haven´t blogged in ages mainly coz a) did so much in Munich that almost never checked the internet which is prob a good thing, b) internet at youth hostel in Heidelberg doesn´t allow u beyond checking ur email and the news, so no blogspot and facebook, c) did a lot with Anastasia, a friend from schooldays in Malaysia, i.e. Freiburg and Basel in one day and only got back to Heidelberg after 8.. today´s really been the first time i´ve been able to find an internet cafe that actually allows me to do what i want to do - apart from post photos coz the computers don´t have an xD card and as u know my USB cable is in some hostel in Budapest probably - and have had the time to do so coz today just really chilled in Heidelberg which was good after some v exciting days on the train seeing places around Baden-Wurttenburg..
more on Heidelberg later but first should say some final words abt Munich, which may not quite be as impressive as a city as Prague or Vienna - partly due to the war despite the city being restored to its original self following total obliteration where only the two towers of Frauenkirche and Alte Rathaus survived.. nevertheless, not surprisingly it provided the most fun on the tour thanks mostly to a v good hostel, i.e. Wombats.. from the moment i stayed at both their hostels in Vienna i knew that had to stay with them in Munich.. the facilities weren´t quite as good as Vienna and a little bit on the run-down side by my admittedly high expectations but the social life was fantastic - and like the Wombats in Vienna there was a great bar and u were entitled to a free drink for staying there.. and for the first time in a while, I met quite a number of Kiwis - it´s usually Poms, Australians, Canadians and Americans that u meet coz after all NZ is not a v big country! Wombats also had this guy named 'Ozzie' who gave a free 4 hour tour on behalf of the hostel and it was the best tour I´ve ever been involved in.. couldn´t believe how much he knew about Bavarian and Munich history.. I did it coz everyone at the hostel had done it even though had walked around Munich by myself and was glad I did coz u knew and understood the significance and history of places like the Rathaus, St. Peter´s and the Hofbrauhaus a lot better.. he got some p good tips from his tour party at the end.. def worth more than the slightly impersonal and a bit too brief tour we got of the Neuchwanstein Castle in Fussen, a day trip south of Munich and almost touching Austria..
ah the Hofbrauhaus.. a visit to Munich even without Oktoberfest wouldn´t be complete without at least one visit to a beer hall and this one was the most famous of them all having been the place where Hitler declared his intentions of taking on the rest of the world.. ended up going twice to Hofbrauhaus, on the first and last nights, and once to Augustiner Brauhaus, a smaller beer hall but still offering some v good beer.. it´s always going to be an experience each time u go to a beer hall.. firstly it´ll probably be the first time u get served beer in 1 litre steins rather than the usual pints or halves.. that is a lot of beer even if u drink as much as the Aussies or Poms.. i have to say the first night was tricky, had 2 litres and woke up with a slight headache, but eventually got used to it although it took a bit out of me and only today feel back to myself..but it must be a Munich thing coz every traveller i´ve met who´s been to Munich knows that when they go there, there´s always going to be quite a bit of beer consumed and things are always going to be quite interesting.. every night in the hostel, there was prob someone with a nauseous episode and feeling rather crook the next day.. overseas travellers just overestimate their abilities to overcome 2 litres of beer..
despite all the beer episodes, Munich should be up there for providing the most fun in a city, partly coz i got to do quite a few things with this young Australian guy who was travelling around for 7 months or something quite long like that.. gee these Aussies travel for ages! i thought 2 months was long and i´m already starting to yearn for home already but these guys travel by themselves for up a year or more, earning some money along the way of course.. anyway lot of photos of me and Sam, i.e. us having a hot wine in those mugs which we decided to keep for ourselves, at the Thai restaurant with these 2 other travellers from the hostel, and then our day trip to Fussen and the Neuchwanstein castle with this other American traveller, plus some from the beer hall.. great fun, and made my experience in Munich quite memorable..
after the fun and parties in Munich, caught the train and headed across the Bavarian countryside to Baden Wurttenburg to Stuttgart, a city that is not shy in being modern.. a one day city really and more memorable for its Mercedes and Porsche factories, museums - Porsche´s new one was being built in the middle of the factory area and it looks like it´s going to be quite as special at least as the terrific BMW World in Munich and Mercedes World on the other side of Stuttgart.. after conquering the pleasures of the German car world, caught the evening train to Heidelberg, an hour away..
wouldn´t quite believe the dramas that would enfold.. firstly, Lonely Planet made a horrendous blunder with what bus to take to the youth hostel - 33 to some place called Ziegelhausen instead of 32 which would get u to a stop named after the place in 10 mins across the river.. boarded 33 thinking i did the right thing, when i started to feel this wasn´t quite right.. we weren´t crossing the Neckar as the map pointed out and were going eastward.. asked a passenger on the bus and she told me it was the wrong bus and i had to head back to Bismarckplatz to catch 31 or 32.. after a long 30 minute ride on 31 which became 32, i got to the hostel.. checked in - quite pricey at 23.30 euros a night if u´re not a hosteling international member but still cheaper than a hotel room in Heidelberg - hostel accomodation outside Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Cologne appears to be quite limited from the looks.. found they had this rather over-complicated door system - figured it out after the guy actually came to my room door and showed me how to do it, but what`s wrong with inserting a card in or even a key, this was just being too complicated when it wasn´t necessary even for security reasons.. after getting in, set about unlocking my bags, when the key for the second padlock broke in the lock!!! the hostel had no wrench so had to improvise.. what a night.. as this guy Steve who was my roommate for the night later said, you´ve had a bad night.. the lock didn´t budge but broke the part of the zip which held the lock together so could access my underwear, socks and towel.. what drama!!!
the following day, went to Freiburg to visit Anastasia whom I had promised to visit when I was coming to this part of Germany.. it may be 160km away from Heidelberg but German - and almost most Western European trains - have such quick trains and got there in 1 and a half hours.. she hadn´t seen me in 4 years so was quite excited obviously.. Freiburg was a v nice city with the Munster and the market.. but it was quite small.. and on the way to Freiburg realised that the same train actually went to Basle, only 45 mins away on that train.. so we decided to take a train to Basle, just to say we´d been into Switzerland.. i had my passport with me so i was fine but Anastasia only had her student card.. she needed to fork out 25 euros to the German police to give her a document allowing her into Switzerland.. see Switzerland unlike Germany, France, Austria, etc. is not a Schnegen country yet so u need ur passport to enter.. after 30 mins sorting out her documentation, we finally got into Switzerland and I could finally say that I´ve been there.. lovely city too and it has the Rathaus which I must say is the most beautiful building I`ve seen so far in Europe..
anyway don´t really have much time left on the internet.. so more on Heidelberg later .. although can say it is now my favourite small city in Europe ahead of Salzburg and Liverpool.. ciao!
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