The train pulled into the station a few minutes before midnight, just a little under thirty minutes late. It had been a long day and we were hopeful that we could find the hostel easily this time around. Easier said than done. We walked past the “quiet side street” before realizing

it fifteen minutes later. It was only a slight detour and once we arrived, we were amazed by the facilities. It was very clean, spacious, and contemporary. The faucets on the sink even shined… a true first. The guy at the reception desk was young and flirtatious, which slightly made up for our sour moods. We were only going to be there for ten hours anyway.

Neither of us could have predicted that the first thing we would see when we stepped outside would be snow. In early October. I whipped out my gloves in a flash, as I am not the kind of person who thinks that snow is “pretty.” Since our stay in Munich was so short, we didn’t choose to do any specific tours or museums. I would have liked to have done the Munich Beer Challenge or the Concentration Camp/Third Reich tour. We just went around to the various plazas throughout the city, which happened to be quite boring compared to those we had just seen in Prague.

Prolonged exposure to the cold was putting a dent in our spirits and for the first time we became agitated with each other. It was inevitable. At 11:00am, we were fortunate enough to catch one of the great attractions of the city, a large clock on a state building in which figurines danced around a circle. About thirty minutes later, Leah and I stopped in the middle of a city square and spontaneously hugged each other, laughing at how ridiculous this situation had become. We couldn’t be annoyed with each other any longer, and decided to go into a Starbucks to get some sandwiches and hot chocolate.

Afterward, we went shopping at the Viktualienmarkt, an authentic German market with craft and sausage vendors. I somehow lucked into snagging a white and gold Oktoberfest 2009 sweatshirt for about $10. It even has rhinestones! Then we browsed a few German antique shops, looking for something Patrick would enjoy, but most of them were closed for a lunch break, unfortunately. There were quite a few World War II medals and knick-knacks. Shopping in antique stores is one of my favorite things to do in Europe, you never know what kind of historic treasure you will find.

There wasn’t much left to do at this point, so we took the subway to Koningsplatz, a plaza surrounded by Greco-Roman architecture. That entertained us for about five minutes before we decided to head back to the train station to look for a post office, grab some souvenirs, and get a drink. The train left on time and as I’m writing this, I’m watching the Swiss Alps pass through my window at sunset. My eyes have never seen anything more beautiful.