Munich, Day 1 - page 2

DAY 1, MUNICH GERMANY

Our flight schedule would take us from Lynchburg to Charlotte, NC., to Philadelphia, then to Munich. The flight to Charlotte left on time as did our flight from Charlotte to Philadelphia. Since the incidents of September 11, USAirways has made some schedule changes which affected Lynchburg airport. Our original flight out of Lynchburg at 1:25pm was canceled and we were rebooked on a flight leaving at noon. We didn't know what to expect with air travel as a result of the incidents of September 11 but we noticed little if any difference in security procedures except in Charlotte where we saw people being pulled out of the line and having their carryons searched. We had lunch at Chili's restaurant in the Charlotte airport and waited for our flight to Philadelphia.

Once in Philadelphia we proceeded to the international terminal where we had to show passports and tickets to get past the security checkpoint. We boarded the plane, a Boeing 767-200, and got settled in for the trip. We pushed back from the gate on time but sat on the tarmac for about 45 minutes because of bad weather. It was raining very hard and foggy which was resulting in delays.

Once airborne, it was a smooth flight. The in-flight movie was "Shrek" which we watched and also listened to audio entertainment selections. We were served a dinner of chicken breast and rice about 1 hour after departure. We had a short nap but generally didn't sleep that much. We had the two seats on the right side of the plane in the rear.

Other than being long, the flight was unremarkable and we arrived in Munich at 8:35 local time (02:35 EDT) right on schedule. Coming in to the airport we saw the typical white houses with red tile roofs. The plane taxied to a spot that seemed to be in the middle of the airfield and we got off the plane out in the middle of the airport (no jetway arrival) and on to a bus that would take us to the terminal and baggage claim area. We waited for about 10 minutes or so and then heard an announcement that our baggage had been delayed. We had to wait another 15 minutes or so, but it was all there. We grabbed the bags and proceeded through immigration where our passports were stamped.

We did not know if there was a shuttle bus to the hotel or
where it would be so we decided to take a taxi. It took about 15 minutes to get to the hotel. The fare was DM 86,90, or about $40. We had gotten some Deutschmarks before leaving Lynchburg so I had local currency with which to pay.

The hotel was nice- I have stayed in Renaissance hotels before and this one was very similar to the others. We checked in about 9:15am which was 3:15am our time. I had reserved the room for the night before so that we would not have to wait until the usual check-in time of 3:00pm before we had a place to crash. We put our bags away and we both zonked out for about 3 hours just to take the edge off and then set out to explore the city.

At the front desk, we asked about a map of the city and information on getting around. They told us about the U-Bahn (subway) system and how to get around on it. The was a station close to the hotel where we bought tickets and headed for Marienplatz downtown. What a spectacular sight. We saw the Neus Rathaus (the New City Hall) and the Glockenspiel in its tower among the other famous landmarks. We were getting hungry so we had lunch at the Glockenspiel Café which has a view of Marienplatz and the Glockenspiel in the Rathaus. One thing we found out very quickly is that Germans (and probably most Europeans) certainly like their cigarettes. It was very smoky in the café and there was no 'non-smoking' section. As we would later discover, a non-smoking section was generally like the 'non-peeing' end of a swimming pool. The food was OK but the beer was better. Real German beer in Germany- it just doesn't get any better than that. We left the café and waited in the plaza for the 4:00pm performance of the Glockenspiel. Once that was over, we started walking around looking at the different places and landmarks. We found the city market, with vendors selling everything from fruits and vegetables to squid. We bought some smoked sausages and some cheese in a butcher shop. They were wonderfully delicious. It rained off and on during the day; good thing we brought our umbrellas.

We returned to the hotel via the U-Bahn (our stop was Nordfriedhof) about 6:30. On the way back to the hotel after getting off the train we stopped at a local market to pick up a few items for later. This was a small market, reminiscent of the 'Mom and Pop' grocery store of old, with a little bit of everything. Unlike U.S. stores, sacks are not provided free, nor are groceries bagged for you. We had to buy a sack for 30 pfennigs and bag our own groceries. The cashiers sat while they did their jobs.

Back at the hotel, we went to the hotel restaurant for dinner. We both had the chicken sandwich with fried potato wedges. It was very good. We watched a little TV and went to bed rather early. We were still catching up with the time difference.