Two weeks in Germany and Austria: 1. Tag

Montag, 11.30.09

I landed in Munich shortly after 8am on the last day of November. Looking outside, I didn't feel the degree of enthusiasm that I had the many times I'd arrived at the main train station from Vienna one-two years before. I chalked it up to the jet lag, and to the fact that I was, after all, just at the airport, not actually in the city yet. I got my checked bag right away, got my passport checked, and booked it (well, as much as I could loaded down with heavy bags) to the S-Bahn underground on the other side of the airport. A ten-Euro ticket would get me into the city and pay for my transportation all day.

After making it downtown in record time, I took the U-Bahn to the University, where I had planned to meet Renee, one of my friends from JYM who I was going to stay with for the first few days. She wouldn't be done with work until about 12:30, so I had a couple of hours to kill. After sitting at Geschwister-Scholl-Platz and simply taking in the familiar scenery for a few minutes, I lugged my ridiculous number of heavy carry-ons down to Odeonsplatz and set up shop in the corner of San Francisco Coffee Company. I had a pretty decent roasted vegetable panini and a cappacino, and I used the free wifi to let people know I'd arrived safely...and of course to spend far too much time on facebook.

Shortly before 12:30, I headed back to the main building of the Uni and waited a few minutes for Renee. She got there right on schedule and looked the same as I remembered. She helped me with one of my carry-ons and we traveled via U-Bahn and then Strassenbahn to her place. She lives in this absolutely gorgeous huge house in Nymphenburg that is actually a building of apartments. I found out upon arriving that her "roommie" is actually her 60-year-old strict Viennese landlady. We put my stuff down, met her briefly, and then headed to Rotkreuzplatz nearby to check the little Christmas market and run some errands. A little after 10pm, we met our super cute friend Ty (also from JYM) at Unionsbraeu for dinner and beer, of course. I had delicious Kaesespaetzle with roasted onions on top, and an equally fabulous Blattsalat. I love the way Germans make salads...I'm going to learn exactly how they do it. I also had two amazing Munich beers...I think a half liter of Franziskaner Weissbier and then a Helles. It was great to hang out with Ty, since I never really talked to him when we were abroad before. We all had a couple hours of lively and funny conversation, knocked back a few, and headed out into the snow!