We got to the airport in plenty of time and all went smoothly. The flight to Munich was short and sweet and only Dillon felt sick on this one (mostly from lack of sleep). When we walked out of the baggage claim area, our driver was waiting for us. He was great! Just like our Paris driver, he was friendly and helpful. He had been a foreign exchange student in Kentucky and his brother had been one in Seattle! So, we had fun talking to him about that.
The weather was PERFECT when we arrived. And the air, the air was amazing! It really felt like Seattle. It’s hard to describe, and everyone had different words to describe their impressions. I called it “clean”, Mali called it “thin”, and Hayley called it “light”. Whatever you call it, it made for a great first impression of Germany.
Our Munich apartment is in a great location. We are staying in Schwabing. We are one block from our metro stop and 2 blocks from the Englischer Garten. The apartment is big and spacious and we only have 4 flights of stairs to climb instead of 8! But, it’s a little quirky and nowhere near as nice and modern as Paris. (I promise to stop making comparisons soon.) As we arrived, the family who had been staying here was leaving. They are from San Francisco and were fun to talk to. We only wish we had had asked them more about where to eat, etc. as the apartment manager did not speak English and the information packet had been lost.
We walked down the main street and found a German bakery for lunch. It is SO hard for me to not have a clue about what anyone is saying! At least with French, I could understand the basics, but I really do not know German at all. Fortunately, Dave is able to shine here. His 4 years of high school German didn’t seem like much to him, but it is totally saving us now. :)
Next, went down to the grocery store to get a few basics. I already miss our Monoprix which had a lot more than just groceries, but I am sure we’ll stumble upon something similar soon.
Mali was feeling really sick. It seems to be getting worse each day and I know the lack of sleep last night did not help. So, we had her rest for awhile. I laid down as well since I only slept for 3 hours and was reaching the point of non-functionablility!
Dave and Dillon went out to explore a little bit. They found the Englischer Garten and wandered around the park for awhile. When they returned and told us about what they had seen, we decided that we would go to the Beer Garden for dinner. It was awesome! There were tons of people and families there. You just go up to the booths, order your food, pay for it, and then take it to one of hundreds of picnic type tables to eat. It was such a fun summer environment – the closest thing we’ve had to a barbecue this summer. The kids and Dave all got brats and fries. I got the cheese/fruit/veggie plate. We got a potato salad as well as a ginormous pretzel to share. It was all delicious and the only downside were the pesky hornets, but what’s summer picnic without hornets?
Dave and I came home, dropped the kids off and then went down to the center. First off, the subway is AMAZINGLY clean, new and not stinky – point Munich! We went down to Marienplatz and saw all of the beautiful clock towers. We walked all around the area. We saw lots of different street performers. We bought our Metro passes for the week and then headed home. Dillon was able to Skype with Ryan tonight, which was fun for him, as well as for the rest of us since we all miss those Collyers!
We are EXHAUSTED, but so happy that we are here safe and sound.
A fun summer night in the park. Check out the size of that pretzel, it’s bigger than the plate!!
The 4 old fireplaces in our apartment
Shots from our downtown visit
Dave with the wild boar in front of the hunting and fishing museum
Oh, it makes me hungry. I'll take one bite of that giant pretzel, please. :)
ReplyDeleteYea Germany!!! Such adventures! I can't believe you're here already. Are you going to Rothenberg? Enjoy, enjoy!!! I'll be seeing you soon. Bittersweet I guess.
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