Sunday Brunch & Brandhorst Museum

Sunday I wake up and there's no hike.

Well, there was one scheduled, but last night I decided it was a bad idea. 20ish kilometers running + two 15 km hiking days, all in a row, and I'm tired. I suppose I could go - but this is vacation and there are sooo many things to do with a Sunday.

This Sunday, I head to brunch and German practice. It's my second time coming to brunch, where for $3 you can have all the food and coffee you want while talking German to other people learning German. No one here will speak English when they hear your terrible accent - we all have terrible accents. We self-select into small groups, sip coffee and share our story of coming to Munich. Many stories involve travel, software programming, and adventure. My story, at this time of year, always brings questions.

Today the questions are less, and the jokes are more. I can speak better than I could two weeks ago yet I still have far to go. We play "Taboo" - a group game where you must encourage the group to guess your word, yet you cannot say it yourself. Because we all barely know German this becomes a very silly game that requires everyone to share what words mean - or to guess terribly at what it might be.

Afterwards, a few of us head to a cafe for more coffee and chats. I head to the Brandhorst with Jean Paul, a new friend, in tow. We enjoy Andy Warhol at the Brandhorst Museum - the collection is the largest in Europe. The whole museum is dedicated to Pop Art - everything from the 60's to today. I'm left wondering what art is today and how anyone can possibly know what is good or not until I see a new piece that takes my breath away: a wall of pills in front of a mirror. From a distance I can see myself and not the pills, yet as I get close enough for the pills to take shape, my own shape disappears. It speaks to me of medicine and human nature. Are we becoming something to be regulated with many pills for many things? Are we the thing in the mirror distorted by our medicine? I have no idea but the question is fun to pose to Jean-Paul.

JP learned German from YouTube. in 4 months of intense YouTubing, he reach B2. I'm A2 and I'm not nearly as intense - but it's incredible to see what a person can do with dedication and no classes. Here JP is practicing his German and leaving me in the dust.

We head to dinner and find some Pho nearby. It's delicious, yet after days of hiking and trail-food I cannot eat enough and add a beer to complete my meal. Afterwards, we split ways to do errands - meeting up again for drinks on a Sunday night with Couch Surfers.

We find drinks at Hotel Lux, a place better suited for a date than our misfit band of travellers. Either way, the drinks are good and the atmosphere is better. A great way to end a Sunday before another busy week.

-JeremyRead more