We awoke, checked out, and walked across to the station for breakfast and food for the train. We took a late morning train to Munich, with stops in Fulda and Augsburg along the way. It was another ICE train, and not too full, so we were able to sit around a table, play cards, the girls and Phyllis watched movies, etc. We were sitting in a sort of glass encased privacy area in the first class section. ICE trains really are nice, very smooth and fast and comfortable and luxurious, way better than flying. If only the US had something similar, but I think that will never happen, at least in my lifetime. The spaces are too large, public transport on each end is too sporadic, and the political will just doesn’t seem to be there.

We arrived late afternoon in Munich and walked straight to our hostel, the 4You Hostel, which was located just a couple of blocks from the station, in a quiet area. It was a true youth hostel, with tons of college age kids streaming around. We had a room with six bunks to ourselves, though, right next to the bathrooms, which were dorm style. The girls again loved the bunk beds.

After settling in, I got a three day family pass for the public transit, and we explored a bit in Marienplatz, which is where the Rathaus, Frauenkirche and Alte Peter church is. We arrived just in time for the 5 o’clock glockenspiel display above the Rathaus, which wasnt really much to see. We were all pretty hungry, and so we ate at a cafe at a table out in the square. It was pretty touristy, but the setting was great. I ordered the house specialty, the weiss-wurst, an all white sausage that was sort of off putting to look at. It didn’t taste all that great either, although it was better after the waitress showed me how to eat it (peel off the skin, dont eat it). The girls had pasta with what tasted like canned sauce, and Phyllis had what tasted like a frozen pizza.

After eating, we climbed to the top of the Alte Peter, a very old church (14th century?) near the square. It actually looked quite new because the exterior had been stuccoed flat. The climb up was fun, as it wound up through a very narrow, steep, winding wooden staircase up the tower. We were near the top when the bells started ringing, and then we passed by the bells on the way up before emerging at the top. There was a narrow caged in walk that went around the top of the church, and there were good views in all directions.

Back at the bottom, we found that pretty much the entire city center had closed by 6:30. We walked a bit more and then returned to our rooms. Phyllis and I spent a couple of hours in the common area online, booking rooms for our next stop in Prague.