texans on the autobahn

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag

On Monday I celebrated my birthday in Germany. So on Sunday night, I requested an adults only dinner at a restaurant in downtown Munich called Thaifoon, serving Thai food; similar to PF Chang’s at home, but no lettuce wraps!!! We invited our neighbors the Islers and our friends, the Glagows. Because most people living in Germany, including each of the families coming to the dinner, don’t have cars big enough for more than 4 people, we suggested to our friends, the Glagows, that we all ride the s-bahn or train into Munich. Tom, having just arrived that day back in Munich after a week long trip to New York City (yes, I am envious) said that he and Vera would just drive. So we and the Islers took the train and said we would meet them at the restaurant for a 6 pm reservation. Now, here’s the funny part. The Glagows were really late!!! Why is that funny you might be wondering? Well, to me it’s funny, because here we are, a bunch of Americans, and we had no problem getting to or finding the restaurant. And what’s even funnier? Well, Tom called trying to get directions from Robin. They had arrived nearby but of course, parking is not always close to where you want to be. Robin tried to describe to Tom where the restaurant was “ you know Tom, the church that has the two onion top things on top”. Of course, any tourist who had spent any time in downtown Munich would have known what he was talking about. So Tom then talked to one of the waiters to get directions from him in German. Guess what happened? The waiter, who spoke German, told Tom and Vera to go the wrong way! Eventually, Tom and Vera made it to the restaurant, and because it had started snowing last week, they were quite cold. Now, granted, we had been there before, both by car and by train, but come on, a bunch of Americans know Munich better than those who have lived here a lot longer? Well, it’s like I told Robin who lived in San Antonio. It’s not much different from you never having been to the Alamo and you never took the opportunity to visit it before you met me. So, the lesson here? Take advantage of the cultural opportunities where you live. . you would hate to get lost in your own city wouldn’t you? Dinner was great and I loved spending time with my friends.

posted by stuckinthemiddle @ 7:13 PM