No kids, it's not what you think ....
Munich is ... well Munich. All you need is one day, and all is well.
Caught the early train from Lucerne to Zurich to Munich and luckily across from the Munich train station was a cheap pension/hotel that was priced right. By 2:30pm I'm ready to roll, nice sunshine, but the rain was soon waiting.
One day is Munich for me always goes like this. After the obligatory trip to the Glockenspeil (Atle Rathaus/ Old Town Hall), head for the U-bahn and go straight to the English Gardens Park which is a massive, massive park almost as big as Stanley Park. Walk to the Chinese Tower for a beer and lunch at the massive beer garden and stop to think "Wow ... I'm back here AGAIN" Wow ... isn't this exciting ??.
Just as I arrive ... BOOM !!! Massive rain storm. So the trick is to find a tree large enough to sit under to stay dry. Pretty tricky ... bumped into a family whose sister when to Richmond High with my brother and sister. Small world ... the sister was Andrea something. Luckily, the rain stops after a hour and a half, and brilliant hot sunshine comes back. Perfect ... thank goodness.
Next stop, .... U-bahn back tothe Marienplatz where the Glockenspeil is and head straight another market, Viktualienmarket, (spelt - wrong, sorry) where there is yet another beer garden. But only for people watching, or course. Then realizing I have to walk off the first beer, I walk past the Hofbrauhaus and wander over to Maximiliian Strasse to see the fancy concert hall beisde a massive museum, and then way down the road is yet another massive monument I can't remember from long ago. So, I realize it is the monument for King Max-Joseph (duh ... it is on his street after all), then walk along a bridge, watching this local man flyfish on the river. Soon, I feel hungry again, so back to the Hofbrauhaus for dinner. Another litre beer and a pork knuckle dinner with sauerkraut and a massive bread dumpling. That's when I bump into a local man and his young relative from New Zealand. So the three of us chat for about an hour, thoroughly engaging talk about all things. Walk back to the hotel ... nice warm night past all the major sites.
Next day, the day I fly out to Cape Town, and the rain is relentless ... so only one thing to do. Shop, all the teams eliminated from the World Cup have their jerseys on sale at 50% off, so I get suckered in ... and then of course go back to the Hofbrauhaus and the Viktualienmarket ... just to double check the beer is ok. Hey, things change you know ...
The airport in Munch is special, so I had heard. They are right. They had this massive stadium seating area for a public viewing for the upcoming Germany/Brazil match, right beside this massive tent area, right beside, yes you guessed it, a beer garden. Little did I know that two hours after my flight would leave, the locals would be whooping it up, with 5 goals in the first 30 minutes of the first half. When we got the news on board the South African Airlines flight, we thought is was some practical joke or something.
The 10 hour flight to Joburg was pretty good .... I may have had 3 hours sleep or so. But the chaos of Joburg's airport is a bit silly. Upon entering, even if you have a domestic connecting flight, you MUST go through this huge line up for customs, and then pick your baggage, then check in again at the counter. If you have 3 hours to kill like I did, no problem. But if you don't ... boy, you're screwed big time.
The two hours to Cape Town was smooth and enjoyable ... after all, it is just two hours. Just up and down ... no problem. My tour guide buddy Conrad was there to pick me up. Nice change. It's one of the very few times in my life when someone is actually waiting for me and in the crowd watching me come into the arrivals area. We get to the hostel, which has this absolutely stunning view of Table Mountain. It's very nice, to say the very least. Close to a lot of very useful places ... grocery stores, banks, etc. That means a lot .... \
So, today. July 10th ...
Wow ... that is all there needs to be said. Perfect weather ... not a cloud in the sky. Not one ... so there's one idiot-proof conclusion. I am heading up to Table Mountain. Just like in 2007, but this time with a decent camera. My taxi driver isn't a local, a young man named "Dignity" who is from Joburg, and I try to figure out when I should be back from the cable-car ride. I say 3pm ... without realizing the line-ups to get tickets and then getting up and down the Swiss made cable car are a killer. But anyway .... it's worth all the hassle.
The view is right up there with the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower, the CN Tower ... but better. Better air, the Atlantic and Indian Oceans .... Robben Island in the backdrop, and a gorgeous city underneath. Wandering around for 2.5 hours goes by in a flash. At 2:45pm, I head down ... but the lineup going back is long of course. I get back to the taxi area, but at 3:20 ... Dignity is nowhere to be found. Oh well, too bad ... so instead of getting ripped off on the taxi fare, I walk all the way down to the hotel. Downhill all the way of course .... 40 minutes, piece of cake. That savings helps pay for dinner.
I've meet all the girls on the trip, from Inuvik, both very nice. Tomorrow ... the other biggie. Robben Island. I have my breakfast cereal and milk for the morning, I have dinner too, leftover BBQ chicken and Greek salad. All I need is calm waters for the ferry ... that's all I ask ...
Wish me luck ... my luck has been on a pretty good roll the past week. Let's keep this going.
And where is my Dignity?? Hopefully safe at home with his family !!!
Munich is ... well Munich. All you need is one day, and all is well.
Caught the early train from Lucerne to Zurich to Munich and luckily across from the Munich train station was a cheap pension/hotel that was priced right. By 2:30pm I'm ready to roll, nice sunshine, but the rain was soon waiting.
One day is Munich for me always goes like this. After the obligatory trip to the Glockenspeil (Atle Rathaus/ Old Town Hall), head for the U-bahn and go straight to the English Gardens Park which is a massive, massive park almost as big as Stanley Park. Walk to the Chinese Tower for a beer and lunch at the massive beer garden and stop to think "Wow ... I'm back here AGAIN" Wow ... isn't this exciting ??.
Just as I arrive ... BOOM !!! Massive rain storm. So the trick is to find a tree large enough to sit under to stay dry. Pretty tricky ... bumped into a family whose sister when to Richmond High with my brother and sister. Small world ... the sister was Andrea something. Luckily, the rain stops after a hour and a half, and brilliant hot sunshine comes back. Perfect ... thank goodness.
Next stop, .... U-bahn back tothe Marienplatz where the Glockenspeil is and head straight another market, Viktualienmarket, (spelt - wrong, sorry) where there is yet another beer garden. But only for people watching, or course. Then realizing I have to walk off the first beer, I walk past the Hofbrauhaus and wander over to Maximiliian Strasse to see the fancy concert hall beisde a massive museum, and then way down the road is yet another massive monument I can't remember from long ago. So, I realize it is the monument for King Max-Joseph (duh ... it is on his street after all), then walk along a bridge, watching this local man flyfish on the river. Soon, I feel hungry again, so back to the Hofbrauhaus for dinner. Another litre beer and a pork knuckle dinner with sauerkraut and a massive bread dumpling. That's when I bump into a local man and his young relative from New Zealand. So the three of us chat for about an hour, thoroughly engaging talk about all things. Walk back to the hotel ... nice warm night past all the major sites.
Next day, the day I fly out to Cape Town, and the rain is relentless ... so only one thing to do. Shop, all the teams eliminated from the World Cup have their jerseys on sale at 50% off, so I get suckered in ... and then of course go back to the Hofbrauhaus and the Viktualienmarket ... just to double check the beer is ok. Hey, things change you know ...
The airport in Munch is special, so I had heard. They are right. They had this massive stadium seating area for a public viewing for the upcoming Germany/Brazil match, right beside this massive tent area, right beside, yes you guessed it, a beer garden. Little did I know that two hours after my flight would leave, the locals would be whooping it up, with 5 goals in the first 30 minutes of the first half. When we got the news on board the South African Airlines flight, we thought is was some practical joke or something.
The 10 hour flight to Joburg was pretty good .... I may have had 3 hours sleep or so. But the chaos of Joburg's airport is a bit silly. Upon entering, even if you have a domestic connecting flight, you MUST go through this huge line up for customs, and then pick your baggage, then check in again at the counter. If you have 3 hours to kill like I did, no problem. But if you don't ... boy, you're screwed big time.
The two hours to Cape Town was smooth and enjoyable ... after all, it is just two hours. Just up and down ... no problem. My tour guide buddy Conrad was there to pick me up. Nice change. It's one of the very few times in my life when someone is actually waiting for me and in the crowd watching me come into the arrivals area. We get to the hostel, which has this absolutely stunning view of Table Mountain. It's very nice, to say the very least. Close to a lot of very useful places ... grocery stores, banks, etc. That means a lot .... \
So, today. July 10th ...
Wow ... that is all there needs to be said. Perfect weather ... not a cloud in the sky. Not one ... so there's one idiot-proof conclusion. I am heading up to Table Mountain. Just like in 2007, but this time with a decent camera. My taxi driver isn't a local, a young man named "Dignity" who is from Joburg, and I try to figure out when I should be back from the cable-car ride. I say 3pm ... without realizing the line-ups to get tickets and then getting up and down the Swiss made cable car are a killer. But anyway .... it's worth all the hassle.
The view is right up there with the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower, the CN Tower ... but better. Better air, the Atlantic and Indian Oceans .... Robben Island in the backdrop, and a gorgeous city underneath. Wandering around for 2.5 hours goes by in a flash. At 2:45pm, I head down ... but the lineup going back is long of course. I get back to the taxi area, but at 3:20 ... Dignity is nowhere to be found. Oh well, too bad ... so instead of getting ripped off on the taxi fare, I walk all the way down to the hotel. Downhill all the way of course .... 40 minutes, piece of cake. That savings helps pay for dinner.
I've meet all the girls on the trip, from Inuvik, both very nice. Tomorrow ... the other biggie. Robben Island. I have my breakfast cereal and milk for the morning, I have dinner too, leftover BBQ chicken and Greek salad. All I need is calm waters for the ferry ... that's all I ask ...
Wish me luck ... my luck has been on a pretty good roll the past week. Let's keep this going.
And where is my Dignity?? Hopefully safe at home with his family !!!
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