Day 29 - Wednesday, August 28th Travel Day Hamburg -> Munich (München)

I have had such a great time exploring Hamburg, yet it is time to head to Munich (München) for my next Airbnb accommodation. Up before 8 am and before my alarm. Shower and finish packing my suitcase and backpack. Another blue sky sunny warm day in Hamburg. On my way a little past 8:30 and decide to walk to the usual U3 station so I can pick up some food for later. Grab a pastry for breakfast and a bretzel German sandwich for lunch on the train. Also, stop at REWE (pronounced rayva) for a banana. Haul my luggage bag up the stairs to the U3 platform. Arrive around 9:30 am to the Hamburg Hbf. Time to find some english language newspapers. I take the usual International Herald Tribune and USA Today, plus a Sunday NY Times. The cashier rings it up to over 30 Euros! The cost for the NY Times was 26 Euros = the equivalent of about $35CDN! Yikes. There is no way I am spending that much for a newspaper!

Find a seat on the platform and where car 4 is likely to stop. My second class ticket has a reserved seat in car #4 seat 106. The young fellow helps get my luggage on the rack high above. We strike up a conversation as he speaks english and is eager to practice. I am eager to speak given I haven't had much in the way of opportunities, except for last night with Johannes. His name is Falko Garbisch. He is holding his M&M bag as he lost about 1/2 of them off the table when the train started up.   :-)

Falko is a great young guy (29) and we have lots of discussions during the almost six hour train to Munich. Time flies by thankfully. We become friends and exchange contact information. We might even connect in Munich as his girlfriend is expected in shortly. His first name means 'falcon' in very old German. I find some time to do my sudokus and crosswords from the newspapers. We arrive on time just before 4 pm.

I think this map of Deutschland provides a good idea of Hamburg in the north relative to Munich in the south:

Very quickly I find the U1 Bahn subway train and to Wettersteinplatz station which is only about 4 stops from the Munich Hbf. About a 7 minute walk to the basement suite in a tree-lined neighbourhood. Feels very suburban. It is!   ;-)

 Entrance with locked gate. I buzz Elke who lives in the red building above the gate.

 I am in a basement suite with my own bathroom. I forgot how basement suites can feel damp and dungeon-like.  :-(

Window looks to bushes so it is below ground level, but not too much. Very basic. Small refrigerator. It will be home until I head back to Frankfurt on Sunday.

Elke gave me directions to an authentic Bavarian restaurant, Harlachinger Einkehr, about 2 kms walk from the house? Around 6 pm and getting hungry. I discover very quickly that her directions are wrong. Stop at a bakery where they don't speak english, but they do point me in the right direction. Later while walking a cyclist stops, speaks english and sets me on my way. A long walk, but it is a beautiful night. Not hot, but just right. I can sense and smell in the air that Fall is coming to Munich. There is a slight chill in the air. This is the very first night in my 4+ weeks that I have sensed Autumn is coming or any chill. 

I enter the side of the restaurant on the left and find a huge open area where they have a number of tables and chairs for outdoor diners like me. A number of people eating outside, but even more inside. Even a play area for kids. People eating with their dogs beside them. I order a white German wine Muller-Thurgau Trocken 2011 which comes in a 0.25 litre bottle. For this the charge is only 5.25 Euro for basically 1/3 of a bottle of wine. It is very tasty. I order Altmünchner Schweinsbraten which translates in Google Translate as "Old Munich Pig Roast." Funny! This was "zehr lecker" which in english means delicious! Finished around 7:30 and ready for a long walk back home.

Notice the crispy pork skin on the edges. Yummy! The meat itself was fantastic. The knödel (potato & bread dumpling) done German style is doughy, but perfect with the meat. The sauerkraut was tasty with bits of bacon. What a fantastic meal!

When my host had described the way to get to the restaurant she mentioned a trail that was for cyclists and pedestrians. Beside the restaurant and heading in the right direction is this path. It takes me about 20 minutes and I find the correct way to return. Her mistake in directions was in leaving the house she said turn left....should have been turn right. Oh well.... A beautiful and large orange sunset tonight. It was brilliant. On the way back walked by a huge number of football practice fields with German kids showing all sorts of excellent skills.

FaceTime with Lana a couple of times. Tomorrow is my visit to Dachau Concentration Camp.