Munich, Germany

I caught the train to Munich since it was so close to Innsbruck and Salzburg. I stayed at a hostel--the fourth floor and no elevators. The train station was enough to intimidate me, but I found TI and some brochures about tours. I spent some time at the hostel getting oriented and then went exploring. I made it into a few cathedrals including climbing the tower at St. Peter's. 15 flights on narrow rickety steps in a circular pattern...dizzy and out of breath by the time I got to the top.

I went back to the hostel before it got dark. I met two of my room mates--one named Victoria from Argentina and another that I could not understand...she kept talking but I could only comprehend 30% of what she said. Victoria and I went to dinner at a restaurant down the road. The food was good and the apple strudel and ice cream topped it off. As we were waiting for dessert, Victoria decided she was going to roll a cigarette...right at the table...I was in shock to say the least...she kept up our conversation as she worked and smoked it on the way back to the hostel...things are a little different here!

I went on a tour the next morning...I actually never found the guide for the tour in the flyer, but I got directed to a hostel right next to the train station and went on the Wombat city tour with Ozzy. He was awesome and it was only eight of us so we got a lot of interaction. We had a beer and spicy sausage at a local meat place in one of the squares--really good! We walked through a beer hall and then walked by the Glockenspiel (below). At the beer hall, locals can drink from their own stein--they keep it at the hall and lock it up. Ozzy gave us a lot of history and made the tour fun.
When the tour was over I was going to go to Dachau and three others decided to join me. I was glad that I went on this tour--an opportunity to meet new people. Jan (sounds like yawn) Yoku, and Rebecca went to the concentration camp with me and then we went to dinner and walked along the streets until about 11 o'clock. It is pretty at night walking along the water. I said good night to my new friends and went back to my hostel.