beer”- white beer being the local term for wheat beer), which paired quite well.

Then, tipsy, we headed back to the hotel, checked email, and now Amy is upstairs, and I’m going to follow her and turn in. Tomorrow we’re shooting for the Deutsches Museum, and then Saturday we’re off to Freiburg.