Munich 2001

Grand Tour of Europe 2001 – Munich

11 April – Travel day number three. For being our shortest train ride so far, it seemed like the longest. We were up and out of our hostel by quarter to seven. Oh, how I *love* lugging my backpack everywhere! Decent trains to Munich. The landscape became more interesting on the way down – green and hilly, but rainier as well. Was pretty well dazed. We pulled into Munich around 3, made some train reservations, then went to our hostel {Euro Youth Hotel on Senefelderstraße}. I picked up the book “Ragtime.” Our dorm room here is a little better than Copenhagen – only 24 beds, but each has nice peach sheets and blankets. We bought some pizza by the station (just down on the corner), then ate them at the hostel while watching CNN. We went out to check internet. My stomach didn’t feel good, so I left to go back before Madeline. Found a bakery where I got a pretzel and a cup of tea. Came back, read some, then took my shower. Read a little more. It’s going to be nice being in a city where things are at least a little familiar.

12 April – We were up and out early. We went to the Marienplatz Viktualienmarkt. Madeline wanted to buy some Birkenstocks. We got there too early, so I bought some strawberries and had bread and those for breakfast. I feel like I’m coming down with a cold! She bought her sandals, then we walked around the Marienplatz. I spent forever getting a shirt as another layer. It’s pretty cold out today. We went on a Mike’s Bikes tour of the city. I had done it four years before and wanted to do it again. We met a lot of people. Our guide Jordan was funny. The bikes were so much better than last time. The route and information were different enough that it seems all fresh and new again. Unfortunately, the peaking sun didn’t warm the air enough. I bought a long-sleeved t-shirt. We came back to the hostel because we were expecting Ryan and Jessi this afternoon. Nope, they’re coming tomorrow. We checked email, then I went back to the Viktualienmarkt to buy some bread and cheese for dinner. I’m tired and would like to go to bed, but I have to stay up to register for classes {back at UW-Madison} this evening late. Read a bit, watched news on CNN. That was odd: After reading for a while, I went out to register for my classes by phone, only to find people either making a commercial or a movie in the lobby. I had to wait for action to stop before I could pass through. I got all the classes I wanted, then came back in and went to bed.

Cara and Madeline on the bike tour

Tour group bikes at the Feldherrnhalle

13 April – It’s Good Friday the 13th. That would explain a bit… I got up early this morning to use the internet. When I came back, I ate breakfast and talked to some guys who were also from Madison. Madeline came back with Jessi and Ryan. It’s a cold, cold day. We walked around the Marienplatz, then just started walking in random directions. We ended up on the Theresianwiese, where they hold Oktoberfest. And that’s where it started to snow on us. Sheesh. We retraced our steps, bought some lunch at the train station, then had a quiet afternoon. Doesn’t make much sense to go out and do much because it’s a holiday and everything is closed. I did some more internetting, read, tried to nap, etc. We left the hostel at 7, then headed out. Our first through was to head to the Hofbräuhaus. Ohmigod. Huge, packed with beer-guzzlers and not a single table free. So, we walked on until we hit Paulaner im Tal, just off the Marienplatz. I got some pilsner and käsespätzle, which I hadn’t had in forever. I tried to translate the menu for everyone else with more or less success. Sat a while before we could pay, then we headed back to the hostel for a somewhat early night.

Jessi, Ryan and Madeline by Sendlinger Tor

Theresienwiese

14 April – Today was a day better off forgotten. Madeline and I went to make train reservations, and on the way, she surprised me saying she didn’t want to go to Interlaken or Paris, and she was going to Spain. Okay… Momentarily upset. She had problems reserving, which cause us to miss the train we were going to take to Füssen. We killed an hour in the train station before boarding another train. It wasn’t until about an hour and a half into this journey into the heavily-snowing Alps that we realized we were on the wrong train. Luckily, where we got off had a train pull in immediately going back to Munich. The next train actually to Füssen didn’t leave for a while, so more time to kill. Making a long story short {too late}, we arrived in bloody cold Füssen at about 4 in the afternoon. Had to wait a while for a bus that would take us up to the Schloß Neuschwanstein, but finally we got there. Began the long trek uphill. We weren’t going inside but took pictures of the castle and surrounding mountains shrouded in clouds and snow. We then trekked over to the Marienbrücke. This was the highlight of the day for me – I actually walked all the way across it! You’d have to see it to understand. Then we walked back down, waited in the cold for the bus back to the train station, then waited in the cold for our train. Yeah, the stupid train was 40 minutes late, leaving us to slowly freeze for over an hour. It wasn’t fun. Finally, the train arrived, we got on and went back. So cold. I bought some bread and made PB&J sandwiches for dinner. Everyone else stayed up for a while, but I was too cold and tired.

Schloß Hohenschwangau

Madeline and Jessi by the Marienbrücke

Schloß Neuschwanstein

15 April – Happy Easter! No Easter basket for me today, though. I got up a little later than intended this morning. The other three were headed off to Dachau, but since I had already been there, I didn’t care to go back. So instead, after grabbing a bite of breakfast at the train station, I headed out through the sleet, rain and general miserableness to walk all the way to the Deutsches Museum. I got there around 10:20. The museum is this huge collection of science and industry exhibits – ships, cars, airplanes, all types of engineering, physics, chemistry, musical instruments, astronomy, chronology, etc. I walked around there for hours. I wanted to at least see all of the exhibits and I managed to. The museum was a lot like the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago (which is modeled after the German one), only with less English and more things to see. I was impressed by all the mechanical things (naturally). I left there at around 3, then walked back. I stopped for some ice cream (crazy me) and lunch at McDonald’s. Ugh. Just because it was warm and cheapish. An old lady tried to engage me in conversation, but I could barely hear and understand her. I went to check email and saw the others there. Then, with my tummy not feeling 100%, I came back to the hostel to organize my stuff a bit, read, write postcards. I bought some bread for dinner. At 8, I called Grandma K’s house and talked to her, Brian, Anne, Mom & Dad. It was really nice! I miss everyone, especially today. Then I came back and stayed up talking with the others over a Munich wheat beer.

16 April – Yet another holiday day here, so nothing is open. I did laundry after Madeline, which was pretty expensive (~$3.75) and which took *forever*. I put my clothes in the washer around 11, and they were finally done and dried around 1:30. I tried to kill time reading and staring off into space. After that, I went to get some food and did a quick email check. Then I decided to take a walk. I went to see where the hotel I stayed at before was and wandered my way around the Marienplatz. My feet hurt like hell, and it began to rain on me, so I didn’t stay out too long. I came back to the hostel and read the paper, watched a bit of CNN. I tried to kill time before dinner by taking a nap, but that was rather futile. I keep trying to count up how much money I have left, and how far I can make it go. I really hope the weather in the next few places gets better. I don’t think I can take much more of this gold sogginess. It’s nice to know that this whole month of travel is half over. Four more stops left for me, then back to Swansea, but they’re each of pretty short duration. (Man, it’s not easy trying to ramble and fill up a page when there’s not much going on.) Oh, Jessi and Ryan checked out this morning to continue on their trip. I went and got dinner, then made some phone calls to make sure we had places in Verona. I came back and took a shower, then got all my stuff ready to go for tomorrow.

The adventure continues in Verona…
{transcribed 2/17/2020}