First day I went straight to Wombat's, a whole 2 blocks from the train station, settled in and dropped off my things. I headed out for a short afternoon adventure, just walking wherever looked interested. I came upon the famous Oktoberfest grounds where some kind of “mini” Oktoberfest was taking place. It was like a huge carnival with tons of big rides and food stands, along with the biggest rummage sale I've seen in my life. It was quite a happening place so I wandered around for some goodies at the rummage sale and grabbed a bite to eat. On my way back I stopped into a big church, St. Paul's, and climbed up the stairs to the very top tower with an incredible view of the city.
The weather was absolutely brilliant – my luck came back after Mannheim and I think it's going to stay with my for the rest of my time in Europe! I stayed at the top of the tower and took it all in for a while. There was a great view of the mountains in the distance... of course it made me want to go skiing! After that, I headed back to the hostel and tried to catch up on some e-mails. Later that night, I hit up the “WomBAR” downstairs a couple beers. Didn't take long to meet some people and we decided to head over to the infamous “Hofbrauhaus” in the Munich city center. It's basically a huge beer-drinking hall with food. Good thing because we were all starving! The guys I was with were two Saskatchewan Canadians and three American military guys – super funny and all nice enough to pitch in together for my meal and a few drinks. We also sat with a guy from Munich and his friend from Prague who'd been living in Munich for some time. We were a jolly bunch, getting most of the tables around us involved in some chanting and cheering of various kinds. This place was like one giant party, medieval feast style. We moved on later to an Irish pub that was basically too packed to enjoy so we just returned to the hostel bar and talked to some people there. Pretty convenient when you're tired you can just walk up the stairs and you're basically in your room!On Sunday I did more walking around to the city center and then found my way to the Deutsches Museum, a huge science and technology museum right next to the river. I spent a good 3 hours there and saw things from full-size fighter jets to ancient sailboats and even a lighting demonstration. Yes, they made lightning right in front of our eyes and it was so loud we had to cover our ears! Really cool, though, that museum was awesome. After the museum I took the S-Bahn (it's like a local train system, think of it as a cross between regular trains and the metro) to Dachau with the help of an old couple who recognized me staring cluelessly at the ticket machine. It was a lot more complicated then it needed to be, okay!! But the couple, despite our slight language barrier, helped me figure it out and I knew enough German to make sure I was getting exactly what I wanted! But really nice of them to stop and help me – don't get much of that in Europe.
Dachau was really cool. I almost didn't go but I'm glad I finally decided to. Although there weren't the same massive amount of killings there like Auschwitz or other concentration camps, it was still so moving and obviously a staple visit if making the journey to Europe at any point. The museum there had everything in English and was quite extensive. I learned quite a few things about Dachau that I hadn't known before. Not much else to say about it but... just go.Sunday evening was interesting. I went down to the WomBAR again and had a nice big juicy cheeseburger. Met a few different people and we tried to find some bars or clubs full of people somewhere around town but didn't have much luck. We ended up at another hostel bar next door to Wombat's but it still wasn't too exciting. I ended up talking with some of the bartenders there and it turned out to be a long night! A small group of us were up until about 4am or 5am, just sitting around, talking about life. Those nights are usually the best ones because learning about new people, their background and life story is always so interesting. But I really couldn't stay up any longer so I finally went to bed! The next morning was a rough one since I had to be all packed up and out of my room by 10am. Of course that's just a “guideline” and I didn't quite make it but it wasn't a problem. I looked up the next direct train to Vienna and it wasn't until 1:30pm so I got my things together in the lobby and took a nice long nap on one of the hammocks. Woke up, went to the train station and boarded the ÖBB RailJet... one of ÖBB's newer trains – it rivaled those of the Deutsche Bahn! So when I said ÖBB had some catching up to do, I was just out of the loop because they are right up there with everyone else. Being on the ÖBB already made me feel at home, though. I'd be back in Vienna in about 4 hours.
