Willkommen!

It's kind of a fun game to play...how much extra would you spend to NOT fly on Air India? Some people would have dropped the plan altogether after they were seated next to several screaming indian children in a plane/sauna being served a dinner of shredded carrots and unsweetened yogurt...yet we were not deterred. not only did we sit on the runway for 5 hours in chicago, we even played along as the airline told us the plane would not leave for another 24 hours! what good sports we are. So, 30 hours after we initially arrived at the airport, and a rousing time watching Iron Man next door, we were off on our European vacation...headed eastbound towards the mother country of Germany where we were sure to revel in good times and drink our weight in first class pilsner while devouring liverwurst by the kilo. Life is grand!
Munich is incredible! What a cool city. I've already had my fair share of churches in this city, they are pretty amazing. Our hostel is great. It's actually a small hotel right near the train station, well within walking distance to the Marienplatz square, home of the famous Glockenspiel chimes and some of the world's best biergartens! great times. For dinner tonight, we each grabbed a sandwhich at a street side vendor, I went with liverwurst on pretzel bread while Carlyn played it safe and ordered a Brie on ''power bread''. We washed it down with some great Höfbraus brew, served in large glass steins in the biergarten. So far, I give German brew 3.5 stars. I'm itching for something a bit darker. Tomorrow we venture out on a bike tour of Munich, we've been told its the best way to see the city. The night will culminate with a grand beer tour of Munich's best breweries. Can't wait. Our german is quite shoddy...luckily everyone here seems pretty well versed when it comes to American tourists. I point at something I want...I open my wallet...they take my money...I am none the wiser. Carlyn seems pleasantly surprised with Munich as well. She told me prior to leaving that she would have skipped Munich all together if we needed to. After today, I think she has changed her mind...just wait until I drag her around the Deutsche Museum of Technology tomorrow!
_ Matt