Gutentag from Munich

Munich turned into one big CIU reunion. There were four rooms of students from school just on the second floor. Our hostel, Wombat's, was my favorite. It is run like a hotel (unlike some hostels in which people rent out apartment rooms). The lobby had comfy couches, there were computers and of course the Wombar with happy hour every night from 6-8 pm.

Corinne and I stayed in a 6 person mixed private room...which means it was co-ed but our room had it's own bathroom. The first night our roommates included a couple from Australian who were very nice and adorable, and a 20-something Russian we actually never talked to. I woke up early in the morning to see him walking to the bathroom in his underwear and the Australians said they actually saw him jet out of the bathroom naked once. The second night included the Australian couple again, Cory from LA who was working on his thesis on architecture and Australian 20-something #1. Corinne and I both noticed that Cory and the Australian like sleeping in their underwear too. Granted, the room was incredibly warm, but Corinne and I managed to stay fully clothed. The last night was Cory, Australian #1, a new 20-something Australian and a man who was sleeping when we came home and left before we woke up. These men snored and breathed heavy and it was very annoying.

After we arrived in Munich on Thursday a group of girls immediately searched out the shopping scene. Munich has amazing stores...and multiple ones just down the street from eachother. After shopping for a few hours, everyone went to Happy Hour and then got ready to go out. The 26 of us went to the Atomic Cafe, which was recommended by our hostel. The drinks were 9 or 10 euro each, quite a rip off, and the music was ripped off Oldies 95. Needless to say, it wasn't that great of an experience.

Friday morning we woke up early to go to the top of the clocktower before our guided tour of Dachau. We saw an example of the barracks, shower/gas chamber, crematorium, museum and a short film. It was all very disturbing but a learning experience. We had some idiot rednecks who would say "gee, that'd suck" after our guide talked about how people were tricked into taking showers and they really gave americans a bad image. They also smoked every chance they could, even though it's not permitted in Dachau. That's just classless and tacky.

Friday night we went to a beer hall called Auginsteiner's. The front desk at our hostel told us it more locals went there than the popular Hofburhaus. Auginsteiner's was packed and no matter where we moved, we were ablways in the way. I also got the feeling they didn't like Americans. After that we went to Club 4004 which was the most amazing disco I've ever seen. The main room had two bars, and there were 4 dance rooms that I saw, but people said there were tons more. One room had a 70s theme and a weird old man with a purple metallic shirt was grooving away by himself when I looked in there.

After spending time in public, my clothes and hair reek of cigarette smoke. It's so disgusting to shower, go out and come back home to have everything about you be dirty. I made the mistake of leaving my worn clothes in my locker in the hostel and the smokey smell spread to the rest of my possessions. I still think my purse has remnants of smoke odor still. I definitely appreciate Lawrence's smoking ban so much more now!

Saturday Corinne and I were super shoppers. Munich had at least 5 H&M stores, but they were all so crowded. Waiting in line to try clothes on was long and boring, but I bought a black suit jacket. I also bought long socks to keep my frigid legs warm. We went to a delicious dinner at a restaurant called Ratskeller in the bottom of the clocktower. The main entrance is on normal ground level, but it goes underground like a cave and twists and turns to so many rooms. I had beef pot roast and these spongy potato things which we quite delicious as well as a flavorful white wine. It is such a treat to have real meat considering my vegetarian ways as a result of the questionable cafeteria meat.

Munich reminded me a lot of New York City - very busy, commercialized, tons of buildings, restaurants and stores. It was a lot of fun, but Prague was still my favorite because it is so unique.