Wednesday, September 7, 2016

2016 Germany: Munich

It felt lovely to wake up 'late' this morning, at around 7. I was up until around 11:30 (amazingly, after getting up at 4 and running around most of the day!) I learned last night that the guy who owns the apartment I'm renting lives in the same building of the next apartment I'm sharing in Munich! What a truly small world.

Mario is coming here in the morning to get the apartment ready and then we will go back to Munich together. He offered to hold my bag until I check into the next place so I don't have to deal with finding a locker in the central train station, which is incredibly nice. I had planned to walk around Garmisch a bit but I did get to see it the first night I was here so I think I may take a lazy morning and pack.

I have loved it here and would love to explore more of Bavaria. I feel about it the way I felt about Tuscany--I really enjoy it and would love to spend a week or two just kicking around some of the small towns. There is so much beauty here and so much to see.

Today will be a busy day also, so this down time feels good. I'm looking forward to meeting Maren, where I'm staying next. i have only done AirBNB a few times now (here and Chile) and always rented a full place. This will be the first time I rent a room. Her reviews were great and she is in the center of the city, which I thought would be really nice to get to see a lot in a short amount of time.

Mario came at 10 to say hello and to clean the place. I went wandering around Garmisch for an hour, and ran into a nice German couple from Hanover that I spoke with on the bus to Neuschwanstein! It has been so funny how I keep running into people. They were very nice and with my limited German and their limited English, we enjoyed talking. They recommended Linderhof castle, which I had read is even more beautiful than Neuschwanstein, but I of course wanted to see the latter. If I had more time, but perhaps another trip! This area is gorgeous and there are many places to see. I saw a very quaint church and enjoyed the beautiful architecture in the town. Everywhere you look are the alps, and today they were surrounded in low clouds looking almost smoky from the weather. It was really beautiful.


Then Mario and I went back to Munich together my car. He is a really nice guy and I enjoyed talking with him. In another 'small word' situation, it turns out that he lives in the same building as the next person I'm renting from through AirBNB. Wow! Seriously amazing. He offered to store my bag and I followed him to work then went to the subway and went to Nymphenburg Schloss (castle.) It is a huge castle though you tour a small part, then walk through the gardens with some beautiful flowers, statues and water features. 

I had been told that you could enter the castle from the park in the back so I decided to leave that way and walked the length of it. I'm not sure if I took a wrong turn after but I ended up on a bike/walking path, and walked. and walked. and walked. It was an hour and a half of walking before I got back to the station!

I then went to the area towards my apartment and walked around Viktualenmarkt, a large outdoor marketplace. I bought some flowers for the woman I am staying with and a birthday cupcake for my new friend, Gustavo, that I met on the train from the Zugspitze and was meeting up with in the evening. I walked around the area in Gartnerplatz, which is very nice and there are a lot of great bars and restaurants. At 5:30 I went to meet Maren. She was a bit late and I ran into Mario, who let me in to grab my bag, and in came Maren. They didn't know each other and got to meet, which is great! I love that.

After talking for a few minutes, I had 15 minutes for a quick shower and change. Somehow I managed to be on time meeting at Sendlinger Tor, one of the city gates (arch). We walked around a bit, got tapas and some wine, and stayed out far too late. It was a really fun evening!

I unfortunately forgot to turn off my ringer and my phone buzzed at 3 am! I was up until 5 and then again at 7:30 so I see a nap in my future. :) I am looking forward to exploring but will take a light day. I'll do a walking tour of the center city. Tonight Maren and I will go out for dinner and she recommended a couple of places. I'm excited-- I'm really enjoying the city and the people. Everyone I meet has been so friendly and helpful and it's nice to make connections with people when traveling alone. That doesn't always happen!

Alright.. research, nap, wandering. :) 




































1 comment:

Unknown said...

Your camera (or camera phone) takes good photos. High quality to enjoy those incredibly detailed frescoes and paintings. Architecture is stunning, so vast with the gardens which are incredible. I bet you're walking off anything you eat or drink :)