''Hung Over in Heidi''

Brussels was normal compared to this place. This place would be Munich, by the way. To the Germans it's Munchen. To the Germans Germany is Deutchland. I don't know why we change the names of all German things.

The title comes from Annie, who is correct in saying that I haven't even seen Heidi, which is apparently a movie in which people are wearing traditional German clothing. I don't get it, but it sounded funny, and adequately described the day, which has been by far one of the weirdest of my life.

Okay, so last night, we met these guy from Swizerland who kept buying us drinks, so when I woke up this morning I wasn't in top form. On top of that, more than two months of travel and living out of a backpack takes its toll on the mind, so we were a little loopy. Which makes all of what happened today much funnier.

So, after we took a tour yesterday, we realized that there really isn't a whole lot to do in Munich, so we went for a stroll around town.It has some cool old-timey architecture, which was rebuilt after most of the city was destroyed in the war. That's pretty much it, except for the city's second-biggest tourist destination (next to the massive beer halls, of course): the worldßfamous Glockensphiel. We made our way to the town center just in time to catch the Glockensphiel (sp), which has been deemed one of the most underwhelming sights in Europe. It's this stupid thing that goes off a couple times a day that has these wooden figures that don't really do much other than move in circles. Why we went back to see it a second time is anyones guess, but it now seems an appropriate way to start the day.

As we turned the corner to head down our next street, we began to notice that an odd number of people were dressed in their German milk-maid dresses and the males in Lederhosen, which are kind of like overalls, but stupider, and not made of denim. I thought these things were just gag gifts, but people actually wear them around town, and look like they're in the eighteenth century.

Then we had to clear the street because a procession of mounted knights (yes, like, shining armor knights), was making its way down the street led by pipers in brightly colored tights. Where this ''Glockensphiel procession'' was heading is anybody's guess, but they turned through a huge crowd who gathered to watch, and we couldn't follow.

Wanting a coke, we made our way to this huge market, where we were met by the melodious cracking of whips. A group of lederhosen-clad men with whips were following along with a piper and making music outside of a local cafe. I swear people, I'm not making this stuff up.

As we wandered deeper into the market, things became more German, and stranger. Polka bands were playing oompa music for street dancers who looked like they existed in the seventeenth century, and everybody was eating wurst and drinking beer.

And then we saw a guy on stilts. He took a picture with Annie. That was pretty much the culmination of the day weirdness. He wasn't even doing anything for money, he was just walking around on stilts. He was really happy, too.

As we made our way out of the city's center, we were passed again by the Glockensphiel procession, as if to mark our entry and exit from this bizzare German fantasy-land.

I have absolutely no idea why any of this was going on, and nowhere we've looked has provided any answers. I'd like to think that Munich is always like this, if not all week, then maybe just Sundays.