Reflections, Part 2

Two posts in one day. To quote Ron White, "We are mooovin'." More on my earlier adventures:

After our tiring arrival in Germany, Kara and I decided to tackle Munich in our first full day. Despite a hellacious wind and driving rain outside, we began our trek to the Marianplatz (the historic downtown district). It took all of 10 minutes of walking to realize that this might not be the best day ever to explore the city on foot. The rain was sideways in spurts, and the wind so bad that people's umbrellas were reversing themselves by the dozens as they skittered in and out of buildings. I swear the temperature didn't crack 50 all day. This would have been fine except for the fact that US Airways had been kind enough to lose my luggage (I'm two for two on international trips as far as that goes), and I was sporting shorts and sandals until my clothes arrived.

Despite these epic obstacles, Kara and I trooped on like the determined folks that we are. We dashed into stores to regain feeling in our limbs from time to time, which turned out to be a good experience simply because we saw a lot more than the typical shiny tourist stops. A multi-story department store had a hilarious collection of American music, with selections ranging from 50 Cent to Ozzy. We wandered around the Marianplatz, enjoying a few of the churches and plazas, and browsed through a few shops.

Finally, when I was convinced that everything below my knees had frostbite, we called it a day. Stopping at Pizza Hut for dinner (it was the first thing in sight), we ordered some pizza (original, right?). After the meal, it was time to brave the last mile or so of our hike before reaching the sanctuary of our hostel. Not 5 minutes into the return trip, a huge gust of wind upended the take home box out of Kara's hands. As it opened, a piece of cardboard shot out of the box and made a beeline for my head. I had to make a Matrix-style dodge to avoid losing an eye, much to Kara's enjoyment. It was at this point that I was completely convinced that this trip was going to be miserable. I mean, when a Pizza Hut box is out for you, you know you're in trouble. We made it back to the hotel in one piece after nothing short of a videogame day, and readied ourselves for a (hopefully nicer) trip to Bad Tolz the next morning.

Lessons learned from my first full day in Munich?

1. Pack pants in your carry on. Exceptions include trips to the Sahara and Phoenix.
2. Keens are great shoes, but not the warmest when wet.
3. Pack an umbrella. Otherwise, you'll end up paying $7 for a piece of crap from a street vendor that turns inside out everytime the wind gusts.
4. Don't leave said black umbrella by the door of a store amongst dozens of others. Apparently, it will look the most attractive and thus will be stolen while all of the others remain safe and sound.
5. Even if the weather is horrible, you're suffering from jet lag, and you have no clothes, being in Europe is really, really cool.

More later, and hopefully pictures of my first photo prints. :) Peace.

-msr