Marienplatz

This was originally going to be a private post, but I decided to be more open and make it public. Only needs to be private if I feel shame about it, which I don’t think I want to feel that way anymore (thanks to the Catholic Church for that inbuilt shame and guilt!).

I went to the gay neighbourhood or the ‘gaybourhood’ as I like to call them
in Munich tonight to check out the local scene. Odd considering I don’t check out the Melbourne scene. Anyway I got on a tram just as a severe thunderstorm hit. It was pissing down with rain when I got to my stop so bolted across the road and stopped under the first umbrellaed restaurant to get my bearings.

While I’d planned to walk up and down the street to see what was about, given the rain I stoped here. Luckily for me it was a place I wanted to check out anyway. Hotel Deutsche Eiche is a gay hotel, restaurant and sauna. I’ve never seen a sauna and a restaurant together before but I decided to stop here for a drink and dinner, then check out the sauna later.

Feeling in the mood for a cold beverage after a long day of cycling and swimming I got a mojito and boy was it strong. Either that or just on an empty stomach it went to my head. Having eaten way too many big meals in German I ordered a turkey salad - which ended up being huge! So much for a light meal.

Despite being a gay hotel the restaurant was pretty mixed in its clientele. On the TV was playing the Olympic swimming and gymnastics. On point for the gays 😉. One table of American girls were complaining when it went off briefly (gurl - that tv was not on for you love).

Ok so if you don’t want to go inside a gay sauna, tap out here. I’d seen a review of this place online as a history part of Munich’s LGBTIQ+ culture and was keen to check it out. Inside the staff were a little rude, but anyway, once with my locker key I changed into the towel and wandered about. It was dead! Supposed to have capacity for 300, there were less than a dozen people here, including several who were asleep snoring away.

The complex spans across the basements of several buildings and is a bit of a labyrinth. Upstairs is the wet area and downstairs is a maze and lots of cabins. You can rent the cabins in 5hr blocks so if you need a place to have a nap when in Munich, it’s an affordable option. Given I had a lovely hotel room I don’t bother with this. There are also areas if you’re into some kinkier actions - like being tied to a cross (use your imagination there). I passed on that.

The wet area was as good as any other spa/sauna in terms of its facilities. A hot tub, massive steam room complete with dark room and maze as well as showers inside the steam room. So refreshing to have a cool shower while surrounded by steam. Also a massive dry sauna and a couple of smaller steam rooms. The shower area included hot and cold options, including one of those bucket water drops. All very nice to just chill and relax in. Sure having some eye candy to look at too helps (but that was lacking today).

Another section had heated relaxation chairs and up on the roof was a semi sundeck (but given it was night didn’t bother with that). There was also a bar and lounge area and weirdly you charge it all to your locker and then pay when you leave. Water was not free which is frustrating given all the hot environments mean you should really keep hydrated.

All the ‘action’ if you can call it that with really only 6 guys there (the other 6 were asleep in various parts of the maze 😂) was in the dark room of the steam room. Nothing there for me but I can imagine this place being active when busy. It’s an interesting quirk of gay culture that if you want, you can just go to a place, have sex with as few or many guys as you want and leave.

The stems from times where being gay was not acceptable in the community and the gay community needed safe places to meet like minded guys (safer than beats). While that need fortunately isn’t there as much (depending on where you are) the saunas remain a part of the community. Not for everyone, but that’s like anything really.

I only stayed about 1.5hrs before calling it a night having sweated out my Mojito and headed back to my air conditioned hotel. I got a compliment on my Aussiebum’s from a very stereotypical young German (blond, blue eyes) guy on the way out. I’ll take that as a win, although note to self - don’t eat a giant salad before a sauna session as I was so bloated I looked 9 months pregnant.

For obvious reasons there are no photos of here, but there is a pic of the pregnant belly including (but lovely) salad.Lue lisää