travelling right, travelling light

In Munich, we celebrated the start of our Grand Tour with a visit to the ever-so-touristy Hofbrauhaus where we enjoyed a Mass of beer (ok, I didn’t quite finish mine…..) with some backpackers who were practically half our age. This was after dinner at the “Hax’n Bauer” restaurant, where I embraced the local cuisine and attempted a pig knuckle. I’m sure Lloyd enjoyed it….

After our Day 1 excesses (Lloyd had three liters of beer!), we didn’t quite manage to be at the Deutsches Museum (DM) at opening as we had planned. In fact, our 11am arrival seemed to coincide with the arrival of every teenager in Germany, who hooliganed around us wherever we went. Still, I have to say that the DM was a fabulous experience, and we really enjoyed the exhibits on mining and aviation. Who’d have thought mining could be interesting? The Germans have truly made it so.

We only had a couple of hours left after our extended visit to the DM, so after a final wander around the center of Munich, it was off back to the airport for our flight to Athens. Lloyd resisted one last taste of German beer at Munich airport (a decision he will surely come to regret), and we boarded our Aegean Airlines plane at about 7pm. Perhaps in true Greek style, we didn’t leave however until after 8pm, as it took a while for the crew to reconcile the number of passengers with the number of boarding cards issued. Not the kind of discrepancy you like to be in the midst of. Nonetheless, Lloyd was quite cheerful given the very attractive flight attendants (not sure that the American standard of political correctness has reached Greece yet - these ladies were selected for their looks and no mistake) – this was the first flight ever that Lloyd has happily volunteered for the aisle seat so he could admire the ladies swaggering up and down the aisles in their figure-hugging shift dresses.

I wasn’t complaining either. We were offered a sweetie prior to take-off (I can’t even remember the last time THAT happened), and a full dinner during our two and a half hour flight. And wait for the best part……. Though I know you will find this hard to believe, the flight attendants SMILED at you. United and American, take note!

Our perception of the Greeks continued to improve when we arrived in Athens to find that the Public Transportation was open despite the late hour. With the help of a very friendly young lady, we were able to take a bus into the center of town for 3,20 Euro each, saving a fairly hefty taxi fare. Hurrah! We finally hit the concrete mattresses of the Hotel Stanley at about 1.30am, and tried to get to sleep as quickly as we could knowing that we’d need to be up at 6.00am for our Day Trip to Poros, Hydra and Aegina.

We had our next stop in my old home-town of Munich!! We saw all the typical sites on a typical (read: wet) German day - Marienplatz, the Deutshes Museum, and the pedestrian area down town. To start things off right in the food department (that is, to get Jacquie into the adventure of eating strange new things!) we went for dinner at . . . the Hax'n Bauer. If you don't know, a Hax'n is a knuckle, and here in Munich it is the #2 most higly recommended food - after white sausage (for breakfast!). I got my pig Hax'n which i love (think dark pork with cracklin all around on a big, big bone) and Jacquie her introdustion to the world of strange food.

Overall, Jacquie (to my relief) really enjoyed Munich - lovely old buidlings, great mass transit and overall clean and tidy. I was simply back home, so it was nice to know that memory serves me well. I was even able to fond my way to the Hofbrauhaus ( I know - it's not Augustiner, but you can't replace that fest-like atmosphere and it must be done by any first time visitor!).

Take a peek at our pictures, as well as this little clip of our visit there!

Our trip officially started at 12.25pm today, at Nuernburg Hauptbahnhof when Lloyd’s parents dropped us off to catch our train to Munich. That’s it! No more family to host us, feed us or ferry us around; from now on everything we do will draw on our trip budget. No more comfy BMW SUV to transport our backpacks (mine at about 30lbs and Lloyd’s at about 45-50 lbs. . .). From now on, we will feel the full weight of all the “stuff” we researched and deemed indispensible for our adventure.

We’re already planning what we can ditch, and where, to reduce the load. ;o)

Having saved almost 30 Euros with the discovery of the Bayern ticket, we celebrated our superb cost effectiveness with a cappuccino and hot chocolate as we waited for our train. Ha! The first clue that we’re not your average backpackers! Our budget is limited for sure, but if you stick around you’ll see that we have pockets of pure decadence amidst our budget hotels, overnight trains and camping excursions. No doubt, you could travel for three times the duration on our budget. But we’re not 20 anymore and I need clean sheets and a hot shower and a decent cup of tea at least every 48 hours or so!