Monday, July 25, 2011

Dinner in Munchen


Last night a group of us walked down to Marienplatz to have a traditional German dinner. We found a great place full of locals and travelers alike. We were a group of seven and many of the tables were taken except for the reserved tables. And yes, we did not have a reservation. While scouting for the house manager my cohorts found a table near the front door that was occupied by a nice man named Karl who was visiting from another town about 500km away.

We spoke enough German and he spoke just enough English and the next thing we were all sitting together sharing dinner and talking about our work and lives. Karl was awesome, he helped us understand the offerings on the menu and wrote down our orders for the waitress.

Karl was a funny and outgoing man in his mid to late forties who sported a finely tuned mustache. He told us about his work as an administrator in local government and talked about his daughter who was a social worker here in Germany. He also appreciated cars as much as I did and drives a 10 year old Mustang.

After dinner we all thanked Karl for his help and toasted him one final time before we got the bill. Not bad I thought 122 Euros for all of us plus beers. The waitress was all business and no smiles until we gave her a nice tip. Language is not a barrier it seems, and Munich is bustling with people and commerce, even at 10:30PM on a Sunday night.

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