(just a couple days until Motorcycling content)
Germany!
Got through Frankfurt passport control without being asked a single question. I had a few hours before my Lufthansa flight to Munich, so I made my way to one of Lufthansa's business-class lounges to kill some time.
Much more crowded than the Envoy Lounge
Mmm, free pretzels...
I was disappointed to see that my Droid 2 Global phone couldn't find any service. I bought an hour of wi-fi and used the iPad to do some research, and turns out I should have contacted Verizon before I left the country so they could enable the phone for use overseas. My bad for thinking a phone with "Global" in the name would just work.
The lounge was too hot to spend a lot of time in, so I wandered the terminal a bit and eventually made my way to the gate for my next flight. At this point the lack of sleep was starting to hit me, and I may have nodded off once or twice for a few minutes. Not good when you're by yourself in the airport.
On boarding the plane, I was disappointed not to see any real "business class" in the cabin. Turns out on Lufthansa's intra-country flights, business class is a normal economy seat with the middle seat in the row not used for seating. So same narrow seat, crappy legroom, etc. Just the benefit of having an open seat between me and the guy in the aisle (apparently it only takes one flight in business class to spoil you). Oh well, at least the flight is less than an hour.
Not what I envision when I think "Business Class"
Somewhere over Germany
Landed in Munich about 2:30pm (8:30am EST), and was delighted to see my bag already waiting for me. Followed signs for the S-Bahn trains, and came out of the terminal into a delightful covered outdoor plaza with a cafe and biergarten. This was a very nice "Welcome to Europe" moment, as I don't think anyone exiting an airport in the northeast US encounters anything other than chaos, taxis, highways, etc.
Yup, this is Munich
Plaza between terminals and where the trains are
Smokey Joe's cafe in the plaza. In the shade trees on the left is the Airbrau biergarten.
Taking the train to my hotel near Rosenheimerplatz didn't go so well. I knew the location of the hotel, I knew which stop to get off at, and I knew to take either the S1 or S8 from the airport. So far so good. Got on the S8, and paid attention to the route map and saw the stops were matching up, so I relaxed, confident that I had conquered my first "I dont' understand German but I'll figure it out" challenge. Eventually the train stopped at Ostbahnhof, the stop before mine, and we sat there for a bit. Some announcements (all in German) were made, and some folks got off and some stayed. I assumed we were waiting for another train to clear the tracks, or something similar. After a bit we got moving again, but we didn't make any stops for a long while. We were creaking along above ground, with central Munich nowhere in sight. Another 30 minutes go by, and the train stops in Pasing, which is way on the other side of Munich. I asked the conductor for Rosenheimerplatz, and all I got back was "bus".
Turns out the whole central S-Bahn corridor was closed that weekend, from just before my stop to the other side of the city. In Ostbahnhof I was maybe a couple blocks from the hotel, now I found myself with an hour-long city bus ride to add to my long train detour. The bus was SRO, packed with unruly kids and uncaring parents, hot as blazes, stopped every block, and I was exhausted. Just shy of four hours after landing I finally got to the hotel.
In line for the bus
The Holiday Inn City Center was excellent, and the room gods were smiling on me and I got the largest room in the hotel, a suite actually. No wi-fi, but a very comfortable bed and a great view of the city. I tried to grab a little sleep, but now I was too excited about being in the city. Spent $30 on a phone call to Verizon and got my Droid working again before heading out on foot to see Munich.
Living Room at the Holiday Inn
No windows in the bedroom, but a very comfortable bed
View from the room. The 3 towers on the left are near Marienplatz, the center of Munich
It was an easy walk to Marienplatz, and I spent the next few hours wandering around and taking in the sights of Marienplatz and the surrounding historic buildings and plazas. I also enjoyed a couple liters of beer, something I've really been looking forward to on this trip. I had kinda sorta planned on visiting all the biergartens in the city, or at least one from each brewery, but that was going to be a bigger challenge than I thought.
I will not take the easy food option
New Town Hall in Marienplatz. Even prettier in person.
My first german beer, a half-liter of Hacker-Pschorr Helles. Excellent.
I'm thinking this was some sort of bachelor party. These guys were loud and drinking a lot, but obviously having a good time. They would toast every pretty girl that walked by(of which there were plenty).
This was the guest of honor of the group above. Nice pants.
He played a mean Beethoven's 5th
Another guy out with his friends (note the signed shirts on him and gold-pants-guy)
Orlandostrasse, looking back towards the Hofbrauhaus. The "Gelateria Garda" on the right had fantastic gelato.
No visit to Munich is complete with a visit to the Hofbrauhaus
Pretty lively inside, but too hot and crowded for me
The biergarten in the back was much more my style
A tasty liter of Dunkel (dark) beer
By about 10pm I couldn't fend off sleep any longer. I made my way back to the hotel, set an alarm for 7am, and passed out.
