Sunday, June 10, 2007

Days 1 -2, May 30 - 31 (SFO to MUC)

We took a Lufthansa flight (LH459) out of SFO to Munich (MUC) on May 30 at 9:45 PM.
San Francisco International Airport is huge (especially, the new International terminal)! You can stay here for days - eat, shop and forget why you are there.

We found the Lufthansa plane's sits to be pretty tiny, probably the smallest we've ever had to sit in during a long haul flight... Everything else was pretty average, nothing to complain about,
and with help of "No Jet lag" and "Melatonin" (herbal sleeping aid) we've managed to survive 11-hour flight without major discomfort.

Upon arrival we've picked up our laggage within 20 minutes, got some euros out of ATM in the baggage area, and off we went to meet Peter (Rolf's friend) from BMW, who was supposed to meet us at the airport. But Peter was no show... We waited for about 10 minutes. Andre was about to give up - 45 euros saved!.. well, almost... since I insisted on calling Rolf. Apperantely, Peter was not available that day, and Rolf mixed up his destinations and went to the hotel to pick us up, only to realize that we were waiting for him at the airport! No wonder he was late... He finally showed, on the scooter! Insisted on getting us a "frei" cart to transport our bags to his car (no he didn't drive the scooter to the airport! it was just his means of getting around the airport while looking for us)... Rolf, of course, drives a BMW. He has a 3 wagon, diesel. He was going on and on about how cool it is to have a diesel car, he was so convincing, we now wonder why diesel cars aren't as popular in US. At the end of the conversation we knew not only about diesel BMWs, new WELT, and the most popular hotel among americans who come to Munich for ED (Marriott), we also learned that Rolf has a 5 year old son and a young wife :)

Hotel "Torbrau" is very nice! Only a few blocks from Marienplatz (and U-Bahn) and right next to S-Bahn Isartor station. It's one of those places where the more you stay - the more you like it. It's really in the heart of Munich - you get to experience the city life and at the same time - the old town, authentic boutiques and eateries are right there.

We finished the first day in Munich by visiting the Hofbrauhaus - the Beer Garden. Wow! Hundreds of people who don't even know each other share large tables and drink beer - this place has live music, it's loud, crowded and a lot of fun! Sitting with strangers at the same table was the idea we had to get used to, but this way we've met a few interesting people and learned about authentic food and beer faster than if we did it on our own.

We were able to stay up until 9:30 - 10 PM our first night in Munich.

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