Day 2: Munich Trip

The day started extremely early. After going to bed at 1 AM, I woke up at 5:15 to have enough time to wake up and make it to the subway to the main train station, where I would be taking a 6:20 AM train to Fussen.

Little towns, small churches in open fields, and tons of greenery: that's what you see in the train ride in Germany.

On the approach into Fussen, nestled in the mountains and covered by clouds, stood my attraction of the day: Neuschwanstein castle. Supposedly the castle that Walt Disney modeled Sleeping Beauty's castle after and it's easy to see why.

Fussen is a beautiful little town filled with old architecture and murals painted on the exterior walls of biergardens. I boarded a bus that brought me to the base of the mountain on which Neuschwanstein castle is built before walking through the town and walking half an hour through the forest to the top. (My Garmin congratulated me on breaking my daily goal of 10 flights of stairs...6 times.)

There was a tiny bit of rain but nothing the Floridian in me would even sneeze at. I waited a bit in the castle courtyard before my tour began.

King Ludwig the something or other decided in the late 1800s that he wanted to live in a castle built in the medieval style. So, like any good royal, he opened the treasury and used Daddy's money. But, this one is well worth it; a truly impressive dedication to the medieval period, the arts, knowledge, and Christianity. We weren't allowed to take pictures but the panels of every wall, every piece of furniture, every chandelier, ornament, and bit of decoration was a sight to behold. Really really remarkable.

After the tour I hiked back down the mountain, boarded a bus back to the Munich bound train, and for there with 5 minutes to spare eager for a 2 hour train ride back to Munich.

I decided I'd taken enough trains and also have this odd little belief that you can experience a city better when you're above ground. Call me crazy but I stand by it. Like any good, modern city, Munich has a cavalry of the neon green steed that is Lime scooters which I rode around the city with.

I stopped in a book store cafe to make up for my lack of sleep with another cup of coffee and then headed out for the only kosher grocery store in Munich to stock up for the rest of the trip.

I walked in the store and saw a Chabadnik wrapping tefillin on a German boy. The boy seemed uninformed and I loved that the Chabadnik was helping him with the beginning of his Jewish journey. I thought I was in good company.

I struck up conversation with him and told him I'd made Aliyah and was drafting to the army. Immediately, he begins chastising my choices, in a gentle tone, but rebuke nonetheless.

"Don't you know you'll just be a pawn in a political game. They don't care about you. They'll give you orders that just serve their donors polititical interests."

" Don't you know October 7th was an inside job. They let them come in! How could you serve a government that does that"

"It's not even the real, biblical state of Israel. It's a secular state."

I stood there gently going back and forth with him.

" It's a matter of values and we clearly have a different set. My values in serving the country and protecting the Jewish people in their homeland supercedes everything else you've presented to me," I responded. He kept trying to prove his point, but after a certain time (probably too much time) hearing his side, I decided enough was enough and left.

It really saddened me. There's enough hate for Israel and the IDF from other nations and the rest of the world. We don't need this from our own. You'd think a Jewish homeland, protected by a Jewish army would be the one thing all Jews can agree upon. But as they say, 2 Jews three opinions. I've just never been so shocked and deeply unsettled by another Jews opinion. I'd heard anti-israel and anti-army sentiment from my Israeli coworkers before but that was different. They live in Israel, served in the army, and decided to continue serving in Milluim regardless of their opinions on the government. The difference is night and day.

I went to another grocery store to get nuts and fruit and went back to my Air BNB to drop off my groceries. I'd gotten an email with some bad news, that my beer tour on Thursday had been cancelled, so I scrambled to book something else in its place.

After about half an hour, I took another Lime to the only kosher restaurant in Munich. After the experience in the grocery store, it felt great to be greeted by an Israeli security guard, surround myself with Israeli flags and fellow Jewish diners, some of whom were speaking Hebrew. Family.

After my dinner I struck up conversation with my waiter. I asked him what the building was and he explained it was a Jewish community center. There was a school, a shul and this kosher cafeteria inside the building. The school catered to non-jews as well and the students decided if they wanted to elect for religious studies. He told me he actually lived in Ramat Gan for a bit with his family before moving here. His family is still in Israel. We spoke about what it means to be a Jew in Germany now and how it's not any more or less crazy than anywhere else in the world; where someone with a motive can do something to a Jew

I left the restaurant, stopped in front of the shul and saw hostage posters - making me feel even more united with Jews anywhere in the world - and walked around the area a bit.

I saw a group of street performers in the main square. It's funny how a shopping center in Europe can be built around the most beautiful buildings and no one bats an eye. I guess the shopping is more important. Or they're just that used to the architecture.

I took another Lime bike back to the AirBNB and, after being overwhelmed by the kindness of my host for 20 minutes (it's hard for me to tell someone im exhausted, drained, and just want to shower and go to sleep when they're hosting me and are just trying to help).

So... hours of train travel, 80 flights of stairs, an ancient castle, 21,000 walking steps, an anti-israel Jew and dinner with Israelis. Not bad for day 2.