The adventure begins
Trip Start
Dec 20, 2010
1
2
14
Trip End
Jan 01, 2011
Where I stayed
Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
The snow was about ankle high as I walked blindly through the morning light to find my hotel. I had looked in the map before I got on the train but as fate would have it, in real life the streets look very different.
My hotel is actually only minutes from the station but I took the wrong street and couldn’t make heads or tails. After a couple of agonizing calls to the desk, I finally hailed a cab. In fact I was only steps away from the hotel and had literally past it up by turning left instead of right about 20 minutes earlier. The fare was ridiculously low so I gave him a nice tip. (He really only drove me around the corner but I felt like a dope) I checked in and rested for about a minute before heading out to explore. In fact, my trip was 12 hours behind schedule and i was very anxious to explore this new territory.
I decided to take the grey line hop on/off tour…the long one for 18 euros. It lasted about 2 hours and gave a good overview of the highlights I will want to spend more time on. We went to most of the major districts and since I had not known much about Munich, I found it very informative and helpful. In addition, the tour was a good source of information about the Bavarian history and also a good way to understand the layout of the city.
My hotel was located just a bit past the main train station with pretty easy access walking, so using the "Hoptbanhoff" for the starting point each day made good sense. Munich has an interesting even if a bit sad history and is now a very busy, cultural center. I found the circular layout easy to navigate and the mix of history and modern life to be fascinating.
After the tour I did some photo taking on foot and checked out some FOOD!!!! I basically walked into the main center...Marionplaz, and began with circulating through the markets which were alive with pre-Christmas activity. There are so many types of pretzels you’d be amazed!! I happen to love poppyseed and therefore, treated myself to a large, soft poppy seed pretzel. It was chewy and fantastic!!
After a rest in my room and an attempt to get online, I will take myself out for an evening of Christmas lights in the center before an early bedtime.
I have a 12-hour castle tour tomorrow!! But it starts at 7:45 am.
