munich day aints (one)

greetings from deutschland, where the weather is absolutely inCREDIBLE and i am in that lovely haze known as first day jet-lag. the trip here was one of the smoothest trips i've had in a long time. i've written on here before concerning my gripes about living in austin, at least from a travel sense -- small airplanes, little jets, connecting flights, layovers, crappy airplanes, etc, etc, etc -- all the details that go along with living in a relatively small air market.

what a change it was, then, to fly here on lufthansa international business class. i've been fortunate enough to fly international business/first class before, but only a few occasions, all of which were a long time ago. i know it probably pales in comparison to the old days, but holy crap, i could really get used to that kind of treatment. huge leather seat/bed, personal video/gaming/internet system, decent food, super-attentive staff, priority boarding, the whole nine yards. there were a pair of brothers heading to italy that were sitting across the aisle from me, and it turns out that one of the brothers is going to be a recurring extra on the new season of ER. the other brother wasn't so shabby himself, having just landed a new job as a designer for apple, working in the ipod division.

anyway, i arrived in munich around 8 am local time (about 1 am austin time) to a brilliantly sunny and crisp day. i took a ridiculously expensive ride to our hotel in the most pimped-out taxi i've ever seen. the fact that it was a mercedes didn't completely bowl me over (i remember riding in a lot of bmw/mercedes taxis in austria as well) but it was seriously the most luxurious mercedes i've ever seen. buttery leather seats in a black/cream dual tone, chrome highlights, sparkling clean, etc.

the hotel was kind enough to let me check in REALLY early (i arrived around 9:10 and was in my room by 9:45 am... not bad considering check-in time is noon). the plan was to take a quick nap and then hit the town, but the "quick nap" ended up being a 5.5 hour snooze-fest... oh well, i guess i was tired. showered, figured out the subway deal and headed into the aldstadt ("old city" -- historic part of downtown with a lot of important buildings) to see what i could see.

the old city of munich is similar to all the old european cities i've been in... little alleyways like the barri gotic in barcelona and venice, plazas like italy, churches and castles and ornate buildings everywhere you look, and of course, chic little shops and cafes and charm around every corner (and H&M... i definitely bought a few things there. hehe). plus colorful building facades, tons of window boxes with bright geraniums, and live classical music everywhere (similar to salzburg). i saw the famous glockenspiel in the old town hall where the little characters play music and dance creakily, towering cathedrals, and tons of beer halls. i ate a delicious bratwurst sandwich with mustard for lunch and a large glass of radler (beer mixed with lemonade) with some potato soup for dinner. i went to the hofgarten (royal gardens) and sat in the grass, soaking up the warm sun while listening to live classical music coming from the diana temple.

and then it was back to the hotel around 11 pm to wait for my brother to arrive. out for a late dinner and now time for sleep!

auf wiedersehn (darling, like heidi klum says OMG DID YOU WATCH LAST WEDNESDAY angela's outfit was absolutely ridiculous).