So I finally arrived in Munich on Donnerstag nicht (Thursday night) around 20:00 (Europe uses military time). Both Kitty and I had not really eaten or slept much, but we were so happy to get into Munich safely. The cat did really well- besides one period of crying- she behaved perfectly. Iberia airlines were really accommodating, they even gave me an extra seat on the plane to Spain for the cat, and many English speaking people on the plane made a point to tell me that they were impressed by her cuteness and patience. And when we arrived in Europe, they did not even check her expensive and seemingly important animal immigration paperwork (I do not think the Passport officers even noticed I had a cat with me)!!
Leaving Chicago, we had an 8 hour flight to Madrid- where we waited for our next flight for 8 hours (I am very impatient so this part was the hardest). I bought an hour of internet for 10 euros and attempted to stay awake with Coca-cola. (I apologize for my last blog post- I wrote it during my limited airport internet time-after not sleeping or eating for 24 hours- I was not in the best mood or it was not my best work! haha) Also, I ate a really really bad ham sandwich- my first taste of weird meat oriented European food induced by a language barrier.
On our last flight from Spain to Munich, I sat by a fun German girl named Doris and we talked the entire time about the differences in German and American culture. She told me some very interesting information (most Germans are very precise, take their studies very seriously, the drinking age is 16, they eat butter pretzels for breakfast, etc.) She was a really nice girl, and invited me to come visit and stay with her at her German university located outside of town. Maybe I will take her up on the offer?
Once we finally arrived in Munich, I took a (Mercedes) taxi on the Autobahn to our apartment. I make a point to mention this because it was the first time I have ever been in a car going that fast- around 120 km/hr! ( The driver told me there is no speed limit in this area- most drive 120 km/hr on the highway and 100 km/hr in town.) It was a crazy- but a shockingly smooth- ride! Nathan met us at our apartment, where we shared a beer in celebration.
I was obviously exhausted but was too excited to go to sleep, so we decided to head into downtown Munich. (It takes 5 minutes on the rail into downtown from Laim where we live). In the train station, some really nice young people stopped us and offered us beers that were too heavy for them to carry (they bought too many) and invited us to an electronic music dance club. We drank the beer (people here drink openly in the street) but passed up the invite to party with them at the club due to my lack of sleep.
Instead, we ate pizza and we headed to the Euro Youth Hostel downtown- where they speak English and have delicious/ cheap German beer. It was really fun international bar -they let Nathan tap the oak firkin of Oak Aged Helles beer with a large wooden mallot- it was soo good- and gave us free pints for his help! haha
After the long day of travel and the night of fun, I had the best night of sleep in my life (it helps that the bed in our apartment is really comfortable). I needed the rest- for our adventures in Prague over the weekend were pretty exhaustingly fun- pictures and posts coming soon!
After hearing the people of Germany are pretty serious (they do not get excited in response to tourists or visitors,) I have been shocked at how friendly and nice everyone is!! I am so excited to get comfortable, learn more of the language and spend more time here.
No comments:
Post a Comment