My 17 hours in Munich...

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  Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Monday, June 16, 2008

mood: gob-smacked

I love Munich. L.O.V.E. love LOVE love LOVE love LOVE love. love it. i LOVE it. i want to move here.

dont ask me why i love it. i just do. cant explain it. its nothing impressive, most of the buildings are pretty plain and boring. the language is annoying. but it has a vibe. an amazing vibe. and its beautiful. and green. I got there yesterday after my flight from dirty smelly gross athens, it was overcast and looking very rainy, and i caught the train for the 45 minute trip into the city. the hostel is called wombats, and its been voted one of the best hostels worldwide. it is pretty good, located in the central part of  the city, with a bar, lounge, big atrium with a garden and beanbags/loungechairs etc. i was in a 6 bed dorm with an ensuite and lucky me, i was in with 5 guys.2 of them were spanish; Ivan and Luis, and they are actually from the canary islands, and they are over to watch the euro cup

our traditional dinner

. they invited me to come out with them for dinner as they were meeting up with a german friend Kati and it ended up being great as she acted as a tour guide and showed us around.

i ate so much food last night! first we went to a (real) beer hall and had traditional food like sausage, sauercraut (of thats how you spell it!), pig liver... yummy, beef olive, cheese and some other stuff which i cant explain or remember the name of but it was delicious. their food is so hearty and rich, which was good asthe weather was cold and it was just what i felt like eating. oh yes and i had my first experience with ordering water and getting carbonated bubbly stuff. yuk. at least now i know.

we then walked around the main part of the city. we chose a good day to visit as that weekend they were celebrating the 850th birthday of Munich, and everywhere there were stalls and food and bands and dancing and people dressed up in traditional clothes. Kati and myself splurged on some amazing strawberries pushed onto a stick and then dipped in chocolate. oh my gosh my mouth still waters at the thought. they were amazzzzzing. ahhhh. we did some window shopping through the stalls and in the windows of the shops (as it was a sunday all the normal shops were closed), wandered past churches and gawked like tourists at some of the amazing buildings, like the old town hall, which has to be seen to be believed - its got amazing details and is very gothic looking

our traditional dinner 2

. not many buildings in munich have decorations or anything to marvel at, but the odd few that do, they are stunning. i cant wait to be able to put up some photos.

we also wandered past the mercedes benz and aston martin showrooms, the boys ooogled at the pretty cars and discussed how they had 2 or 3 of their own back home (yeah right). we also saw a small corner of the English gardens, which is the biggest gardens in the WORLD, about twice the size of central park in nyc, and famous in the summer for nude sunbathing. what a shame it was so cold. we stopped to look at a map which showed only the south side of the park, and the area where we were standing (which when looking around seemed huge) looked tiny on the map. germans are crazy. we also saw a huge wide long road that hitler built. cant remember the name but it sounded impressive.

after we tired of wandering we stopped into a building which is supposedly a market area? and treated ourselves to hot chocolate. There was a big screen for the soccer and so we watched the start of the Czech / Turkey game, while i got tips on how the whole thing works (cause i really have no clue, i just enjoy watching it!). It got quite busy in there and by this stage it was getting late so we started to walk out, and the boys noticed a very nice white ferrari parked outside the restaurant across the street

Beer Hall

. so we stood there while they took photos and videos. the owner walked out at the same time, so we also got to watch them fold down the roof, start the engine, and then the boys salivated as it drove away, exhaust droning. i think they were impressed. or jealous. it was a nice car.

on the way back to the hostel we bought some more food from a stand, this time it was ovals of brown bread with bacon, cheese and herbs on the top. they didnt taste the way i expected, but they were delicious.

i watched the end of the soccer in the hostel lobby with the boys, it was a ripper game, czech were winning 1 : 0 up until the last 15 mins, when they scored again and we believed it was all over. but in the last 10 mins Turkey managed amazingly to get 3 goals, winning the game and getting into the semis or prelims or whatever the hell they call it. it was a good game. after that i headed to bed.

I only had one night in Munich as i end up coming here 3 times throughout my trip (lucky, since im in love with it and all) and his morning i was up just before 7am to be ready to catch my first bus! It was raining and cold but I think this is going to be a really great time, the buses and the road crew are great, they tell you a little about where your heading to and give suggestions on what to do while you are there, they also played a dvd of what you can do, and then they let you sit back and take in the scenery. they also play some music, and today they even had scrubs eps playing on the tv. we drove through munich and out onto the autobahns, the scenery here is amazing. everthing is green, there are rolling hills and mountains covered in pine trees, open grasslands and forests with trees i have never seen before

outdoor beer serving hut thing

. they do not seem to have fences, and i havent seen any grazing animals. just big open fields of grass and little white and yellow flowers. we crossed the border into Austria and headed up into the Alps. The drive up here cannot be described in words. my eyes spent the entire time trying to mentally absorb every single detail, i almost felt like i was trying to inhale the scenery. my brain was going into mental overload. the road winds through valleys, over rivers and gullys, around huge peaks and cliff-faces. pictures will never do this place justice, you have to see it with your own eyes...

We arrived in the village of St Johann, which is in an area called Tirol, up in the mountains. this place is popular year round, in winter for its ski resorts, and in summer for its hiking, adrenalin sports and of course, the view. there are ski chalets everywhere, and the town itself has the feel of a cute little alpine ski village. I was enjoying the view so much that i didnt want to get off the bus! i could have stayed on there driving around all day.

My accomodation is with this funny crazy Austrian lady in her house. she occupies the first floor, and rents out the rooms on the second and third floors. my window looks out onto the highest mountains in the region, and are currently dusted with a small ammount of snow

Kati, Ivan and me

. very very beautiful. its also quite chilly. for once i am wearing pants and a 2 jackets. still yet to upgrade my feet from my trusty thongs though!!! its never going to happen.

Flying from Athens meant i am now another hour behind aus, making it 8 hours difference now. and all this blogging is costing me a fortune in internet bills! i wish i had a laptop, so many hotels, cafes and bars have free wireless. it would be so easy! maybe i need to start charging you all to read this hahaha :)

im not having too much trouble with the german language, i can work out what most things are on a menu, and alot of germans and austrians speak good english too. its not the most romantic language but i like it.

so i am glad that im out of greece. Although i loved the greek islands, i saw what i wanted to see, and dont have any intentions to return in the near future. meanwhile, I am absolutely adoring this part of europe (apart from the cold) and am so far on my 3rd country of the trip (or 4 , counting my stopover in bangkok). still a lot more to go! i probably wont be able to post some pictures for a couple of days, but keep your eyes open, because they are breathtaking.

i am here in austria for 2 nights, and then i return to the bus for the half day drive down to expensive but glorious venice.

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

My new German boyfriend	Door to a church	twin towers	Old town hall... amazing
me and Ivan	Monkey music	Kati me and our strawberries	Lots of people and beer
Hitlers road	Munich	English Gardens	English Gardens 2
me and the English Gardens	hahahahaha - bikes are cool	Munich 2

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