Dissed at Dinner in the City with the Most Difficult Roads

Anyone who knows me, knows that I always get lost! Everywhere I go, I get lost. I tried my best to avoid this in Munich. Within 5 minutes of being in the city, I got lost. I turned the wrong way out of the train station. I ended up meeting this bellman at the Le Meridian who started speaking to me in English. I want to “pass” for European so, I was insulted by this. And, I let him know that. He then attempted to give me directions to my hotel. I walked down the street looking for the side street, on which it was supposed to be. I could not find it. I ended up asking this newspaper vendor and he told me it was like three blocks back the other way. I finally found it.

I had a busy Tuesday afternoon planned. I was going to visit Marienplatz, the Lady Church (or as the German’s and the rest of the world call it, the Frauenkirche) and have dinner at one of the best vegetarian restaurants in the city, Prinz Myshkin. I reviewed a couple of maps and was on my way. After I started walking, I realized I was on my way to know where that I wanted to go. I got so very lost. Not lost to where I did not know how to get back to from where I came, but lost to where I did not know how to get where I was going. I ended walking back to my hotel and asking someone at the front desk for detailed directions on how to get to Marienplatz and the Lady Church. At this point, I was not worried about finding the restaurant because it was nearby. I should have been worried.

I followed the directions the clerk gave me and found the places okay. They are so beautiful! Apparantly the Lady Church was one of the few buildings to survive the War and the Marienplatz is where the famous Glockenspiel is located. After I viewed these attractions, I decided to make my way to dinner. It was around 5:45. My reservation was at 7:00. I made it there at 6:55. In reality, the restaurant was about 4 blocks away. I was lost for an hour! I walked around Munich, looking for a restaurant for an hour! It had nothing to do with me not being able to read the signs, because street signs are street signs. If you can read, then you can read them! Munich is just completely unorthodox in their street layout! Later, I spoke to people who are not as directionally-challenged as I am and they have said the same thing! I know I could have used a GPS on this trip! $200 would have saved me from 2 blisters and extremely sore legs.

When I arrived at dinner, I order the tofu stroganoff, which supposed to be a mix of tofu, mushrooms, carrots, potatoes and broccoli. It sounded very yummy and figured I could pick around the broccoli. While I was deciding on my entrée, I thought I would also have the apple strudel for dessert! Apparently, the German’s should have invited the Super Size. I have never seen such a large plate full of food. I wanted to take a picture, but thought it would have been rude. What I did not think was asking for my check without finishing my dinner?!?! My waiter kept asking me if the food was good. I told him, it was great but way too much for me to consume in one sitting. He look at me like he was a bit disappointed and walked away… I paid and walked back to my hotel, getting lost one last time that evening…. I did not even get my apple strudel! :-(

Photos coming soon…

Rail Adventures

I LOVE trains! At least, I love the trains in Germany, and I am sure I would in the rest of Europe! It is such a great hassle-free way to travel. I bought my ticket, got on, rode for around 3 hours, got off and was at my hotel.

They have comfortable seating, are super fast (like 180 mph/300 km fast) and offer door-to-door service, or close to it. A few things you might need to watch out for are reserved seats and the kids-free section, if you do not want to be attacked by 4 year old twin boys, who could have been extras in Children of the Corn….

So, you can reserve seats on the train. You do not know this until the person who reserved the seat arrives and pretty much kicks you out. How lovely?!?! And to make matters worse, I was so flustered by the situation that the guy had to speak to me in English so I could understand.

I ended up moving further down in the car and was in a row by myself, the whole time worried someone else would come and try to claim my/their seat. Anyway, no one did, but the terror twins. These kids ran all over the car and occasionally into the car behind us. Side Note: The high-speed ICE trains in Germany have glass, electronic doors, like a store, that connect the cars together. You do not to manually open the doors to walk between like you do on a subway. So, the terror twins would then wrestle all over the car and occasionally into the empty seat next to me. What did their mother do? Nothing! Augh!

Going Wild in Germany

I made it to Munich! After travelling for 16 hours, by foot, plane, bus and train, I am here! And, I only got lost twice! However, I am treating a sore throat. I picked up some medicine from the pharmacy. Apparently, they sell antibiotics over the counter here! I will have more on my flight and rail adventure later. A few items I have learned so far:
1. Kids are bad everywhere, in America and on German railways….
2. I look American to some and German (European) to others. This bellman at Le Meridian spoke to me initially in English, while a large number of people on the Deutsche Bahn tried to carry on conversations with me in German.
3. I do not understand as much spoken German, as I speak because of the accent. I am too technical.
4. Houses in Germany look alike with the same window layout and rooflines… It is cute, but lacking individuality.
5. I have discovered a bit of what makes European style: fitted, but not tight clothing. Europeans wear clothes that fit their body not overly baggy or uncomfortably tight. Also, it appears the trend of the season is knee high boots over jeans. I have seen about 15 girls walking around with this.
6. Black people are everywhere. I have seen so many, walking around Munich, I do not feel like I stick out like a sore thumb, like I thought I would… I even had this dude hit on me…

Until later…

Munich Housing...Check! Frankfurt Housing...Check!

Yesterday, I took another step in preparing for my trip. I was finally able to book my housing for my stay in Munich and Frankfurt.
It has been taking awhile for me to have access to my Munich housing because I am staying at a hostel. I had e-mailed them a month or so ago and was told that housing for January 2008 would not be available until November. I was not too happy with having to wait that close to the day to book, but Europeans tend to be a bit more laid back than Americans. Actually, everywhere people tend to be more laid back than the US. So, something last night told me to try to book my lodging on their site.... Low and behold, I could do it!
Then, I was thinking since I am having all of this luck, let me try Salzburg and Frankfurt. Salzburg was a no go...for now. In Frankfurt, I had planned on staying in an actual hotel due to my early departure for the train station then to the airport.