The Meunchen Times

Vol. IV

Well, we've come to the last volume of the infamous Meunchen Times. As I write this entry, I write it from the safe confines of my apartment back here in the States.

My last day in Munich was busy. My flight left at 12:30 pm, but I had a bit of shopping that I wanted to do (three stops to be exact). So I had a 7:30 wake up call. Unfortunately, my plans were a bit sidetracked because the first store I wanted to stop at didn't open until 9:30 am. This actually ended up backing me up for the rest of the morning. I sprinted through the rest of the morning and managed to get through customs at noon, just fifteen minutes before they closed the gate for my flight. This meant that I was unable to do some last minute shopping in the airport itself, and I ended up being stuck with some unspent euros.

The flight lasted nine hours from Munich to Philly. In those nine hours, we watched three movies. We watched 13 going on 30, Spiderman 2, and The Terminal (which coincidentally is showing at Messiah this weekend). Also got to see an episode of Frasier. And wonder of wonders, the seat next to me was empty for the entire flight. So I had a little extra breathing room. And a little extra breathing room goes along way on a long trip.

I was blessed to have my Mom, Dad and Abigail waiting for me at the airport when I returned. They had a sign and everything. Cool.

So the trip is over. I had a great time. Would I do it again? You betcha. It was cool and I really enjoyed myself.

So there ya go.

The Meunchen Times

Vol III

Today is the last full day in germany. the time certainly goes fast. Todaz got off to a late start because i still havent adjusted to the time change. i went to bed at midnight but i would guess i didnt get anz sleep until maybe 3:00 am or so. however, once i got to sleep, i slept until 11:00 am. Woo hoo! That was some good sleep. However, that late wake-up made me late for my plans. So i got dressed and got out the door. First stop was Wal´mart, and it did not disappoint. They sell kappa and adidas merchandise at this wal´mart. How cool is that? I think I killed about 90 minutes there in the store. AFter that i headed back to the room to drop off my purchases. So then I went back out and headed out to the Marienplatz to take some photos and stuff. I made some purchases and then went over to have my one american meal at the Hard Rock Cafe. And ironically enough, I sat next to some ladies from philly. Went out to to do some more shopping before heading back to the hotel to rest a bit and type this note. Tonight I watched `Hor Man wer de Hammert´ That would be Home Improvement in German. It was funny to watch. Tonight I´m going to try and go out and see a movie. We´ll see how that goes. Then it´s back across the ocean tomorrow.

Auf Wiedersein!

The Meunchen Dispatch

Vol. II

Tag! I´m sick, which made for some mediocre sleeping last night. That, plus the bed´s a little on the soft side and my room is on the street side. But i´m not complaining. I´m blessed to be here.
Had some butter and toast for breakfast before bolting for todaz´s adventures.

The entire day was overcast. That´s important later. I met the folks from AutobusBayern who were running todays tour. We went to a couple of King Ludwig#s castles. The first castle was LINDERHOF. It´s verz small as castles go, but that doesn´t mean its not ornate. Oh, its ornate alright. Lots of paintings and carvings and gold and such.

Intermission I´m still reading Love Beyond REason, by John Ortberg. He was talking in the most recent chapter about envy, and specifically Paul´s situation when Jesus arrived on the scene. Once Jesus arrived, the majority of Paul´s ministy was done. His job was preparing the way and he did that. Ortberg compared John to a jewish "shoshbin" or best man. The shoshbin is responsible for making sure the wedding goes well and he makes necessary arrangements to make sure that it does. But he doesnt get the bride. So he´s done all this work, and now he has to set it all aside. He could have easilz been envious.....but he wasnt. Intermission over.

Next stop was going to be castle Neucshwenstein. But first, we stopped for a rather short shopping trip in Oberammagau. This town is known for the passion play it puts on every ten years as well as it´s talented woodcarvers who carve all sorts of fun stuff out of wood. We were only there for forty minutes, but it was a quaint little town to check out.

Next stop was the Neucshwenstein castle. Remember the bad weather, well, here´s when it comes into play. This is a beautiful castle that has been photographed often. I was hoping to shoot almost a roll at this stop. However, the weather prevented any view of the castle exterior unless you were actually at the base of the castle. However, the inside of the castle was very nice, even though it wasn´t overly decorated. Onlz 16 rooms in the castle were furbished. I forget why.

Let me know talk about cows. In PA, are most of the cows that you see out graying cattle cows or dairy cows? Cuz I saw some dairy cows todaz and they didnt look familiar at all. They looked like the cow on the "Baby Bell" cheese labels.

Did some window shopping tonight around the Marienplatz. That was fun. All sorts of neat stores and lots of cool fashion to look at.

Well, thats all for now. Auf Wiederseein!

The Meunchen Dispatch

Vol. 1

Hello Hello. It is currently 20:10 here at the Hotel Jedermann. What´s weird is that it´s only 2:30 pm at home. What´s even weirder as that the German keyboard is different. For one, the Y and the Z keys are switched, and your characters on the numbers (which you use the shift key for) are different. And the colon and semi-colon are not on the same key. Oi!

Throughout the day, Ive been doing some stream of consciousness journaling. So here we go: The flight over was uneventful, except for the fact that our flight left one hour late. Had some pasta for a late dinner, while watching "Raising Helen." This is what I learned from that movie: There is such thing as a sexy man of God. Please feel free to comment at your leisure. On the flight, I sat next to two German girls who brought an Entemnens cake on the plane. They proceeded to eat the cake directly out of the box. The passenger sitting in front of me was kind enough to recline his seat back for the entire flight, save for dinner.

I didn´t sleep well, although I didn´t expect to. I dozed on and off for roughly three hours. The chattz freuleins talked the whole time. I guess Entenmens will do that to you.

Now I´m on the train, heading into Meunchen. Had a spot of trouble getting my train ticket, but the nice German people helped me out. I´m currently staring at a Burger KING billboard that is advertising a .99 euro sweet chili nugget burger. I´M not lying. So far I have seen two horses and multiple dogs....even on the subway. I´ve noticed that they have nice grafitti on the railway. Real quality stuff. NOT the kind of stuff you would find in the STates.

So that´s what´s up today. OH, and they have "Walker, Texas Ranger" in german here. Wow.

Bis Spater!

My big adventure

starts tomorrow. Tomorrow, I will fly 4200 miles(roughly) to Munich, Germany. Why Munich? Well, there's a few reasons. For one, I've heard nothing but good things about Germany. For two, I'm flying for free. For three, I'm actually doing a little pre-trip planning for a trip back to Germany in 2006 for the World Cup. For four, for some reason I wanted to fly to a country where the predominent language was not English (which ruled out Ireland and England).

So it should be fun. Except for the eight hour plane ride over (nine hours back), and the fact that I don't speak German.

I will be blogging my adventures once I arrive in Munich on Sunday, so check back to see the latest on my big adventure.

Bis Spater!