Beer and Brats

Munich began our couchsurfing adventure! We arrived at the train station of a small suburb 20k north of the city centre and Frederic picked us up. It was late, so we greeted his wife Edyta and crashed in their quaint guesthouse. In the morning, we trained it to Munich and wandered around as has become our custom for the first day in every city. Joe's sister used to live in Munich so we met up with her old coworker for beer, pretzels, and sausage at Hofbrauhaus, one of the older beer halls in the world!

Can you guess what that design was used to cover up?

Throughout the week we spent a lot of time just hanging in beer gardens, literally large public parks with long community tables, where the only options are litre or half-litre. Apparently it is very common to drink weissbeir (wheat beer) for breakfast, which explains why their coffee was the worst we tried throughout the trip.

We were lucky enough to get invited to hike the Alps around Neuschwanstein, the gorgeous castle that inspired Walt Disney's trademark logo. Frederic and Edyta took us straight up (and I mean straight), but my converse shoes barely have enough traction for a basketball court, let alone a mountain, so I had to turn around and backtrack to the easier trail.

During our week, we stayed with three different couchsurfers. Olof is a student from Stockholm who graciously let us sleep on the floor of his dorm studio and share his tiny kitchen. Hagen literally gave us his room and bed while he slept on his couch for two nights! He took us to this awesome culture festival that had food and music from around the world and of course, steins of beer.

Couchsurfing is a community that not everyone understands or feels okay about. Of course it is an odd notion at first, asking a random person online if you can sleep in their extra space without anything expected in return. But is it a system that works based on mutual respect, courtesy, and trust. The hosts are not required to open up their home, but the 'do unto others' philosophy radiates in each person. Everyone knows you get a better feel for a city through local eyes and the couchsurfing community fosters cultural exchange as well as simple hospitality. There are always reviews you check on both hosts and guests before any agreement is made, to eliminate those who abuse the system. It is an incredible way to travel and I have met so many great people through surfing, hosting, and meeting up with fellow Couchsurfers. Don't knock it until you try it :)