Day 11: An Afternoon in Munich

A brief note from the Brussels airport, where we’re waiting for our flight to Munich. Our flight out was stupid early, but I wanted to get into Munich with time to hit a museum.

We took the train, obviously just waiting for us to board at the station, to the airport in Geneva. Public transport passes were included with our nightclub stay, so I found myself with an excess of Swiss francs at a chocolate shop. Oh, the horror! The delicious, delicious horror! Geneva was good to us, and we’re leaving with recommendations to fill another day should this prove a convenient stop on our next European adventure.

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And now it’s late and I am tired. Our luck is wearing thin, I think.

I've wanted to visit the Deutsches Museum in the center of Munich since Miriam blogged about it a ways back. She didn't seem to love it, which I think indicates a serious fault in her judgment. Our flight was scheduled to arrive at 1:30, and the museum closes at 5. We’re staying at the airport Novotel, so even with the 40 minute S-Bahn ride into town, should be plenty of time, right?

Except that the luggage was delayed. And the hotel isn't actually at the airport. And inside the airport, the signs direct you to the hotel shuttles to wait – there is even a Novotel logo on the shuttle sign, but there is no Novotel shuttle. Careful inspection will reveal that the airport shuttle that runs to long term parking says Novotel (on the actual shuttle, nowhere on any of the signs), which we figured out eventually. Then we got directions to the S-Bahn, and of course the ticket machine wouldn't take our money, not when the train we needed was right there in front of us. And then when we boarded the next one, we found out that due to construction, this train no longer goes all the way to the stop we need, so we’ll need to transfer to another train. Oh, and then the train just stops for a while just outside of the station where we’re supposed to make the transfer. This. This is how I expect travel to go.

We get to the museum a little after 4, which is so late that they just wave us in without tickets. And, luckily, the portion I’m most interested is the set of steam engines right near the front.

Bill is not sure he'll be able to get me to leave this room full of junk ever.

Possibly a valid concern.

 

Just look at how pretty this is.

Oh! An opened up turbine engine! Lucky day!

I could really use more giant dials in my life.

Or steam powered trains.

 

Or steam powered space ships.

Bill gets more comfortable as we move into electrical devices.

And high voltage lighting strike simulators.

Back outside.

Goodbye, Museum, we knew you not nearly well enough.

So, that sort of worked out, but I would have liked to have stayed longer.

Afterwards we roamed the adjacent park for a while.

Obviously you'll want to know everything about the river you're crossing.

Yup, it's full of water.

Maximilianeum.

One of many street art panels in an underground tunnel.

Friedensengel.

A closer look at the angel of peace.

Grabbed some beers and tried to figure out where the hell we were and what we’d do for dinner.

Hello, beer.

Bill remembered that I had found a promising looking restaurant in our travel guide, so we headed off in the correct general direction, with some missteps.

I have no idea where we are.

And eventually found it.

Hello, different beer.

It also rained a bit while we were eating, but our table was mostly dry thanks to the foliage. Basically, the only effect from the rain was to keep people from sitting in other tables, and ensure we had a quiet meal. While we were finishing the last of our beers, I offered the table to a pair of gentlemen considering the outside tables. One was French and the other Egyptian, and we chatted a bit about Munich, Carcassonne, and Cairo before we headed back to the S-Bahn.

For a rough start, the day turned out fairy well.

Tomorrow I get to try driving here.