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Walking Tour
Like Rome, Munich has its share of walking and biking tours that help to introduce the tourist to the history and culture of the town. Same three hours, same enthusiastic guides. We just happened to be at the tent on the day of the free tour: Wednesday.
Learned that Munich is a relatively new town that got its start when a bridge was need to transport the salt from Salzburg across the river to the north. Like Florence, the butchers were confined to one area of town where they could easily clean out their shops and wash everything into the moat that surrounded the old town. Now the moat is a road and the shops border a modern market. There are churches and beer halls with their own little stories as well. Our guide also took time to explain some of the modern problems of Munich. Being the most expensive city in Germany, people can no longer afford to live near the downtown area. The pedestrian mall is increasingly overrun with boring shops like Benneton, Body Shop, and Disney Store. Still there is a lot to enjoy, though, so the tourists and locals alike crowd Karlsplatz to Marienplatz until long after dusk.
Internet Cafe
For the second night in a row, we all went to check our email in the evening. This is the first place I have found that offers free access to telnet and Netscape. The catch is that you must buy some food or drink while you sit. Like many other Americans, we are all addicts, so we would never pass up a chance to connect back home. I checked up on news from my family, looked at my stocks, and looked into visiting my old school in Ankara. It is kinda sad, but generally American backpackers arrive in each town of Europe looking for a hostel, a good map, and an internet cafe.
Rendezvous
For the fourth day in a row, we headed to the train station in hopes of finding Midori. She was supposed to arrive on the 9:01pm from Prague, but there was no train at exactly that time. We didn't see her at the 9:05 train platform so we split up to search for her. Eugene was the first to spot her. A month has passed since I saw her last in Valencia, but Midori hadn't changed a bit.
English Garden
Headed for the dark and foggy central park of Munich. We weren't too optimistic about finding the right beer garden this late at night, but after a little wondering we came upon it. A big Chinese pagoda marks the center of this sprawling watering hole. Things were kinda winding down when we arrived, but we sat down anyway. Our tour guide had recommended a drink called the Russian: a mix of a light wheat beer and some lemonade. The waiter served up a similar creation which he called a Radler. A beer sweet and weak enough that even I could drink it. We all sat around trading travel stories until we were quite tired. Returned to our homeless shelter for another restful sleep.
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