May 12 2012

May 12, 2012

Waking up early today I decide to head out for my second run in Germany and head towards some parks that I had seen yesterday. Finding one park that had some running paths along the river I wish that I had a few more days in Regensburg to explore these paths, but sadly could only go a couple miles down them before I had to turn around and head back to the hotel to prepare for the trip to Munich.

We left Regensburg about 11am and made the hour and a half drive to Munich. This time I was awake for part of the drive and actually got to see some of the German countryside. All of the farms in Germany seem so manicured and put together. There is a yellow flowering plant that is grown in a lot of the fields that I’m going to have to look up the name to before I leave, apparently this plant is one of only a few that Germans actually grow themselves. After about ten minutes of enjoying the countryside however, I once again fell asleep. When I finally woke up it was to our bus driver yelling, in German, and honking is horn at the car in front of us, who wasn’t moving. Now I know my road rage comes from the German side of me. J

Finally we arrived at our hotel in Munich, called the Hotel Blauer Bock. After checking into our rooms, which are very similar to the ones that we lived in in the Hotel Weindl we set off for a quick tour of downtown with Dr. Copeland and Dr. Rivello. First we stopped at a little Italian pizzeria just a block from our hotel. Dr. Rivello is very good friends with the owner, Luigi, and we all got to meet him. It was really cute when he shook all our hands he would shake our right hand, then put it in his left hand so that all our hands were together, I felt like we were about to do a cheer. After saying goodbye to him we went to the Marianplatza in part of the old city of Munich, which is only a few blocks from out hotel. Since it was raining we didn’t take a very long tour and instead of staying out, decided to head back to the hotel for a bit. I finally was able to get online again, though I must admit that not having contact with the outside world for three days was quite liberating. It gave me a chance to focus completely on what, and who, was around me at the time and not focusing on keeping everyone else updated with what was happening with my life. However, I am glad to be connected to the cyber world again. I was able to unpack all my stuff and contacted everyone back home to let them know that I was alive still. I’m sure my parents are glad they can breathe again knowing I didn’t get killed in the three days we were out of contact.

Finally everyone in my group was down packing and we headed out once again to explore the city, this time prepared for the rain with jackets and umbrellas at the ready. Since we were all hungry we decided to eat in the small Italian place that Dr. Rivello recommended, as he is good friends with the owner. Unfortunately my German isn’t very good and I ended up ordering a pizza with goat cheese on it. Thankfully I was splitting it with someone else and was able to stomach down half of it, though I will be eating a much bigger dinner. We then walked all down the Marianplatza and stopped in a few of the clothing stores. Given the slightly dark and dank weather that Germany is known for I expected the clothes to resemble that, however, they are all bright and colorful here. Best of all scarves are a necessity here! Everyone wears them and there are so many different styles here, most of which are sadly out of my price range.  I did, however, find a unique glass spoon to add to my collection in a souvenir shop. (Side note: I have been collecting spoons from all the places I go since I was 8 years old. The hobby started out as a school project and it just never stopped. ) 

Once again us equine girls found four police horses that were guarding the platza. Apparently they were Bavarian Warmbloods, which I have never heard of before so I’m going to have to look that one up as well and see what kind of breed it is. They were gorgeous horses and I definitely wouldn’t have minded taking one for a ride around the plaza. After walking for about 3 hours we headed back to the hotel once more and decided to grab a bite to eat on the way back. Unfortunately all the places seemed to be closing up for the afternoon so we ended up back at the hotel. We asked the receptionist if there were any good eating places around, but she said most of them were a good walk away so we decided to eat at the Thai place next door to the hotel. I order the wonton and vegetable soup which is just what I needed to warm up after spending a rainy day outside. 

Now that I have caught up on all my journals over the past few days it's time for me to head to bed!

-Tess