All Aboard

June 27, 2011

Today is travel day. I had called Judith last night in hopes of getting together around 11:30 am for a light lunch so that she could meet the family; she had suggested it a few days ago, but she had never called me back. So, this morning I called her home phone and cell phone and left a message on both. We needed to see her anyway so that we could give her the keys and money.

I finally was able to get a hold of her around twelve when we had just given up hope of seeing her. We had been cooped up in the apartment the whole day and were ready to get going. She said that she would come over to meet everyone shortly and I told her how our train left at 2 so we should get going about 1 so that we could get there a little early. By the time she arrived at the apartment, it was 1 pm and I had just called to say we were heading out. She was able to meet the family and even gave me a gift, as well as one for Anna. With the cheek kisses and a hug, we headed underground to grab the U1 to Stephansplatz, transfer there where we hooked up with the U3 till Westbahnhof, where we still needed to validate out eurorail passes.

Everything went smoothly and we were up, waiting for the train early. The trains actual scheduled time of arrival being 2:14. Kyle and I got Chinese, while Mom and Dad got pizza – just something quick before our departure. As we stood on the platform, waiting for our train to arrive, the people milled about, accumulating. When the train did arrive, we scurried inside quickly and plopped ourselves down in luxurious seats. This was first class and Mom had told me and Kyle that our eurorail passes only got us into second class. But, when the guy came to check our tickets he just hole punched it and moved on. Apparently he didn’t think I’d be a disturbance; which he was right about, all I did was read my book that Mom had downloaded for me on her Nook.

We arrived in Munich about six o’clock and looked for our hotel which turned out the time frame given to us by the travel agent was correct; it only took about two minutes walking distance from the train station. We checked in and changed into shorts because the weather was hot and sunny. We took the advice of the receptionist and walked down the shopping street and ate at an adorable outdoor café right in front of the Ratskeller: a gothic style building. I split a homemade hamburger with Mom.

After dinner, we walked around for a little longer. We meandered over to the Hofburg restaurant, which was a much larger and louder cafeteria for grownups, where all you could order was a liter of beer. We listened to one song by the band that was playing and then headed out. Dad had just had a liter of beer and their dessert choices didn’t look all that exciting. On our way back we stopped and got gelato but we were still back by around ten thirty so we could get some sleep for the bike ride that seems to be the plan for tomorrow.