Week 3-Part 1

Our first weekend on the loose was a great experience. The journey to Munich was stunted by a delayed, then cancelled, then magically reappearing train, but we finally made it to the hostel late Friday night. This was my first experience at a hostel, and I can definitely say it was a positive one (for those of you looking into visiting Munich, it’s called Wombat City Hostel). The employees were friendly and helpful, and the atmosphere was great for mingling. It’s amazing what a small world we live in; our dorm-mate at the hostel was from Houston, and we met someone at another hostel that is a student at t.u.

On Saturday, we first spent a few hours walking around town. Munich is a beautiful city with a magnificent town square. We checked out some of the cathedrals as well as many of the little shops around the square. I hit the hostel for a nap in the afternoon since I wasn’t feeling well but later we visited the one and only Hofbrauhaus, which definitely lived up to my expectations. Drinking an entire liter of beer was a daunting task, but we all managed to enjoy all of the delicious brew and a hearty meal of meat, dumplings, gigantic pretzels, and the like. The only aspect of the Hofbrauhaus that we did not enjoy was the unfriendly nature of the wait staff which we experienced at other similar venues in Munich as well. 

On our final day in Munich, we first visited the BMW museum and showroom. I did not think I would enjoy that particular venture but it was actually very neat to see the Rolls-Royce exhibit and check out the Minis and their accessories. I myself drive a baby blue Mini Cooper named Ricardo, and it was very difficult to resist buying some accessories to take back with me. Next we headed to the home of the 1972 olympics where we enjoyed some delicious bratwurst and explored the park. The architecture of the park was really neat; it appeared as though the roofs of the buildings were strung up like tents. Our final stop was the English garden. The weather was beautiful and the park was lovely with plenty of trees, water, and places to stop for food, drinks, and of course gelato. After a nice nap in the shade we went looking for food. We all broke down and had KFC, which was a most delicious and American birthday dinner.

We are now on our way to Vienna, and since it’s past 7 AM I can now officially consume alcohol legally in the states! Can’t wait for our busy week ahead in Vienna. Tschüss!