Munich Update 1

Hallo! I am currently in Munich and am finishing up my second full day here.

Let's see, where to begin. I got up at 6:30 on Saturday, got ready, finished packing and cleaned up the room. If I do say so myself it looked pretty good. Hopefully Lise felt the same way when she got home. Yujie was up to let me move my suitcase and computer into her room. She is so good to me. Lise wanted me to keep my stuff in the garden shed till I got back. Thank the Lord for Yujie! Then it was off to the airport. I was running a bit late and caught the bus shortly before 8. Once at Hellerup I discovered the machine wasn't accepting credit cards and I couldn't find my klip card. I eventually bought a full ride ticket and waited on the platform for the next train. Who should I meet while waiting there but Burcin and Brandon! She was flying out to DC that day so we rode the train to the airport together. I was freaking out a little bit about getting to the plane on time and she calmed my fears. The Lord is good.

Once at the airport I went straight through to security because I already had my boarding pass. No problems and then it was off to the gate. Boarding was actually announced this time (Swiss:1 Norwegian:0) and on my way to my seat I chatted with one of the flight attendants about getting to my connection on time. That flight was good as I slept a good portion of it but there was an obnoxious 10-12 year old boy kitty-corner behind me who decided to wham his foot on the floor the last ten minutes of the flight. He also thought it was fun to yell just about everything he said. With his mom sitting right there you would think that wouldn't happen but whatever.

Landed in Zurich and walked the length of the A terminal (gate 86 to 05), waited ten minutes and boarded the flight to Munich. That was short and sweet and the rather large man next to me slept the whole flight. I highly recommend Swiss airlines. They are nice, punctual and you get chocolate after any snack or at the end of the flight. Delicious. I bought a ticket for the Sbahn and took my 45 minute train ride to Hauptbahnhof (the central station). Then I wandered a wee little bit before finding my hostel. Walked in and Tom checked me in. Tom is basically my hostel hero. He has seriously answered EVERYTHING for me. Headed up to the room (4th floor) and made my bed and put stuff away and chilled on the bed. A few minutes later a guy walks in, introduces himself as Paul and then says he is finishing his Internet time and would be back. Turns out Paul's a Brit and would be there for two nights. He invited me out to eat with two other guys (Ryan a Kiwi and Aaron an American) and out we went. All of us were basically starving. I had a delicious bavarian meal of meat meat and more meat as well as some beer at the Augstiner. Or something like that. Then to a biergarten where the guys had another stein, back to the restaurant and then to the hostel. Due to lack of sleep and huge lack of proper food I was sick on the way back to the hostel. Yay, three big cities, three lost meals. But I am really glad I met Paul, Ryan, Aaron and Martin (Aussie who joined us later).

That brings us to yesterday. I did absolutely nothing. I woke up to find myself in a room with 4 guys. That was not supposed to happen and, so, I felt a little weird at first. All of them had been travelling for some time, though, so they felt pretty at ease. Raj was above me and was leaving for Frankfurt and then back to India so he'd only slept there. Andy is from Leeds and will be here till at least tomorrow. Bernard is from Brazil and is here till Thursday I think. Then there's me and Paul. One of them snored like nobody's business so none of us slept well. I showered and ate breakfast with Paul then did Internet, rested because my stomach was acting up, and then found a call shop so I could call home. Then I took a two hour nap (lovely!) and headed down to the bar in the hostel with Bernard. I met Pedro (another Brazilian), Luca from Italy and two people from France. I also met Alex and John from Orange County and had a nice chat with them. I ended up ordering a small sandwich thing because my stomach just did not want to eat and then headed up to bed around 10. I had a nice quiet time and then journaled and was asleep probably around 11.

This morning I woke up at 9:15. Ah, that was wonderful! The snoring guy hadn't been as bad and all of us slept better. Our room gets really hot so I suggested leaving the window open all night and that definitely helped. So, I showered (again), did Internet, grabbed a roll and muffin at a cafe I discovered and then headed to the train station. I bought a full day pass and took a 40 minute train ride to Herrsching. From there I took a ten minute bus ride up to Kloster Andechs. It is a brewery based out of a monastery. I spent a REALLY long time there. Unfortunately my German is next to none and everything there was in German. I wandered around the church (absolutely beautiful) and then headed down to the brewery only to be directed back up the hill to food and beer. I finally got food and a beer and sat down. Now you must know that it was ridiculously hot and in that weather I do not actually want to drink a lot of beer. So it took me a good two hours to finish mine. The dopplebock dunzel was very good, though. Once done I headed to the gift shop and bought a few things then bought some dopplebocks to bring home. I was going to catch the bus back to Herrsching but realized I was in no rush. So I plopped down on a bench in a grassy area and journalled for 45 minutes or so. When I finished that and took a couple more pictures I headed to the bus. While waiting for that I met a group of five Americans who work for United. That was pretty cool and they were very funny. They head back to the States tomorrow. I headed to the train and took my 40 minute ride back to Hauptbahnhof.

On my way to the Hostel I bought a juice, the first fruit I have had since Friday. Ah, it was soooo delicious! In fact, I will probably go there every morning now after the cafe to top off my breakfast. And now I am back at the Hostel. I've put my stuff away and now Internet. I don't really want to go out for dinner or anything so I will probably head across the street for pizza or a kebab and then hang out in the bar or the wintergarten before calling it a night. Yup, I am THAT boring in Munich. :-) But as Paul so wisely said to me: this is my trip, do as I want.

I ask that you pray for my stomach because it is still not 100%. I have no idea why and would really like to look at food and WANT to eat it instead of having to tell myself it is a necessity. Other than that, I have seen Andechs, which was the one thing I wanted to see, so pray I would be able to enjoy the rest of my time here at my own pace.

Have a wonderful day/night/afternoon and I figure I will post once more before heading back to Copenhagen,
Bekah