On to Munich

After a wonderful day in Schwangau, I was able to catch the bus to Munich during which I was

Love these little gummy bears!

able to pull together some miscellaneous thoughts again:

• The waiters are in no rush to move you along in restaurants. Sometimes it's hard to get the check.
• Once again - the number of Japanese tourists is amazing!
• Coke Light just isn't the same as Diet Coke
• Going through these little towns you see that the roofs on the houses are mostly tiles
• Germany looks and feels like Wisconsin, which makes sense I guess.  Same trees, cows, foods -- feels like home.  The hills of Bavaria are a bit different, though.
• Instead of mints, the various places I've stayed have put little packets of gummy bears on the pillow -- and I love them!  Haribo.
• How is my suitcase getting heavier?  I think maybe I'm keeping too much paper as I certainly haven't been buying a bunch of stuff.

It was very clear that my confidence was shaken with the incident in Frankfurt. Once I got to Rothenburg and learned that I wouldn't be joining an actual tour group, I felt better about not keeping people waiting. Then, when I was dropped in Schwangau, I was told that another bus would be taking me to Munich, but no details were yet available.  I fretted about getting up to the castle for my tour, and getting back down to catch the bus. Normally, none of these things would bother me but I was still feeling out of control and off my game. I did relax once I got on the bus to Munich -- until we actually arrived. It had been raining and it was that time of day when traffic and people were congested around the Hbf.  I spotted the Tourist Information Center and headed straight there, but it had just closed!

Unlike Paris (which is twice the size of Munich), there are 4 systems of transportation in the city. Paris has the Metro, suburban trains, and buses -- but Munich adds aboveground trams. Without a transit map, it's all a big jumble so I took control in a way I understood:  taxi. The cab driver didn't speak English, but I had the address of the hotel so it worked out.  Checking in at the hotel was a breeze and I was able to get settled in. Planning to tackle the transit system tomorrow!

Note:  I love the little elevators that were obviously retrofitted into some of these old hotels.