· The decision is made ...Munich, Germany · 22nd Dec 2006 · Posted by Chris
Well, we decided on Munich. :) Yesterday was the first test of our Eurail passes as we attempted to board a train in Salzburg to get to Munich. We managed to get our passes validated at one of the ticket offices at the Hauptbahnhof in Salzburg ... that's 'Central Station' for those that aren't sure hehe. Sweet! After running into the first person who has said flat-out 'Nein!' when I asked if they spoke English (I wanted a drink) we managed to get on the right train and head towards Deutschland. I know I've ranted on about it before but the trains here are sooooooooo cool. Real trainspotters would love this place. And they're so quiet! It's hard to know when you're actually moving - they make no sound. We observed an argument between a middle-aged gentleman and the ticket dude that seemed to revolve around him thinking he had bought a first-class ticket but the ticket actually turning out to be second-class. Thankfully they managed to sort it out amicably.
After a 1.5 hour journey we arrived in Munich ... err I mean Munchen. To get to the place we had booked to stay in for the night we had to take 2 trains. The hardest part was working out how to buy a ticket! We managed to find a ticket machine that had a very-welcome button that translated everything into English and that sent us on our way towards Haydnstrasse and the Pension Haydn where we're currently staying.
By this time it was quite late and we were getting hungry and thankfully there was a kebab shop about 3 mins walk from our room ... but they spoke no English. It's amazing the difference between here and Austria where everyone seems to speak English but here it's quite different. We've run into many people so far who speak no English at all. However, ordering ein doner sandwich and ein doner sandwich nein tomato didn't turn out to be too hard for Annie who is embarrassingly good at this whole language thing. We're both getting a lot better at interpreting written German though which helps a lot when reading signs and understanding when train signs tell you what the next stop is!
Knackered and ready for sleep that was the end of that day. The plan for tomorrow (even though I'm writing this today errr I mean tomorrow) is to head out and see Dachau, the infamous concentration camp. We've all seen photos of it but who knows what it will be like to actually be there ... watch this space.
Chau! (yay people say that here too!)
Hansel & Gretel :P
After a 1.5 hour journey we arrived in Munich ... err I mean Munchen. To get to the place we had booked to stay in for the night we had to take 2 trains. The hardest part was working out how to buy a ticket! We managed to find a ticket machine that had a very-welcome button that translated everything into English and that sent us on our way towards Haydnstrasse and the Pension Haydn where we're currently staying.
By this time it was quite late and we were getting hungry and thankfully there was a kebab shop about 3 mins walk from our room ... but they spoke no English. It's amazing the difference between here and Austria where everyone seems to speak English but here it's quite different. We've run into many people so far who speak no English at all. However, ordering ein doner sandwich and ein doner sandwich nein tomato didn't turn out to be too hard for Annie who is embarrassingly good at this whole language thing. We're both getting a lot better at interpreting written German though which helps a lot when reading signs and understanding when train signs tell you what the next stop is!
Knackered and ready for sleep that was the end of that day. The plan for tomorrow (even though I'm writing this today errr I mean tomorrow) is to head out and see Dachau, the infamous concentration camp. We've all seen photos of it but who knows what it will be like to actually be there ... watch this space.
Chau! (yay people say that here too!)
Hansel & Gretel :P
)
