My Time In Munich / Germany

When I was 7 years old we moved to Munich Germany.

 

I went to the Grundschule/ elementary school in Neu Perlach, which was a bit outside of Munich’s popular downtown, but at the time very affordable living.

• Not to bore you with my childhood and what I did as a kid, I want to skip about 37/38 years and come to that part of my life when I moved from Miami Beach to actually WORK and LIVE in Munich Germany. We stayed for almost 7 years.

• The first question I got from the people once they knew I moved from Miami Beach to Munich was: WHY?
• Why did you move from a place like Miami Beach to Munich?
• They did not understand that!
• Well to make a very long story (to be told in another blog/post) short. It was the fact that I was out of Germany for more than 15/16 years and my Dad wanted me home, I think.
• He actually used the excuse(or truth..not sure) that HE wanted to retire and I should take over his business, which I did.

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I brought my girlfriend Evelyn, who I met on South Beach while walking Blue one day, and soon-to-be wife, my beloved son Blue, a white Boxer, and my girlfriend’s dog, plus a Miami street cat, whom she rescued from the streets of Miami.

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• I married my now EX-wife for one main reason. So she was able to stay and live in Germany since she was a Citizen of Uruguay.
• This was my 1st marriage and even though it felt WRONG, I did marry her. Don’t get me wrong, when we met it was fun, and I did like her, but I was just never IN LOVE with her.
• She eventually became more and more JEALOUS of other women, ( it all started in Miami, where literally the hottest girls of the world run around half-naked) which only existed in her mind, so we separated and eventually got divorced in Munich. No kids, so there were no problems.

 

I would at this point try to be FAIR to her, and say that she was a hard-working woman, spoke 4 languages when I met her and learned German fairly fast.

But she was just not meant to be with me!

If you ever read this, I hope you are doing OK, and have a family of your own! But please give back the money that I gave you, and you promised to pay me back…but I will never get this back, that I know!

My Personal advice to all people out there who have jealous boyfriends, girlfriends, wives, or husbands: For most of you, the relationship will not work in the long run! In the long run means, for more than 7 years sometimes even a lot less.

 

• WHY you might ask? Well simple, because it won’t! We are just people who have to interact with other people, at work or while we are just outside somewhere. TRUST is either there or its not. YES, it also needs to be earned, and this takes time.
• And if it is not, then the relationship will just not survive a long time. I will put another post/page or article about this somewhere on this site, since so many people have problems in their relationships, especially when they get married very young.

 

Only about one week ago, so sometime in August 2019, my best friend Mark had the ultimate “Encounter” with his girlfriend.

They never married, but have lived together for about 9 years. NOW it is (unfortunately) over!

To make a very long and personal story very short: WHY? Because TRUST was never there from the beginning. Other factors were that on the day he wanted to tell her “It’s over”, she told him ” I am pregnant”!

Because of this, he stayed together and took good care of the family, but Love and Trust were already gone…and this happens a lot today.

How to TRY to avoid these situations? Well, LIFE is full of turns and twists, but I will write about this, and let’s see if it helps a few…

 

The ADVENTURE began. We lived in a 24 square meter apartment for 3 months, which was in a pretty bad building and a not-so-nice neighborhood, but I was grateful that I found a place that would take 2 dogs and a cat, not to mention 2 people.

The place was pretty small, but the real “issue” was that it has no balcony, and BLUE was “snoring” a lot, and had nowhere to hide.

 

• After 3 months I finally found a really great apartment, in a very nice neighborhood.
• The best thing about it was the fact that it was a duplex and it had all the amenities within walking distance.
• An Italian restaurant on the bottom floor, so every time you stepped inside you smelled FOOD!
• The only bad thing was, it was on the 3rd floor with NO elevator, but hey it kept us in shape. I mean Blue…hehe

So my life began. Living and working in Munich. I had NO CAR for about one year and did all my work on my mountain bike! And man was I, in shape! I basically used my bike most of the time, unless it was raining hard or snowing!

 

• You might ask: What did I do? Well my dad’s profession was a chemist, but his PASSION was PHOTOGRAPHY, so my dad was one of three photographers in Munich who took pictures of kids in schools. Remember your yearbook?
• It had your MUG-SHOOT and a lot of pictures of the stuff that went on in school during that year, but in Germany, they do not have a yearbook, at least not in most schools, so every year pictures are taken by a professional photographer from the entire class.
• And yes it was fun, and I made a decent living until the DIGITAL era came and all of a sudden teachers, parents, and pretty much everybody was a photographer!

 

That basically killed that business.

Sometimes schools would call me, after they tried it on their own, since they did not realize, that it was the WORK in the background that took most of the time, and not only taking the picture, which only took 5-10 minutes per class.

But in the end, more and more schools did it themselves.

I also did weddings, which also were fun, but after my 2nd wedding shoot, I decided to not do that anymore. Too much time went into work after the shooting!

It’s basically like a movie. You watch a movie for about 1 1/2 hours or more, but how long did it take to make the movie? Sometimes much more than one year!

 

One of the best parts of moving to Munich was the fact that my dog /son, who was a WHITE BOXER, born in Hialeah, a Cuban neighborhood in Miami, could now run around freely in almost all places and he just LOVED the cold weather.

 

In Munich, unlike in the USA, you can take your dog pretty much anywhere.

Public transportation, restaurants ( most of them, not all) all the parks, and pretty much anywhere!

Well, common sense would tell you that the butcher store, the bakery, and pretty much anything that has to do with food, are a NO-NO for these places.

 

There is a LEASH law, but if you’re not exactly in the center of the city with hundreds/thousands of people, it is OK to just let them off the leash.

In the parks, it’s also cool to let them run around. There are NO special dog parks in Munich or as far as I know, any other city in Germany, unlike in the US, you can only let your dog run in a designated area or a dog park.

 

So for BLUE, it was heaven! The winter season was the best for him. He hated the heat in Miami and just loved the cold and the snow in Munich! He was the COOLEST and best FRIEND I ever had! He passed away on June 05.2008 while sleeping at home!

 

This post is dedicated to beloved Son-Friend-Dog… “Blue” who was my best friend!

 

Now  Let’s talk about things to do, while you are in Munich Germany.

Let’s start with the most obvious, the Oktoberfest which is being set up as I am writing this post! It starts 22 Sep 2018 until 7 Oct. 2018. So that’s 22 days of PURE Fun and drinking!

• It’s basically a MUST for everyone, at least once.
• Locals call it WIESN or Theresienwiese and it’s really amazing that it’s been going on forever and people from all over the world come to do what?
• Well to get DRUNK…in the end, it’s about the beer, the music, the laughter, the people dancing on top of the tables and all also about the most spectacular rides that get better every year!

 

I strongly suggest that you make a reservation in ANY of the huge tents if you are more than 2 people and want to SIT somewhere and not stand!

The capacity of these tents is HUGE!! The Armbrustschützenzelt having a capacity of around 7,500 seats, is one of the favored tents of the locals.

Others have similar seating capacity. The Schottenhammel and the Hippodrome are also favorites!

The tent with the many VIPs is the Weinzelt. It “only” seats around 2500 people and mostly Wine is offered here. Yes, Beer is available, but the majority drinks wine and champagne!

In this tent you better make a reservation ONE year before! Just kidding…No reservation, means usually you will not have a seat! But you can also try…It’s also one of the most expensive tents.

• Then we have the Käfer Wiesenschänke, which is probably THE most expensive tent.
• WHY? Because Mr. Michael Käfer is the one in charge. He owns the most famous Deli in Munich, you guessed it, called Käfer.
• One of the most listened to radio stations called Radio Gong 96,3 has its own studio set up inside, so you can be sure it’s a LOT OF FUN. It’s probably also the most nontraditional tent, just because there is no typical Bavarian Band, and it’s one of only two beer tents that is allowed to serve beer until 12:30 AM.
• In this place to will see the FC Bayern soccer players and all kinds of VIPs, since it’s nearly impossible to get a table here, but you can try.

 

The whole setup of the Octoberfest starts around 3-5 months before after about 7+ Million tourists go home, it takes again many months to take everything down and get it cleaned and stored away for the winter!

 

What other things to do, while in Munich Germany? Plenty!

So Let’s start with the LEAST obvious and my favorite. One of the BEST “Biergarten” is at the Wiener Platz! You can’t miss it, it’s the biggest building there. This is an off-grid Beer-garden and has mostly only locals, who live all around the Wiener Platz Munich.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• There is also a great coffee place right on the corner, called Kaffee Am Wiener Platz.
• They have a great breakfast and pretty good food. I never complained. There are also plenty of other really nice and great stores around the Wiener Platz, just walk in the back.
• A must-see is the Deutsches Museum, IF you are into Museums, that is. It’s HUGE and one day is not enough to cover everything, but it will give you an idea.

 

The Englischer Garten is a must-go, in the summer, or winter, which is the equivalent of Central Park in NYC, just not so big.

You will have a mix of people, dogs, and events to see.

Naked people sunbathing in the summer month is as normal as daylight during the day. You will also see naked people if you look down on the river banks of the rivers in Munich. It’s just something they do!

 

At this point, I would say that, depending on how many days you will spend in Munich, you have to go to the Viktualienmarkt Munich.

It’s directly next to the Marienplatz, where the RATHAUS is, or CITY HALL, and it has some really amazing restaurants all around the market, which also feature the most amazing specialties from all around the world!

Try the huge variety of FRUITS, PICKLES, or amazing cheeses, or any of the fresh juices.

There is really everything for everybody! It is expensive, but you know the saying: You get what you pay for.

 

KUSTERMANN is a huge store right at the Viktualienmarkt and features everything for the kitchen, and when it comes to cooking essentials.

It only sells really GOOD and somewhat expensive items, which will also last a lifetime.

I absolutely loved this place! It also has a cute little coffee place inside, so you can relax during or after your shopping spree. It also has the biggest Barbecue selection on grills in Germany!

 

One more place I have to mention, IF you are a CAR guy/fan/freak, is the BMW World.  It is an absolute MUST if you are into BMWs or just into cars! This place will take your breath away.

The building itself is so WOW…that you have to be amazed by that alone, especially at night! This is not just a museum, it is a place where you will enjoy every moment, while you are there.

 

• I bought my 1st NEW car when I was about 1 year in Munich. Guess which one? Yes, a BMW 330d. An absolutely fantastic car! I got most of the ” Extras” like Navigation, 12 Speaker Harman Kardon  Sound System, Sunroof, Leather, and a lot more!
• Those alone were about 12,000 Euros. No problems whatsoever for 5 years, and it was just the ULTIMATE DRIVING EXPERIENCE! That is IF you can go on the Autobahn and don’t get caught by one of those thousands of radar traps and cameras…but I was! Plenty of times. WHY? Well, the car was just too fast.

 

I would like to say that Munich is a wonderful city with amazing things to do. It has lakes in the summer, and hills for downhill skiing in the winter within 1-1/2 hours driving distance.

It is also one of the most expensive cities in Germany, and that is for all the reasons I mentioned above.

Great restaurants from all over the world, great shopping streets, parks, and pretty much anything a person could ask for from a city. All you need is a good salary or income!

 

And IF you are into SPORTS and or the OLYMPICS, since Munich Germany hosted the 1972 Olympic Summer Games, you should visit at least the Olympiaturm in the Olympic Village, or Olympiapark München, which is right in the center of all the other amazing buildings around the Olympic Park. Public transportation will get you right to it. Just ask for directions, since it really depends on where you are coming from.

 

 

Before I forget: The Chirstkindlmarkt am Marienplatz at Christmas is also an amazing experience, since the different FOODS are out of this world! Bring plenty of Euros…

 

Lastly I would like to mention that IF you are interested to move to Munich for whatever reason, please feel free to contact me, since I know the city pretty well, and it does not really change that much over time, unlike Miami Beach which changes all the time !

 

UPDATE on Feb 20.2022

My last VISIT to Munich was in September 2020. This was a very difficult time for my brother and we saw each other briefly. The city itself has not changed that much, only some of the roads like in the center, the Rosenehimer Strasse, around the MOTORAMA which is across the Gasteig which was 2 lanes had now only ONE LANE for cars!

They expanded the other lane for bicycles. This I saw as well in other parts of the city. Good idea, but the BIG taxpayers were still the cars, and even though many had cars and bicycles it was not really working that well, since…well the rest is up to you, since most people have different opinions about this.

All things considered a beautiful city and great for living and a vacation…If you have the funds! Just like most beautiful cities and places around the world.

 

Thanks! I hope you enjoyed this little adventure thru Munich. Sorry for some bad-quality pictures, but some were taken with an ordinary camera with film, and I had to scan them.

If anybody in these pictures feels offended and wants me to REMOVE them, please let me know.