29 December

After a short huff to the train station and a brief wait at the tracks, we were on our way to Munich. Having slept fairly well the past couple of nights and happy to finally be using my iPod, I stayed awake for most of the train ride. It was enchanting to watch the Swiss and German countryside become gradually lit by the rising sun. At one point I watched the sun pop above and below mountains of the Alps and excitedly pointed it out to Saket and Sachi. They smiled in return and I just sat back happily in my chair; it was beautiful. I also tried in vain to capture some of the beauty on camera but I’m sure those shots didn’t turn out too well. Oh well; this time memory will have to suffice. There are several landscapes I have not yet had the pleasure of viewing, including vast grain fields, empty ocean spreading out for miles around, and snow covered fields. The last I finally got to see from the train and loved the sight of it. Tiny houses with highly slanted roofs with snow stubbornly clinging to them, fences half buried in snow and trees covered with a frosting of ice…all of these I saw from my seat. My favorite fields were the pristine ones in which I could no footprints or any other signs of passage. Here and there, jet-black birds hopped about and provided a neat contrast to the nearly blinding white. The scene reminded me of a painting I had once made in an elementary school art class. The theme was black, white, and gray and I chose to paint a tiny blackbird flying above a field of white snow. I find now I definitely prefer the real thing (I am clearly not meant to be an artist!). The ride was proceeding smoothly until the ticket collector came to us. Our Eurail passes had served us very well to this point and as usual we confidently handed them to him. Much to our surprise, he said we still needed a ticket for this trip. Naturally, we asked why and he informed us that the train would be passing through Austria for about 25 kilometers. Our passes were only good for Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany, and Switzerland. I think we all felt our insides sinking for a moment before he told us the price would be 12 Euros total for all of us. A note to future travelers: Conductors and such are VERY PICKY about tickets; they can fine you lots of money if you do not have the appropriate passes. After he left, we breathed a huge sigh of relief and I made it a point to check next time exactly where the train would be passing through. The rest of the journey passed uneventfully and finally we pulled into the Hauptbahnhof (main station) of München (the German spelling of Munich). No French was spoken here and we reveled in our ability to really make use of our German and finally use Euros again (Switzerland uses the Swiss franc that seriously looks like Monopoly money). To our delight we found that our hostel was only a 3 minute walk from the train station. It’s called the Euro Youth Hostel and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in visiting München. The location is central, the rooms are very nice, and the price is the best we found anywhere; we got four beds (making the room private) for a total of $16 per person per day!! Paris cost more than that and the accommodations were crap there. Check-in wasn’t until 2 so we had to struggle to store our baggage in the tiny storeroom they had. We picked up the essentials and headed out into the city. Breakfast was light this morning so we went back near the train station for a bite to eat. A Chinese noodle shop next door to a Chinese grocery store caught our eye and we ordered a simple vegetable platter with rice. It was nice to eat some ethnic, non-falafel food for a change. Feeling thirsty, Saket decided to get a Coke Light. The area by the drinks cooler in the shop was crowded so he went to the grocery store to buy his drink. He opened it at the table and took only a couple of sips before a woman in the shop came over demanding (in German) where he had bought the drink from. He pointed to the grocery store and I caught the words, “Das geht nicht!” which means “that’s not right.” Her rapid German was rather hard to follow and we were all a bit startled. Saket fished out the receipt for the Coke and gave it to her. She promptly took the receipt and Coke to the grocery counter and returned it. Saket followed her while Sachi and I just watched. The woman then took the Coke to the counter at the shop and repurchased the drink. We left soon after that and were glad to do so. Outside, Saket informed us that the woman was apparently trying either to save him money or credit the drink purchase to her store. Saket also told us something Christian (a German on Saket’s corridor whom he befriended) said about drinks in Germany; a different value added tax (VAT) is added to drinks sold in grocery stores versus restaurants, the former being slightly higher. By purchasing the drink at the shop, Saket saved 10 Euro cents. On the whole, he didn’t care what he saved he just wanted his Coke hassle-free! That was certainly one of our more memorable lunches…Our first destination was the Olympic Park and Stadium so we headed down to the subway and caught a train heading there. I knew München would be the coldest stop on our trip and it definitely lived up to its expectation. I was freezing! The gloves….they do nothing! At least they don’t function too well in damp and windy conditions. The park was pretty, all snow-covered with children riding on sleds down the hills that normally would be covered with picnicking tourists during the summer season. The Olympic Park was built for summer games and unfortunately most of the arenas were closed. The Olympic Tower was open, however, and it stands an impressive 190 meters tall. We rode an elevator to an elevation of 185.5m and enjoyed a breathtaking view of München. The staff had marked on the glass where all the famous sights were and that certainly helped in identifying them. We stayed up there for about 10 or 15 minutes before heading down and out. We had seen the BMW headquarters (I think that’s what it was; definitely an important BMW building) on the way in and Saket considered visiting the nearby BMW museum. He figured he probably wouldn’t be able to see anything anyway and so we scratched that idea and returned to the train station. I finally warmed up again once we got back to the city proper and we headed straight back to the hostel to check-in and really warm up. After relaxing for a bit, we walked out to the aptly named Kaufingestrasse which literally means “shopping street.” It reminded me of Paris’ Champs-Elysees except whiter because of all the snow. One of the first shops we passed by was a C&A which is the apparent rival to the ubiquitous H&M since it offers essentially the same type of clothing at comparable prices. Saket and I saw fleece jackets on sale for 9 Euros for one and 15 for two. Intrigued, and desperately desiring another sweater after wearing the same one for basically two weeks, I checked them out. I liked what I saw. In a rare shopping impulse, we both bought one right there and there. Moving on, we checked out more shops and as came closer to the Frauenkirche (huge famous church) I pulled out the camera and started taking pictures even though my fingers started freezing moments after taking them out of my pockets. Along the street, we saw little kiosks selling a variety of roasted nuts and so we decided to try some. Saket ordered a packet of “mandeln” which took us forever to realize were simply almonds. The roasting made them absolutely delicious and yet unrecognizable (to inexperienced palates like ours) as almonds. They were a delicious treat that served us well until we found a coffee shop that also sold sandwiches. We stopped in there to warm up and eat a bite. The tomato+mozzarella+pesto sandwich I had was grilled and fantastic. Saket and Sachi enjoyed their coffees. Refreshed, we continued our trek down Kaufingestrasse and moved further down near the old palace of the Bavarian rulers. Before arriving, Saket told me about his friend Christian and how Christian told him he must stop at a store called Dallmayr that has the best coffee in Bayern (state of which München is the capital) if not in all of Germany. As we were heading back towards Kaufingestrasse, I spotted the store and calmly asked Saket, “is that the store Christian was talking about?” Excitedly, he gave his affirmation and we immediately went in. As soon as you walk in you are met by rows upon rows of wine bottles and other alcoholic drinks for prices ranging from 15 Euros for peach cider to 1,390 Euros for a bottle of ancient and elaborately bottled Scotch whiskey. Move a little further and you encounter the coffees and teas on one side and chocolates on the others. I wanted to take pictures of the chocolates here because they were as beautiful as those I saw in that famous bakery in Paris. They were selling off their Christmas specials for a bargain so Sachi picked up some of that. Saket bought coffee for Christian. There was a huge market in the back selling meat, cheese, bread, fruits and vegetables from all over the world, and lots of ready made snacks and meal options. This area we explored (that is the right word for it) the next day because we were hungry and wanted some dinner in a more reasonably priced place. Once again we went for pizza and pasta but it was good and worth our money. After dinner we went back to the hostel where Saket and Sachi surfed the internet for a while (free wireless!) and had a drink while I chilled in the room with my iPod. I was feeling very sleepy by the time they returned and within minutes was soundly asleep.