Hofbrauhaus ... Munich

Today was all about moving towards our Christmas destination in the mountains. We did have one small stop on the way that caused Mr V's heart to beat that little bit faster.

 

Thats right, we had 3 hours in Munich.... what on earth do you do with 3 hours in Munich ... Hofbrau House of course! With the Oompa band playing and a group of 15 of us smashing steins together, it was a nice way to immerse ourselves in the Bavarian culture. Over lunch we finally got to know our fellow tour go'ers and to be honest we quite like most of them. Obviously there are a few who spend the whole time complaining over something or another .... we have the weird one I have dubbed "Sheldon" making random comments unacceptable for the table and company but overall it was a good group we enjoyed spending time with. Getting back on the bus we felt closer as a group with small jokes and comments causing laughs which just made things so much better.

The one big problem with a tour group is dealing with that one problem child. The group as a whole has to deal with this person and for us this person is "Sheldon". This particular stop he was 30 minutes late to the pickup, meaning we all had to wait on a hot bus feeling bad because the poor guy was lost somewhere amongst the crowd in Munich. Here is where it gets bad, the bus was hot, one guy already suffering a icky tummy collapse from heat causing an ambulance to be called and drama to ensue. The worse bit was when "Sheldon" finally did find his way back, he actually criticised the poor tour guide for not making the pick up point easier to find with no apologies or even recognition of the drama that had ensued during the wait for his return. While its easy to say these things happen I tend to think when you go on one of these tours you take a certain amount of responsibility for the group and part of that responsibility is making the group is not inconvenienced by yourself. As a rather free travel spirit this idea is not quite grasped by our "Sheldon" who steadfastly denies any responsibility for not getting to the bus on time.

Obviously we are waiting to see if this will happen again but are trying not to let his weird and wonderful ways ruin our trip ... I will keep you updated on this unusual specimen of the human species but for now ... the group has finally become a group and its a lovely feeling to sit back and listen to the Australian Humour fly!