The Tradition Continues: Five Consecutive Summers in Europe

Another bad sleep - a fitting way to start the last day of the trip, since I've had so many of those on this trip! Breakfast was a bit different at the hostel this year - I remember there being cold cuts and cheese, but there was none this year. Not a bad thing, as had I seen any, I would've stuffed myself with them. A simple breakfast of cereal, toast, and Nutella was a good way to start my last day in Europe ...

The good thing about the hostel is that it's a very convenient walk to the train station - literally, only steps away. As I checked out, I realized that there was another, way better thing about the hostel - a table full of Spanish senoritas were eating breakfast and happily chatting away ... sigh ...

Off to Koln - though only about 90 minutes away, the round-trip train ticket was VERY expensive - I probably wouldn't have done it if I didn't still have a day left on my rail pass. I noticed that the final destination of the train was Amsterdam, and I briefly considered screwing it all, and skipping my flight home tonight. Funny thing - I have that thought every time I've had to to return home from Europe, and it's never only a brief consideration ...

Koln - it was pummeled even worse than Wurzburg was during WWII - 95% of it was destroyed, and its population was reduced from 800,000 to 40,000 by the end of the war. The cathedral is the first thing you see as you step out of the train station, and it's an incredible sight.

Being Sunday, there were a number of services taking place at the Cathedral, so I wasn't able to visit right away. I wandered through the pedestrian zone, which was fairly quiet since most stores were closed today, and I ended up having an early lunch at Gaffel Haus.

I considered ordering the grilled pork leg on the menu, but the waiter made it sound like it was a huge portion, so I opted for the pork lunch special, instead. I can't imagine what the waiter considers a huge portion, because the special was pretty huge, too. Overall, lunch was pretty great.

I wandered around a bit more, browsing the souvenir shops, and grabbing a hazelnut gelato. Yes, I was still stuffed from lunch, but it's my last day in Europe, damn it!!! I browsed in the Museum Ludwig's cool bookstore, which was packed with funky art books. I picked up one last nusecke for the plane ride, and hopped on a train bound for Frankfurt's airport.

Ended up sitting with an Australian athletics coach - he was in Germany with two of his athletes, who will both be competing in the Beijing Olympics. I can't remember which events the guy and girl were running in, but one was doing 800 m and the other 1500 m. The coach is returning to Australia before going to the Olympics, but the athletes are going to Hong Kong until the Olympics start.

The Frankfurt airport - the customs line was huge, and there were some really annoying people at the front. When it was their turn to go through, they all started hugging and saying goodbye, holding up the line. The worker was getting pretty annoyed, telling them to stand to the side if they were going to do that. But then I realized it was a good thing - perhaps they would delay me enough that I would miss my flight home!

The security lady must really hate her job - I went through the metal detector, and stood waiting for my day pack to come through the X-ray machine. The lady told me to keep moving, though there was no room because there was a crow of people in front of me. So she actually started shoving me! That's a nice impression to leave with tourists returning home from your country! Of course, had it been a female Spanish security guard, I would've asked that she frisk me ...

I went to my gate and nibbled on the nusecke - not so hot, but it was better than nothing. I was in a pretty bad mood after the security incident, but calmed down once I saw the flight attendants on board. Most of them would have been qualified to work for any Spanish airline ...

Another uneventful flight home, mostly spent watching movies - "Leatherheads" was alright, but "Nim's Island" was a kid's movie that held absolutely no appeal for adults. The meal was crap - it was actually a frozen President's Choice entree - terrible butter chicken. I'm never buying these things from Superstore - flavourless, and tiny portions. The meal came with a bun, but no butter. There wasn't much food; I was glad that I had eaten that nusecke before boarding.

Ended up sitting next to a couple of German girls from Berlin, who were en route to Vancouver, and were visiting Canada for the first time. They're here for three weeks and are planning on spending most of their time in Vancouver and the surrounding area. I suggested that it was a lot of time, especially since they weren't into doing any outdoor activities. Nice girls, too bad I never caught their names. The flight seemed incredibly short, and the next thing I knew, we were landing in Calgary

So yet another journey has ended - before going on this trip, I had this strange sense of dread and really wasn't looking forward to it all that much. Of course, I knew that would change once I got on the plane, and it did - for whatever reason, I always have reservations before every trip, but I always enjoy myself immensely.

I can't say there were too many disappointments on this trip - certain places such as Stockholm and Holland didn't quite meet my expectations, but there were places like Oslo and Hamburg that far exceeded them. Starting in Spain is always a nice thing to do, and it's definitely one place that never disappoints. While everyone thinks my only reason for traveling is trying to meet Spanish women, and I definitely play that fact up for laughs, that's not true - well ... not entirely true

Travel is all about seeing the world and enjoying yourself - and I definitely enjoy sitting in a sidewalk cafe in Spain, watching the world (i.e. - senoritas) go by! And yes, I've already been asked a few times about Scandinavian women - very beautiful, and I definitely see why some men are so taken with them. But still ... Spain is far and away my favourite!

I've always known that I could live in Spain, but it was interesting to realize that I could probably live in Oslo or Hamburg, too. Though having never been to Oslo in the winter when there is almost no sun, I can't say for certain. Kalmar might be a nice place to live, too, but only to see if Odeta and Eva have any single sisters

I'm still in awe over Germany, especially the areas along the Rhine and the Mosel - such beautiful scenery, and the towns so picturesque and charming. It's almost enough to make me forget that it's such a quiet area that can become a bit boring, after awhile.

For me, travel is still more of a need than a want - I can't imagine life without it. It truly is an addiction, and I'm the first to admit that I need help - I'm a "Crackpacker", and I suffer from withdrawal pains when I'm not aimlessly wandering around, backpacking. I know I'll never be free from this addiction, and I know that all this must one day end - but I'm determined to delay that as long as possible!

There's something so liberating about being by myself and combining that with things I love - music, reading, and writing my stupid little stories. Everyone has something they love and they are passionate about, and travel is my one thing in life that I can't live without. I've realized on this trip exactly how much I love meeting fellow travelers, and finding out why they do it - some do it just for fun, but many have deeper, personal reasons for doing so. Generally, it's these travelers that I click with - we're a fraternity of traveling vagabonds, and there's nothing more fun than getting to know each other, in a process I shall call vaga-bonding.

As always, there is a song for every trip - so which is it this time? There are actually two - the first being "Salir Corriendo", of course. It's how I started this journey and it's how I'll end it - I'll probably always run away on these trips to get away from it all. It's a nice song, and hopefully my English translation is reasonably correct - it just never sounds the same in English as it does in Spanish.

And the second song? "23", by Jimmy Eat World. It's actually a beautiful love song, and in a lot ways it really didn't apply to this trip, but in a few esoteric, obscure ways it represented how I felt before and during this journey. It'll probably put most people to sleep, but it's still one of my favourites.

Travel is my life, and my life is travel. I can't wait to do it again

"Salir Corriendo" by Amaral

Nadie puede guardar toda el agua del mar (Nobody can keep all the water in the sea) En un vaso de cristal (In a crystal glass) ¿Cuántas gotas tienes que dejar caer (How many drops do you have to let fall) Hasta ver la marea crecer? (Until you see the tide grow?) ¿Cuántas veces te ha hecho sonreír? (How many times has it made you smile?) Esta no es manera de vivir (This is no way to live) ¿Cuántas lágrimas puedes guardar (How many tears can you save) En tu vaso de cristal? (In your cristal glass?) Si tienes miedo, si estás sufriendo (If you're scared, if you're suffering) Tienes que gritar y salir, salir corriendo (You have to scream and leave, leave running) ¿Cuántos golpes dan las olas (How many blows do the waves give) A lo largo del día en las rocas? (Throughout the day on the rocks?) ¿Cuántos peces tienes que pescar (How many fish do you have to fish) Para hacer un desierto del fondo del mar? (In order to make a dessert of the bottom of the sea?) ¿Cuántas veces te ha hecho callar? (How many times has it made you silent?) ¿Cuánto tiempo crees que aguantarás? (How much time do you believe you will resist?) ¿Cuántas lágrimas vas a guardar (How many tears are you going to keep) En tu vaso de cristal? (In your crystal glass?) Si tienes miedo, si estás sufriendo (If you're scared, if you're suffering) Tienes que gritar y salir, salir corriendo (You have to scream and leave, leave running)

"23" by Jimmy Eat World

I felt for sure last night That once we said goodbye No one else will know these lonely dreams No one else will know that part of me I'm still driving away And I'm sorry every day I won't always love these selfish things I won't always live... Not stopping...

It was my turn to decide I knew this was our time No one else will have me like you do No one else will have me, only you

You'll sit alone forever If you wait for the right time What are you hoping for? I'm here I'm now I'm ready Holding on tight Don't give away the end The one thing that stays mine

Amazing still it seems I'll be 23 I won't always love what I'll never have I won't always live in my regrets

You'll sit alone forever If you wait for the right time What are you hoping for? I'm here I'm now I'm ready Holding on tight Don't give away the end The one thing that stays mine

You'll sit alone forever If you wait for the right time What are you hoping for? I'm here I'm now I'm ready Holding on tight Don't give away the end The one thing that stays mine...

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I had another crappy sleep, yet woke up WAY too early. This seems to have been the pattern for the entire trip, so far. In fact, it's the pattern for ALL my trips ... Today is my last full day of the trip - sigh ... it feels like I just left home only a few weeks ago, but now the seconds are ticking away at an alarming rate.

I grabbed breakfast with the brothers, and there were more inappropriate comments and jokes made - fun, fun, fun! They're actually doing a super-low budget biking trip through Germany, but I really don't know how they're managing. They were alternating between camping and hosteling, but all their camping gear got stolen a few days ago. This heat must also be brutal - they told me that it was over 35 degrees when they were biking the other day. I said goodbye and Brad told me "Maybe I'll see you in Spain next year!" Is there any doubt that I'll be there again? Of course not! I guess Brad liked my answer last night, when he asked me "So, tell me more about Spanish women ..."

Wurzburg - a nice little town that I stopped in, en route to Frankfurt. First up was the Residenz, Wurzburg's palace. The tour guide was quite good, and mentioned that the Residenz has been described as Germany's Versailles - hmmm ... not quite ... I wanted to visit the Residenz's chapel, but it was closed for a wedding. The Baroque garden behind the Residenz was quite nice, and I learned something new - a Baroque garden has to have an English, French, and Italian section.

I quickly booted around town - it felt a lot like when I was in Leipzig last year, both in terms of the feel of the town, and the speed with which I toured it (see blog entry entitled "The Beautiful Breakdown Blitzkrieg Tour" http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pwong/euro-2007/1190499480/tpod.html?tweb_UID=pwong) Wurzburg is definitely worth a quick stopover, but not much more.

The train to Frankfurt was packed with people, and I was lucky to get a seat. It was incredibly hot inside, until the A/C was turned on, which seemingly took an eternity. Once things cooled off, I took a much-needed nap. Just before arriving in Frankfurt, a German dentist named Wolfgang started talking to me, telling me how he loved Banzai trees, and how he travels to Japan to improve his trimming skills. He was a nice enough guy, and even offered to let me stay at his place in the Black Forest, and even to show me around the next time I was in Germany. Why can't I meet German models named Heidi, or German volleyball players named Laura Ludwig on the train, and have them tell me how much they love Chinese guys, and offer to let me stay with them, and to show me around?

I checked into the "Frankfurt Hostel" - when I first booked, I thought that the address sounded familiar, and thought to myself that it must be on the same street as the crappy hostel I stayed at last year. It turned out to be the same place, but with a different name. It seems to have been improved slightly, but it still has the same crappy door locks. The doors have a big button that serves as the key - you need to first push the button to activate the lock, then you tap it with the key card once the light comes on, and turn the key when the green light goes on.

No one ever gets these locks open on the first try and though I used them last year, I wasted 15 minutes fiddling with it. I actually went to the receptionist twice, asking if it was the right key and right room, but she kept telling me "Just try it again." Turns out that the key card wasn't programmed properly - not a very helpful girl ...

My mattress was slightly better this year - last year's was so thin that the bed frame was digging into my back all night long. This place used to be called the "Stay and Learn Hostel", and offered English lessons. After seeing all the female Spanish tourists in the place, I realized that they could all stay at my place, and I could teach them English, for free! Of course, I would never expect anything else in return for offering these services ...

There isn't much to do in Frankfurt, and what little there is to do, I pretty much did last year. I wandered around a bit - at least Frankfurt isn't killer hot like some of the other German places I have visited recently. Feeling a bit peckish, I grabbed a salami, cucumber, tomato sandwich - blah! My last night of the trip was spent wandering aimlessly, much like the last time I was in Frankfurt.

Since Frankfurt is so boring, why did I come here? It's because it's a convenient transport hub - had I chosen to fly home from London, I'd have wasted a day getting back to London, lost another day because the charter airline flies home from London on Saturday (and from Frankfurt on Sunday), and the London flight also leaves early in the day. The Frankfurt flight leaves at 19:00, so I've got all day tomorrow to go see Koln. It's almost like I've gained an extra three days just by flying home from here instead of London. Thinking about those three extra days that I had made me feel a bit better about leaving tomorrow - sigh ... my last night in Europe ...

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I was actually the only person in the room last night, and had trouble sleeping because it was eerily quiet. I need to start requesting rooms with Spanish senoritas in them so that they can sing me lullabies until I fall asleep. I'd gladly pay any price for such a service

It absolutely POURED this morning - hopefully it keeps things cool for the rest of the day. I quickly forced down breakfast at the hostel and left for the train station, once there was a break in the rain. Rotherburg - the hostel is located in a neat building, a former horse mill. The receptionist told me that I was in the building "next door", but I had to go back for directions because I had almost wandered into somebody's house. Turns out that "next door" actually means "across the street".

Funny moment - a group of German teens were hanging out at the hostel entrance, and they had VERY thick German accents as they spoke English. But one kid was able to say, in perfect English "I am sorry for your mother" as I walked by. I don't think he was saying it to me, but you never know ...

There were a few Spanish tourists around town, which is always a nice thing First stop after lunch - St. Jakob's Church, it's one of the stops on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Another sign that I once more need to return there ... St. Jakob's Church is famous for its incredible wood carving, the Altar of the Holy Blood.

After, I wandered around town - through the Convent Garden, and along the town wall. It was reminiscent of Orvieto, as I walked a section that sloped downhill, and enjoyed views of the lush valley below (see blog entry entitled: "A bad combination - cheap wine and limoncello", http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pwong/europe_2006/1159993920/tpod.html?tweb_UID=pwong )

Next up - the Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum. The content was quite good, but too repetitive (how many shame masks and neck violins do you need to see?) The focus of the museum seemed a bit scattered, too - exhibits were all over the place.

Back to the hostel for a siesta - for some reason, this town smells like horse manure! One of the bunkmates said they were probably discing wheat (whatever that means), and therefore spreading a lot of manure. That made me feel better, because the smell seemingly followed me all day long, and I worried that I had stepped in something or had somehow soiled myself.

A father and son (or, so I thought ...) were staying in the room, and mentioned that they had an incredibly cheap dinner at the hostel - 4.50 Euros! I was tempted by the price, but it was probably too late to reserve for it, anyway. Instead, I went to Pizzeria Roma - they had an interesting menu item, pizza bread with ... potatoes??? Only in Germany ...

There was no outdoor seating available today (or rather, they didn't want to waste one of the tables on a single diner like me), so I was stuck in the hot interior. I had a glass of Bardolino - I don't think I've had this since I was in Verona, two years ago. I remember the wine being great, but tasting even better because of drinking it inside of a 2000-year old Roman arena (see blog entry entitled: "She had the firmest breasts I've ever touched!" http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pwong/europe_2006/1154881080/tpod.html?tweb_UID=pwong ) The bardolino wasn't the greatest idea, since it made me sweat even more.

I chuckled as I watched three North American girls eating dinner across the restaurant. Not a single word was spoken for several minutes ... they had the undeniable look of people that had been traveling together for TOO long!

I was so hot and sweaty after dinner that I briefly considered dunking my head in the toilet to cool myself off. But then I realized that only one thing would bring my dangerously-high body temperature to a safe level - gelato! Too bad it was crap - it didn't taste much like blueberry, and it made me crave a blueberry milkshake from Peter's Drive-in. Mental note: gotta visit that place when I get home.

The most famous thing to do in Rotheburg is the Night Watchman's Tour, so that was the plan for tonight. While waiting in the market square for the tour to start, I ran into Brad and Logan, the father/son from the hostel. Earlier, they were very excited about the cheap buffet at the hostel, so I asked how it was. Brad replied, with a huge smile "It was SHIT!!!" Logan described the hot dogs as tasting like dog (being Chinese, maybe I would like that?), the potatoes as being "liquefied", and the dessert as being runny yogurt or pudding. There were absolutely no vegetables, either.

The tour was awesome - the guy was friggin' hilarious, and sounded a bit like Borat. He makes a killing - there were probably 70-90 people on the tour, at 6 Euros each. And he does this every night during the summers. You do the math ... but keep in mind that this town is dead during the off-season.

Turns out that Brad is a teacher from Ontario, and that he isn't Logan's dad, but his half-brother! Logan got a kick out of that, because many have confused Brad for the father. The guy's actually 4 years younger than me, but because of his salt and pepper hair and lack of Asian anti-aging genes, he looks quite a bit older. Upon first meeting them, I thought Brad was a bit young to be the father, but figured he looked a bit too old to be the brother.

Logan started making all these weird comments about how he had webbed toes when he was a kid, and how it was surgically corrected - I thought it was all a joke at first, but both of them told me that it was true, so we all started making jokes about it. When Logan left for a moment to find a bathroom, Brad told me that it was all a lie, that at the beginning of the trip he had convinced Logan that he was born with webbed toes, and asked me to continue the charade. Brad told me that Logan has always been sensitive about things like this because he's got a superfluous nipple, and asked me not to tell him the truth about his feet. This is for real!

Seeing as how I love a good joke, I told Brad that I'd make some random reference to superfluous nipples later on. So when Logan returned, I said "You know Logan, you shouldn't feel bad about this whole webbed-toe thing - it could be worse, after all. At least it's not as bad as having a superfluous nipple!"

Logan's face went white, and he stuttered "Wh ... wh ... why do you mention superfluous nipples?" Brad was about to burst out laughing, but he managed to hold it together. It's a good thing that I never had a younger brother, because if I did, that poor kid would have been SO traumatized by me ... it's a good thing that Logan's a good kid, who has obviously been toughened up by Brad's jokes over the years!

Wanting a drink, we returned to a bar named Hell, one of the final stops on our walking tour. It was a little pricey, so we went to Restaurant Glocken, where they offered a sampler of five wines for 4 Euros. It was ok, but nothing memorable. Looking for some cheap beer, we thought about going back to the hostel, but we realized that the reception was already closed. We wandered over to a kebab shop hoping that it would still be open, but not this late in a small town like Rothenburg.

There wasn't much else open at this hour. We came across a wine garden, but it didn't look that appealing, so we kept wandering, until we found a restaurant/bar with a nice patio. Unfortunately, the patio was closing up, but the waitress told us we could have a drink in their wine garden. Leading us through the building, we ended up back at the wine garden that we deemed unappealing, only moments before. I guess the restaurant/bar and wine garden are all a part of a big hotel!

Figuring it was fate, we decided to stay and have a drink. I had some pretty mediocre beer, and we just hung out. We've all got the same sick senses of humour, so it was a fun evening, filled with inappropriate jokes. As the night wore on and we started to feel the effects of the earlier wine samplers, Brad leaned over to me and said "So ... tell me more about Spanish women ..." Oh ... I could do that, but we'd be sitting here for hours ...

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It's a small world - in the hostel, I saw a Korean lady, her daughter, and her mother, that I had seen on the boat to Hallstatt's train station. It actually happens a lot more often than you might think.

I tried napping on the train to Nurnberg, without much success - didn't sleep well last night because of the heat. I originally considered passing through Nurnberg en route to Rothenburg and staying two nights there, but it's a pretty nice town, and I'm glad that I'll be staying the night. It was a long, hot, uphill hike to the hostel - I needed to pause a couple of times for a breather. At least much of the walk was shaded, and the temperature may not have cracked 30 today.

I arrived at the hostel, which is located inside the castle, in the former stables. My room was on the 5th floor - after such a long walk, my only thought was "noooooooooooooooo!!!!!", but luckily for me, there was an elevator. I felt like a king, staying in a castle, but was disappointed that there was no Spanish Queen waiting for me in the room

First up, the City Museum - I arrived just as the continuously-repeating intro movie was finishing up, and wasn't going to bother with it, but the security guard was so nice (despite his limited English), that I felt bad for not staying. He told me to sit while he re-set the film so I could watch it in its entirety, and even directed me to the best seats. Once the lights went out and he left, I quietly ducked out.

There wasn't much of interest here, but I really only went because the Museum Combo card is such a great deal - individual admission to any of the museums is 5 Euros, but the card grants you access to all the museums, for the same price. Since I'm planning on going to the Nazi Documentation Centre later, any other museum I visit is basically free.

Before lunch, I squeezed in the castle - kind of boring but granted, I didn't pay to go inside the exhibits, because I really didn't care. I quickly popped into St. Lawrence church, only to briefly escape the heat, before having a fast-food lunch. For dessert, I had some rockin' melon gelato. I desperately needed to lower my body temperature, otherwise I would've passed out, cracked my head on the sidewalk, and my brains would've oozed out and scrambled themselves on the sizzling pavement. I only ate the gelato to prevent this horrible death, not because I wanted to eat it ....

On to the tram to the Nazi Documentation Centre - it was like an oven on board! Despite being cooler earlier, the temperatures climbed to over 30, once more. It's a good thing that I had just eaten that gelato ... The Documentation Centre was very interesting, but information overload! It's different from other Nazi museums, in that it doesn't focus on the holocaust, but how the Nazi movement started and came into power.

Back to the old town - it started to rain fairly heavily, a welcome sight, as it cooled things off significantly. Still wanting to make good use of the Museum Card, I went to the Albrecht Durer house - pretty boring and still pretty hot inside. But hey, it was included, right?

Back to the hostel for a quick siesta, before dinner. The hostel had been taken over by a huge Korean religious group. Doug and Carmen had recommended a restaurant near the train station, saying that it had amazing food, but I wasn't sure if I had found the right spot, so I decided on Burgwachter instead.

Back when I met the first Virginia on the train to Mannheim, she suggested that I try the special Nurnberg beer, but they had no such thing on offer. The waitress suggested a popular brew, and I tried that instead - pretty good. I wanted to start with the Franconian potato soup with stone fungus and smoked Nuremburg sausages. Sound good? I'll never know, because it was forgotten!

But that's a good thing, because there was no way I could have finished that and the massive entree - roasted pig shoulder with raw dumplings. It was a bit cool, but still nice sitting on the patio. A young couple and their son was sitting nearby, and the kid fell backward off his stool, smacking his head hard on the pavement. That must've been painful, you could see his head bounce off the ground and hear the sickening sound it made. The mother immediately grabbed the kid and took him outside to console the kid. The father just sat there, making some casual remark and continuing to eat his steak. He didn't even bother to check on the kid until five minutes later, but in all fairness, mother and son were only 15-20 feet away.

Despite being stuffed, I went back to the Gelatone eis shop, where earlier I had that life-saving melon gelato. This time it was amaretto, with some yummy bits of amaretti cookies mixed within. I wanted to try a different place, but with so few days left in Europe I figured that I should stick with the place that I knew was good.

As I ate my gelato, I wandered over to Eis Cafe Roma and browsed their selections - they have a caipirinha flavour! I'll have to check it out if they are open tomorrow, but I doubt they will be open by the time I leave. I walked around a bit more and it was back to the hostel for some reading and sleep.

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Trying to catch the 8:18 train, I didn't think I'd have time for breakfast since it was supposed to be served at 8. Luckily, it was available a little bit early, so I had time to guzzle some juice and cram down a sandwich (only one type of meat and cheese available today). I also grabbed a banana and a chocolate chip cupcake for the road, and in keeping with this morning's theme, I crammed down the cupcake on my way to the station.

Off to Munich! I can't wait, as my first ever German experience was there, and I loved it, though it was way too short (see blog entry entitled "I may steal breakfast foods, but I am not a thief!" http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pwong/europe_2006/1155313680/tpod.html?tweb_UID=pwong ). Once again, I'm not staying for long, but at least I've got an evening and the better part of a day. My train to Salzburg was 10 minutes late, but my connection from there to Munich was also 10 minutes, so everything was OK! Funny - a seat reservation was required for the first train, but it was almost empty. None was required for the second train, but it was completely full - go figure!

I'm staying at the Wombats hostel - I chose this place because they've also got a location in Vienna, and I regretted not staying there two years ago (see blog entry entitled "A perfect day being a Wiener" http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pwong/europe_2006/1156691160/tpod.html?tweb_UID=pwong ), so I'm trying to make up for it in Munich, this time. I dropped off my bag at Wombats and immediately headed to the Viktualiemarkt.

I had also visited this market two years ago and seeing the incredible selection of food, regretted that I had eaten a sausage at the train station beforehand. This time I was on a mission: to assemble a kick-ass picnic! For the price I paid for the picnic, I could have had a nice sit-down meal in a restaurant, but there was no way I could have had a meal with such variety.

A group of backpacker girls sat next to me - two Italians, one from near Rimini, one from Turin, and one from Spain (Valladolid). I had trouble understanding the Spanish girl's accent, but I still tried. Unfortunately, the spidey sense of one of the Italian girls kicked in, and she dragged her Spanish friend off before I could talk to her for too long

Despite the heat, the pedestrian zones were packed today - I walked all over town, as there was no plan to do anything else today, since I had covered most of the main sights the first time. I did a bit of shopping, and noticed one of the sales girls talking with a customer in Spanish.

She studied for three years in Madrid, and despite retaining a German accent, speaks it very well. We both agreed that the heat wave here was pretty bad, but definitely not as horrid as Spain's summer heat. I wandered down Maximilianstrasse, Munich's high-end shopping district, then over to the English Garden, to catch the river surfers that I had missed last time.

Interesting piece of history that I learned today - King Ludwig I apparently fell hard for an Irish dancer named Lola Montez, of Spanish descent. She totally had him wrapped around her little finger, and supposedly she inspired the phrase "Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets." Their relationship scandalized Munich. Hmmm ... good thing I'm not a king, because I'd surely suffer the same fate as Ludwig I!

Back to the hostel - actually met a fellow Calgarian in the room, Alicia, though she now lives in Edmonton. It's a big room with nice, solid wooden bunk beds. The hostel common areas have A/C but unfortunately, the rooms do not. Hot! I took a brief siesta before going off for food.

After, I went back to the room briefly and chatted with three new French roomies (from Paris, and the South of France), but soon decided to go for a walk to escape the heat. The area south of Marienplatz was hopping tonight - I found a gelato shop there and grabbed a huge scoop of mocha for only 1 Euro. The gelato girl commented that my shirt was cute; it was one that I got at MEC, and it had caricatures of rocks that looked like they had faces. I told her to check out the MEC website.

I remember Solange also commenting about the same shirt that night we met up in Oslo. Hmmm ... women seem to like this shirt. I think I need to buy a dozen of these shirts, and wear them every day the next time I am in Spain. Maybe the senoritas will notice ...

I wandered over to the other side of the Viktualienmarket, where I found a neat row of cafes and bars. In sharp contrast to the well-off and stylish locals chatting, drinking, and eating at some of the upscale spots, I ate my gelato while sitting like a hobo on some steps. A well-off hobo I guess, since I could afford to have a gelato!

Back to the hostel, where the room was still like an oven. I grabbed my free welcome beer and went to the chill room to read some more of Shogun. It's a pretty comfortable spot to relax, with sofas, bean bags, hammocks, and most importantly - A/C!

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