Absolutely zero adventure on the Autobahn

If you are going to be stuck in a traffic jam, it might as well be with Shakira

So this was our last day with Leon the Gray. He was a very fine car indeed, and we'd be sorry to miss him. He had only to get us back to the Munich airport, where we'd drop him off and take the train into the city. (Later we had train tickets from Munich to Prague, and we'd go back home from Prague).

On the drive back (in the rain), we bopped our heads to the gentle sounds of Shakira (Hips Don't Lie), which we'd heard about every 20 minutes or so whenever driving in Leon this last week. We also needed to gas him up again, since the needle was buried in the E. I got some looks from the wife, but we found gas just in time. (gulp).

When only 45 minutes from the airport, we got stuck in a tremendous traffic jam that saw us going 5km in about 1.5 hours. It really really sucked man. I mean, we are on the Autobahn, and we were going 0.3 km/ hour. That ain't right! I guess there was an accident, but there wasn't much to be seen once we got past the slow point. At the airport we said goodbye to Leon, and had some lunch at Nordsee! It was a chain, I guess, and was only slightly less tasty this time.

Munich: They Have Beer Here

Munich Square

We hopped on the train that would take us to the city center. Our stop was the main town square (no fortress on a hill, nor river nearby!), and coming up into the daylight from the underground station was disorienting. We had a map of the square and where we needed to go, but it is really hard to figure out your bearings when you emerge from those subways. The same thing happened in Paris and Athens.

I made an educated guess as to the direction of our hotel, and I was correct! After checking in what is the first thing we do? Of course, we climb a church's bell tower, to get some nice views of the old town in Munich. It was windy, with a slight drizzle.

What, me pregnant?

What is the next thing to do? Why, drink sweet sweet delicious beer of course. Everybody and their brother recommended we go to Hofbrauhaus. Even the guidebooks said that while it was sorta touristy, it was still not to be missed.

The place was alive with energy, and it took us a while to find an empty seat. But once we found one I was able to order my 1 liter of beer (dark). Lin-Wei got an Orangina, but she was also not to be left out of the festivities.

Man, 1 liter of beer is a lot. That's probably ~4 bottles of beer, but it definitely was oh so delicious! The World Cup (Soccer. Football? Soccer.) was taking place in Germany in a couple of weeks, and the Hofbrauhaus was already full of rowdy fans. We heard a few chants from some English blokes a few tables away. It was a lot of fun there. And did I mention that the beer was quite good, and plentiful?

Sweet delicious beer

Once I was able to stand again, we checked out the church where our new friend King Ludwig II was buried. Is it wrong to take these types of pictures?

For dinner we were finally able to find a Tapas restaurant, in kind of a student-section of town. The tapas were quite good, and plentiful.

Walking home, in the rain, we took pictures at some weird monument. It was not exciting.



Munich, rain, and then a train