Today I started my journey to Munich and had to say goodbye to Ulf and Judith. While Judith may come down to Frankfurt before I leave, I may not see Ulf for a while so we had our goodbye at the train station. I got everything packed up (including lots of Milka) and got on the train to start the 4-5 hour journey down to Munich.
The train was so nice—it was brand new, and had power outlets at the seats for laptops. That’s how I’m writing this now actually J The large windows are great to view the German countryside as we pass from one village to the other with ust a small cluster of houses with distinct gables poking through rows of trees. Every so often, you’ll see a church steeple towering above houses as well. In Frankfurt I’ll transfer to an ICE train down to Munich.
The ICE train was quite nice and I was able to eat my lunch and get to the train to find my seat. I got situated after eating standing up in the café car while watching the landscape pass by. After lunch I headed for my seat to get situated. It was pretty crowded. I was happy that I had booked my seat.
About halfway through the trip, it started to rain so I was worried about the weather in Munich. Luckily it was a beautiful day. I read my Bavaria book on the train as well as updated my blog and found a good hostel right next to the station that had been reviewed well. When I arrived at the station, I went across the street to the hostel. At check in, I got my room key which was cool—everything is RFID so the doors are very secure and they had lockers big enough for my luggage which was also tied to the RFID.
After putting my bags away, I got my stuff together and headed out to the city. I found the main pedestrian area that spans down through the old part of the city. Building after building was more impressive as the next. I made my way to Marianplatz where there’s a statue of the Virgin Mary in front of the Town Hall with a Glockenspiel. I’ll go there tomorrow to check it out. After there, I headed for another Victrolian Square where there were tons of market stands selling fresh produce, flowers, sausages etc. I then headed over to the Hofbrauhaus to check out this notable yet touristy attraction. Here I had a great dinner with two sausages on sauerkraut, with a baked potato. It was really good. I then headed back to the hostel to start researching what my plan will be for the next few days.