Internetless in Munich

Please note that this was written last night. This morning the internet is working (God does answer prayer)! I slept fairly well (well enough as I could sleep in a dorm room with 40 people in it) and am eating my free breakfast of toast, butter, and jam. It's a bit overcast outside (or perhaps smoggy? Munich isn't the most glorious city so far) so we'll se what the day brings!

I’m sitting here in Munich and I’m a little bored. The internet won’t work (although the receptionist seems to be able to be on facebook, so I’m not sure how that is happening – maybe the wired connection is better). Supposedly they’re working on it. I would go out and explore a bit but it’s getting dark and I don’t know my way around enough to be comfortable doing such a thing - maybe tomorrow night after I don’t need street signs to navigate. Unfortunately my train arrived an hour later than I thought it was going to so I didn’t have as much time this evening to explore like I usually do when I arrive in a new city.

The lockers at this hostel have a wider clasp area so my little locks don’t work in the lockers which means I have to rent one from the hostel for 1 Euro/night. Wonderful. I’m going to try and find one to buy tomorrow. I figure by the time I am here five nights (which is what it’s looking like will happen since no one from couch surfing has gotten back to me about staying with them) I might as well have bought a lock and then I can keep it in case I run across this problem again. That is if I can find a store that sells locks. It’s not like they have a Fred Meyer or Home Depot down the road. I should have brought one from home since I have like three. Oh well …

I bought a 0.5 liter bottle of beer at the grocery store. It’s called Grafensteiner and it’s a Radler erfrishend. I like it quite a bit. It kind of has a sweet fruity flavor – almost like champagne, but a beer. Oh, as I am reading the label more closely now, it looks like it is 50% “bier” and 50% “zitronenlimonade” haha … I guess it’s not much of a real beer then is it? Oh well!

I need to do laundry soon too, but it is 5 euro to do a load here at the hostel. That seems like a lot of money. I may try to find a Laundromat or just buy some detergent at the market and wash the necessary things in the sink. We’ll see how desperate I get. J

The plan for tomorrow is to hit the various museums that are only 1 Euro on Sundays. There are quite a few but I am going to try and do 3 I think, maybe 4 if I have time. At 4pm (or 1600) I am going to try to make it to an English speaking church service. In the evening I might try to visit a few hold churches and go to the viewpoint to overlook the park/field where Oktoberfest happens each year. Monday morning I will do the free walking tour and the churches that I was not able to get to tomorrow. The rest of the day will be spent exploring. I will probably go to the famous Hofbrauhaus for a beer (although it’s quite expensive – but I’m in Munich right? I have to!) and then do some planning the next few stops for myself in Germany.

Tuesday I am going to go to Dachau. I am considering doing a tour so that I can get all the information, but can’t decide if it’s worth the extra 7 Euro or not. Wednesday I am going to go to the two famous castles in the area (one that the Disney castle was based off of and the other that was used as the castle in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang). Wow, I’m such an American tourist. I can pay for a tour for that for 25 Euro which I am also considering. Otherwise I think I’ll get there and be like, cool. Now what?

Thursday I will leave Munich and head into the south western border area and hopefully stay with a family friend for two nights. If those housing options don’t work out I’ll head to another random city and set-up camp for a night or two before I head into Cologne. I am enjoying the flexibility of my rail pass. I feel like I am saving myself a bit of money now that my plans have changed and the distances I need to travel are further apart. It’s kind of a nice feeling.

Well, I guess I can’t just continue to sit and talk to myself. Perhaps I should go set-up my bed for the night and settle in a bit more. I plan to get up at 7 like usual. There is a free breakfast here in the lobby so I will partake in that and then be on my way for the day. The museums don’t open until 10, so I have some time to get ready, eat, try to get online (or at least find a place to pay to get online) and then head out to get my day started right away! Wish me luck!