Something I found very strange upon my arrival in Europe was the vast amount of people who wear watches. Everyone wears a watch! Old, young, cool, nerd-- in some way, shape or form, everyone wears a time piece on their wrist. I found this a bit odd--in America watches are only for Grandpa's and Hipsters. Why is that? I asked myself. Don't they have cell phones? yes. Does this mean they are always on time? no. Three months and some change later, I figured out why: Public Transportation.
In the last couple of weeks, I have spent more time in Munich after hours than ever before. Munich past mid-night is my favorite time to see the city. I have recently taken up exploring every part of it by foot. It's been really fun--despite an instance or two with the police-- and it's nice to be able to spend some quiet time away from everyone in the city. After most people go to sleep, Munich becomes like a small village. The English Gartens are empty, and at certain points it actually feels like your walking through a big forest. I'm really starting to love it. However, there's only one problem. The last U-Bahn leaves at 1:15am. After that, the night bus runs every hour.. from city center at :36 past exactly. And so my story begins.
The night bus is quite an interesting place. It's a normal sized metro bus, with places to sit and stand, but the thing that's different, is every weekend it is full of many characters. You have you quiet old lady that no one knows why she knitting on the bus at 4 am, your business man in a suit on his way to work, your quiet, nerd-like type reading, and then, of course, many drunk German youth speaking super loudly, lovers and haters, of all types of colors. You have you drunk crying emotional girl, Wastey-Pants who is passed out, angry drunk who wants to fight the bus driver, Mr. Friendly who chats you up the whole time-- everyone. It's quite fun to watch. Especially when Mr. Friendly is so drunk he doesn't realize he's chatting up Wastey-Pants, who is in fact, passed out. Meanwhile, old lady is just sitting in the back seemingly oblivious to the time and ambiance, and Business suit is just trying to avoid being thrown up on. It's a definitely a scene to see.
Now, those of you who have spent more than.. well.. five minutes with me.. know that following directions, finding places, and anything involving destinations are not exactly my strong suit. As stated, I know that the bus leaves from Odeonsplatz at 2:36, and again at 3:36. Thanks to my Europeans assimilation, my watch keeps me UTD on the time, and there should be no problem right? WRONG. In the last three weeks, I have managed not once, but twice, to end up on the exact opposite side of town in the wee hours of the morning. How does this happen? Straight up skills. I will give you one example.
Last week after a lovely walk through Munich with this European Dreamboat, I took the 2:36 night bus to Kieferngarten--a direct line, and my stop is the last one. Not easy to miss. I said good-bye to my friend, and in kind of a daze, jumped on the bus. Enjoying the show and still fading in and out of my daze, I wasn't really paying attention to where we were going. They are calling out the stops, and none of them seem familiar. No big deal, I thought, I don't have these stops memorized... so I'm probably just tired. Twenty minutes later.. I look around. I am no where familiar. I ask someone. Sure enough, I'm on the wrong bus. I get off the bus at the next stop. What do I do? My phone is dead. I have no money, no idea where I am. And it's now 3am. Thank goodness there is a U-Bahn station nearby. I cross my fingers. Forty minutes. In forty minutes comes the next train. So I sit down. There is an old lady knitting (I'm not even kidding). Forty minutes later, I catch my first U-Bahn, which takes me to the next U-Bahn, twenty minutes later that one leaves, and I arrive in Münchener Freiheit, fairly close to my house, and a big hub for college students. Sweet, I think. There's a Mc Donalds there.. they take debit cards! The next U-Bahn leaves in thirty minutes, so I got lots of time. Smiling, I'm so happy to have something warm to drink. I walk the block to McDonalds, see those golden arches, go to open the door and bam. It's closed from 5-6am. It is now 5:08. I wanted to cry. So I go to my train, sit, and wait. This drunk guy starts talking to me, and it turns out he did the same thing as me.. only 30 minutes later! We commiserate the entire ride home (he lived close to me). At 6:10 am, I finally get home.
So? straight up skills.
In the last couple of weeks, I have spent more time in Munich after hours than ever before. Munich past mid-night is my favorite time to see the city. I have recently taken up exploring every part of it by foot. It's been really fun--despite an instance or two with the police-- and it's nice to be able to spend some quiet time away from everyone in the city. After most people go to sleep, Munich becomes like a small village. The English Gartens are empty, and at certain points it actually feels like your walking through a big forest. I'm really starting to love it. However, there's only one problem. The last U-Bahn leaves at 1:15am. After that, the night bus runs every hour.. from city center at :36 past exactly. And so my story begins.
The night bus is quite an interesting place. It's a normal sized metro bus, with places to sit and stand, but the thing that's different, is every weekend it is full of many characters. You have you quiet old lady that no one knows why she knitting on the bus at 4 am, your business man in a suit on his way to work, your quiet, nerd-like type reading, and then, of course, many drunk German youth speaking super loudly, lovers and haters, of all types of colors. You have you drunk crying emotional girl, Wastey-Pants who is passed out, angry drunk who wants to fight the bus driver, Mr. Friendly who chats you up the whole time-- everyone. It's quite fun to watch. Especially when Mr. Friendly is so drunk he doesn't realize he's chatting up Wastey-Pants, who is in fact, passed out. Meanwhile, old lady is just sitting in the back seemingly oblivious to the time and ambiance, and Business suit is just trying to avoid being thrown up on. It's a definitely a scene to see.
Now, those of you who have spent more than.. well.. five minutes with me.. know that following directions, finding places, and anything involving destinations are not exactly my strong suit. As stated, I know that the bus leaves from Odeonsplatz at 2:36, and again at 3:36. Thanks to my Europeans assimilation, my watch keeps me UTD on the time, and there should be no problem right? WRONG. In the last three weeks, I have managed not once, but twice, to end up on the exact opposite side of town in the wee hours of the morning. How does this happen? Straight up skills. I will give you one example.
Last week after a lovely walk through Munich with this European Dreamboat, I took the 2:36 night bus to Kieferngarten--a direct line, and my stop is the last one. Not easy to miss. I said good-bye to my friend, and in kind of a daze, jumped on the bus. Enjoying the show and still fading in and out of my daze, I wasn't really paying attention to where we were going. They are calling out the stops, and none of them seem familiar. No big deal, I thought, I don't have these stops memorized... so I'm probably just tired. Twenty minutes later.. I look around. I am no where familiar. I ask someone. Sure enough, I'm on the wrong bus. I get off the bus at the next stop. What do I do? My phone is dead. I have no money, no idea where I am. And it's now 3am. Thank goodness there is a U-Bahn station nearby. I cross my fingers. Forty minutes. In forty minutes comes the next train. So I sit down. There is an old lady knitting (I'm not even kidding). Forty minutes later, I catch my first U-Bahn, which takes me to the next U-Bahn, twenty minutes later that one leaves, and I arrive in Münchener Freiheit, fairly close to my house, and a big hub for college students. Sweet, I think. There's a Mc Donalds there.. they take debit cards! The next U-Bahn leaves in thirty minutes, so I got lots of time. Smiling, I'm so happy to have something warm to drink. I walk the block to McDonalds, see those golden arches, go to open the door and bam. It's closed from 5-6am. It is now 5:08. I wanted to cry. So I go to my train, sit, and wait. This drunk guy starts talking to me, and it turns out he did the same thing as me.. only 30 minutes later! We commiserate the entire ride home (he lived close to me). At 6:10 am, I finally get home.
So? straight up skills.
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