1st day in Munich, Germany

We flew into Zurich, Switzerland today and drove 2.5 hrs to Munich, Germany.  So why did we fly into Zurich if we're going to go to Germany?  It just sounded good at the time to fly into Zurich until we realized that any decent motel was $200 per night.  But its OK, though, how things turned out.  The drive to Munich was actually very pretty and fairly relaxing.  We were on the autoban (sp?), where they have no speed limit.  Well, in some parts there is a speed limit, if its posted.  But if there is no speed limit posted, then there is no speed limit!  But as strange as it sounds, I actually felt much more relaxed (and safe) driving here than in Italy.  The "no speed limit" thing works because everyone understands that if you are in the left lane, its to pass, then you get back in the right lane.  And in Italy, if you're in the left lane and they want to pass you, they get right on your tail, and I mean right on your tail, you feel like they're inches from your bumper.  But here, they get behind you, to kind of say, "Hello my friend, time to get in the right lane", but they give you a few feet of space at least and aren't so agressive, like in Italy.

My first impressions of Germany are that the roads are very nice, the people are friendly and it is very clean and orderly.  I have to say (and our Italian friends - please don't be offended) that one thing about Italy that didn't bug us at first, but did after 1 week was that, well, the Italians, how can I say this - not so nice...  I don't know if its because they're not crazy about Americans, or just tourists in general or maybe its just their communication style.  They're just very direct and to the point.  They have no time or energy for small talk or stupid questions.  Their response to you ranges from apathy to "that is the dumbest question I've heard in my life" or "why are you talking to me?"  I'm not saying all Italians are that way, but that was my general impression.

First day in Munich, Germany

So upon arriving in Germany, we checked into our motel, the K&K Hotel am Harras in Munich.  We were really hungry so we after we got our luggage in the room, we ventured out to eat.  We could just walk because there is a lot of stuff close by.  We asked the front desk where to go for beer, brats and saurkrat and they told us about a place down the street that was good and has a beer garden (a place outside where you can eat and drink beer). We walked to it and it was wonderful.  Mahn had crispy duck and potatoes, I had brats and kraut.  We both had some German beer.  It was very good.

We are very happy to be in this motel.  It was one of the least expensive we've stayed in ($90 per night - yup least expensive - you don't want to see our Visa bill...) but it is one of the best so far.  It has internet - in the room - and its free!  Its near cafe's and little markets, but still quiet.  And its very clean.  We stayed at the Hotel Venezia in Mestre the last 2 nights and the only good thing about it was the location - easy bus ride into Venice.  But for $120 per night, you got a shoebox of a room, that wasn't very clean and had paper-thin walls - you could hear EVERYTHING.  And then last night a buss load of American kids came in at about 10:30 and didn't stop slamming doors and talking until about midnight.  So anyway, this place is great - quiet, clean, and realaxing - we are going to sleep so well tonight...

Well, sorry no pictures.  I think we're going to go see some castles tomorrow, or maybe we'll just hang out at he beer garden all day....  Love, Mahn and Heather