Arrival in Munich

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Trip Start Oct 05, 2008 Previous
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  Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Tuesday, October 7, 2008

5 October 2008

1305 Lufthansa 469 10:15 flight

The plane was late arrving, so we were delayed leaving. JG had a mint mocha frappachino grande and I had a white chocolate mocha vendi. The sales girl actually called it a "large." I took a picture of JG with her frappachino and switched to view finder mode on the camera and promptly forgot I'd done that. (CRS moment) So when I tried to view the picture or see the screen in photo mode, it was dark. Panic! Out of batteries! I went to Hudson News and got eight new batteries, and the screen was still blank! Oh yeah, then I remembered! DOH! Problem is between camera and chair! (PIBCAC) So we now have eight more batteries. This is probably good.

We pulled away from the gate at 1325 -- 20 minutes after planned departure. We were airborne at 1336 and we're told the flight would be 9 hours and 30 minutes in length instead. About 1500 we got hot towels to prepare ourselves for lunch. Lunch was a salad with caesar dressing, a small slab of Wisconsin cheddar cheese, a roll with butter, and tiramisu. RC had chicken in mushroom sauce with parslied carrots and rice, white wine, and water. JG had bowtie pasta, white wine and water, with a tea chaser. RC cleaned up the pasta and tiramisu.

Tried to sleep at 1630, and the light went out at 1710. JG's reading light would not turn out, so we got eye masks to cover our eyes. To finally get the light off, one of the flight attendants had to unscrew the bulb! RC couldn't get his light to turn on. The entertainment system did not work and was not repaired during our flight. We were able to listen to Lufthansa Radio, and heard complete programs on channel 3 (both) and 4 (RC).

At 1835 we had some water and Toberlone bars with nuts. Our inflatable neck pillows both developed leaks and went flat. JG changed to slippers and RC was able to take his athletic shoes off and stayed in socks. At 2155 we got hot towels to prepare for breakfast, which came at 2220 with the sunrise. We had a roll with butter and jelly, scrambled eggs with diced green peppers, onions and tomatoes, and some very overcooked red potatoes.

We touched down at 2334 and were at the gate at 2338. Then came our trek through the Frankfurt airport. I think the signage is very poor. We got to a B gate hub from our B26 arrival gate, but signage directing us upstairs to the A gates was very difficult to see. RC asked one of the cart drivers, and only then was the signage obvious. Upstairs to have passports checked, then downstairs. Once again we lost our A gates signs and had to ask. We made it out to gate A20, and are making journal entries at convenient tables located there. The airport seems to be a giant Duty Free stores mall with departure-arrival gates thrown in haphazardly. Forgot to mention there were interesting cloud formations approaching Frankfurt. It looked like a Monday morning rush hour on quite a few of the freeways.

Monday 6 October 2008

The plane coming in to Frankfurt was delayed, so the departure time was changed from 1150 to 1205. That didn't work out either. Our seats were right above the wing, so there wasn't much opportunitz for pictures. A plane passing behind us had a problem and couldn't move, so we had to wait to have that problem resolved. We were away from the gate at 1234, airborn at 1253. We did get a hastily poured drink before landing in Munich at 1326. Our plane was named in honor of Garmisch-Partkenin. We were to the gate at 1330 and had our luggage at 1350. We exited and asked at the airport information desk about the trains, trying to find out about a "Welcome Ticket." They were less than helpful and told us to go to the next building where the trains had an office. We went down to the tracks and found no office, so it was back upstairs where we did finally locate the train office. Once again, the lady there was not as helpful as I thought she could be. She said the "Welcome Ticket" had been discontinued two years ago. She was not forth-coming with information about various fare options, so we bought a day partner ticket for 18 euros.

The train ride to Ostbahnhof was smooth (caught it at 1444). The weather was mostly sunny and warm. The terrain was flat and well cultivated. We saw lots of dried corn and speculated that it was feed corn. We have seen no livestock yet. There are yellows and reds in the trees. When we exited the airport terminal building we encountered our first smokers of the trip. Our transfer from S8 to U5 at Ostbahnhof took us a while to sort out, but we were successful. We exited Lehel station at St. Anna Platz, and could not find our bearings. JG pulled out her binoculars to read a street sign and a local gentleman asked if we nedded help -- which we did. He pointed us in the correct direction, and we were off! We didn't exactly follow the walking directions I had Googled, but we were soon in "familiar" territory. JG's luggage was having problems rolling on two wheels, so I sat it on all four and transported it most of the way to the apartment in that manner. At the corner of Robert Koch Str and Oettingen Str., a young woman confirmed that we were indeed headed in the right direction. It was quite a trudge up Reitmorstrasse, including about a block unpaved, and we had to make a small detour to safely cross Prinzregenten Str., but we got to number 45 and had actually gone too far. After back-tracking, we then had to find the apartmenht! After a few minutes, we were in the door at 1625. We took pictures. JG changed her dressing and then we went down for a 90 minute nap. Unpacked. When we leave a week from Thursday, we can take the 100 bus to the Hauptbahnhof. JG treated some chocolate dribbles on the red shirt, and I discovered that I only have five shirts with me, not six. Messed up by leaving the yellow one I had out at home. We had our first experience with the bike lane, while getting across Prinzregenten Str., and now know what to look for --- they will run you down.

At 2020 we went out through the back courtyard to find dinner and see a bit of the neighborhood. We saw a pizza place, a pharmacy, a large bath fixtures and accessories store, a clothing store, and Leib & Seele, Oettingenstrasse 36, a speiselokal and hopfothek (local eating and fast service!) restaurant. We got a table, English language menus, and ordered a couple of Octoberfest beers (.5 L). JG had schwienbrauten (pork roast with dumplings and cole slaw) and RC had wiener schnitzel with fried potatoes, a salad and a bit of berried cranberry sauce. We were not offered any bread with our meal. Just before we left a couple came in with their good-sized white lab.

I think the reason I have problems understnding spoken German is that I have a very difficult time telling when one word ends and another begins. A bit of a drizzle on our walk earlier. Back to the apartment at 2145. Journaled. Time to retire at 2300.

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