Munich Day 1 & 2

Our travels to Munich were smooth, as always Dulles Airport was a good experience and we had no issues which made our arrival joyful. The hotel I chose was walking distance of the Cathedral, which is often in the center of the town and activity. We were fortunate to find a traditional German restaurant called Wirtshaus Rechthaler Hof, and had a great meal for the first night. We had all the standard stuff, some beers, schnitzel, an amazing potato salad with cucumbers, my wife chose a dish with duck, and our daughter enjoyed a meatloaf of sorts, that was similar to a ham/hotdog texture in the states. From there we found Mass at a near by church, that also houses Queen Therese. Oktoberfest was inspired through her wedding to the prince at the time. Our daughter was a trooper, but finally fell asleep during Mass due to the fatigue of the long travel.

The next day I found my first coffee experience within walking distance of our hotel in addition to some local treats. The coffeeshop was Indonesian inspired. The owner shared with me his wife was from the country, and he was a Turkish man, who did tech, but recently left his career to go all in on the coffee shop, and eventual franchising. I admired his ambition and experience, but it was also a great reminder of why I chose my path. The cups of coffee I purchased were pretty much 3x what I charge for coffee. A standard pour over freshly roasted coffee from me, in a 10 oz cup is $3. For a slightly smaller size, I believe it was 8 oz. I paid $8 on average here and higher at other locations. They were good cups, and I appreciated the man’s knowledge he shared of coffee, as it aligned a lot with my philosophy. All except for franchising, something I am too familiar with, and zero interest in doing since you are constantly inflating your prices to scale, while deflating the experience. It’s standard corporate business 101, make the customer pay, for your expenses personal and business.

From there I went the Cathedral in Munich in honor of where Pope Benedict XVI once presided. He has recently become very inspirational for me, now that I have looked pass the secular media bias of his life, and focused on his actual words and work. Truly a humble man, that while possibly one of the greatest scholars of his time, routinely would say “in my humble opinion, or from what I have read or seen” when addressing the Church. It was fascinating to walk around the cathedral and notice the destruction left by World War II. It quickly affirmed why I was seeing clear windows everywhere I went instead of ancient stained-glass windows that were hundreds of years old. A sad reminder war destroys everything in its path, eventually no matter how much one side might think they are being moral and upright.

Pieces of the crucifix salvaged from the bombing. The picture to the right is what the cathedral looked like after the bombing.

The next day I decided to try another coffee shop, which was a bit more expensive and superfluous. In addition, a slightly less uplifting experience, which left me unwilling to waste any more money on very overpriced coffee. I was relegated to drinking stuff from the robots for the most part, another reminder of the authenticity I try to offer everyone I meet regularly and the blessings of living in the USA. In everything I want to reflect Jesus in the Eucharist. I’ve become more passionate everyday in sharing this. God wanted an authentic relationship with His creation, that He dwelt among us, gave us a meal to not only remember Him, but to invoke His Real Presence among us, and most of all to divinize us, by making us more like Him everyday in all of the disciplines handed down through His Apostles and successors.

My coffee is meant to reflect this, as I studied authentic traditions that date back to the founding of coffee in different regions. The same way you would go to that country and experience this tradition, I try to brew it personally in an authentic and intimate way sharing in a communion, similar to that of the Church. In addition just as Jesus gives a Himself in the Eucharist, I give of myself and my home where I produce everything, and then take it to the people in the streets where they live. I especially enjoy offering others coffee from their homelands, and helping others to appreciate the subtle differences in culture. This is the Catholic and American way of being many, but one or as Pope Leo’s motto states, “In the One we are one.” This is my goal with coffee, to simply bring all different backgrounds together in a divisive world, to share in culture and humanity. With this, the Catholic Church and the USA have taught me it is possible for us all to eventually get along as one human family, under God.

The rest of our time in Munich was basically acting like tourists. Since we only had one day due to a revised schedule we hopped on a tour bus next to our hotel and saw the city. This helped us identify areas we wanted to explore a bit more, while seeing the traditional sights of the city. As usual in Europe, we discovered many beautifully built churches along our travels. After round 1 on the bus we went to what is called a permanent year round farmers market, which was nice, but we didn’t see many farmers. The one we did find however had maybe the best grapes we’ve ever tasted. I enjoyed soaking in the environment as it inspires a thought I have in the future of working with others I’m close with in business. It also reflects what I had going on the corner for a short stint.

Our visit to the market ended with getting some cheese, bread and a special grilled cheese for Chiara, and a footlong brat for myself. We sat and had a beer with our meal, my wife enjoyed a beer with lemon in it, which for us Italians is always an ingredient we like with anything, Lemon. From here we walked around and did a little shopping in the town and visited the cathedral before enjoying another traditional meal, which thanks to Our Lady, the Blessed Mother, we found next to the cathedral. I say this, because I couldn’t remember the place I wanted to go to for dinner earlier in the day, when there was no one around. Everything blended together, so I finally chose the resturaunt with a statue of Mary above the entrance. I’ve come to learn to trust this sign, anywhere I go, and simply say Totus Tuus, as St. John Paul II regularly said.

The night was completed watching the 9 o’clock hour at the Munich Clocktower where statues will move around on the large clock at specific times. The 9 o’clock hour is less extravagant and I would suggest prioritizing the other special times for the full experience. We then grabbed some gelato and had our first taste of the street performers on the way to our room. We enjoyed a 1 man show named Ralph Keiter. He seemed extremely talented as a musician. We also came across a band that inspired my daughter to dance to their music. Here’s the photo album with all of the pictures and videos.