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May 15, 2015 - 10:30 p.m.
"munich, germany" or "hofbräuhaus"

5/15/15 10:30pm CEST

Hey Journal!

So today was a LONG day and the time difference has made me all discombobulated! It feels like yesterday and today and tomorrow all at the same time!

So, we landed in London at about 7:45 BST. The flight was the best I've ever taken. Everything was smooth, we had a whole row to ourselves and we had nice flight attendants and good food!

We got waited on a long line to go through the UK Border and the man who checked our passports and stuff was really nice. He gave us directions to Terminal 2 which we needed to get to in order to go to our next flight.

We stopped at SimLocal to pick up my SIM for my phone. The girl there was super-friendly and we were set up in minutes! I popped the Verizon SIM out and the threeUK SIM in and I now have unlimited data for a month.

This is definitely the way to go with cell phones abroad but the problem is its mystifying and there isn't enough CLEAR information out there to explain to people what they get and why they should do this.

So- I have unlimited data, 300 mins, and 3000 UK texts for 30 days. It also works in Switzerland and Austria. Not in Germany. Luckily the hotel has wifi.

We got to Terminal 2 and went through security. Amazing- the UK version of the TSA is miles ahead of us. They have convenient stations to get you ready before you get in line and then they have amazing little converter belt circles that make it so smooth and easy to go through. It's nothing like the long lines and slow system at home.

We had about 45 mins before boarding so we sat down and looked up a place to stay in London. We found a great deal on AirBNB and attempted to book. My credit card was declined so I had to call Bank of America! This is the second time in two weeks it was declined AND I had told them ahead of time about our travel plans so they need to get their acts together!

Once that was squared away, we booked and we were set!

I saved some maps on Google Maps for Munich since I won't have internet there.

We boarded our Lufthansa flight and off we went to Deutschland!

I tried to get a little sleep on the flight again... They served sandwiches and free alcohol but I didn't partake this time. I had orange juice and vodka on the last flight! Lol

When we landed, we had to walk down a staircase and then get on a bus to the terminal! The airport was really nice but also really quiet. Going through the immigration area there was no line at all and was just walked right in.

We go some Euros from a Deutsche Bank ATM and then collected our luggage and headed to the Mietswagon area!

We had rented an automatic car which cost double the price of a manual. Manual is so much more common in Europe but we don't know how to drive one so.....

When we arrived the guy said he had no automatics but would upgrade is to a nicer manual car. We said we couldn't do that be we didn't know how to drive it! He went away for a while and came back telling us we had been really upgraded to a VIP car. We had a Mercedes station wagon! It's a really nice car but it also has so many crazy features that we don't understand!

We drove from the airport to the hotel and couldn't figure out where to park. Dan went in to ask about it and came back with a key and a laminated map to the parking garage. We went and found it then headed in.

The hotel is really nice... I feel like it's such a classic old school European hotel that's been modernized! It's really great and I'm very happy with our choice!

We got settled in at the hotel and I was really happy to brush my teeth for the first time in a long time!

Then we were hungry so we headed out to the Hofbräuhaus! Jackie had recommended it and so we went! We had to take the subway there and it cost 2.70 € per person each way.

We got there and it was a little intimidating. There are tons of tables in a giant room and the place is packed! You just walk around and sit with random people! You have to ask if a seat is available at a table and just go for it!

It's a little unsettling when you haven't even started drinking yet!

Eventually we found a place to sit and when we did it was a little awkward. You say hi to the random people at the table but you don't really know what to say/do! We ordered our food and talked to each other and just kinda waited for the right moment.

In time, we broke the ice and started talking to the people we sat with. They looked like they were in their mid 20s and they were all really nice.

They were from Switzerland and had come to Munich for the weekend. They said it took two hours to get here. We talked about so many random things from the Swiss economy, the exchange rate, education, the weather, language, vacation time, and so many random things!

The first reaction to learning that we were from Long Island was, "rich people are from Long Island!"

I think we were probably talking about an hour and a half. My favorite was the one all the way on the left side of the table, he was sitting across from me and he said he was the only one of the four of them to go to college...that most people in Switzerland learn a trade, and that now when he looks for a job he has to explain why he DIDN'T do that and why he has no work experience.

One of the last things we did before they left was to find out each other's name. First names only...so we have no idea who they are and can never contact them ever again!

We had a hard time hearing them because the place was so loud and some of their names were a little unfamiliar. The best we could figure out was, from left to right, Adrian, Darius(?), Pasqual, and Simon. The only one I'm certain about is Simon.

So once they left, we started to get ready to leave...and it's funny because now the tables were turned. We were sitting, we were established and had no awkward problem of finding a table and people started coming over to US to ask to sit with us! It was great. This group of people from Georgia came and sat down. The only one I spoke to was named Ravi, but there were about 4 others, too. They were really nice, and we had planned to get up and leave but started chatting with them for a while. Dan was telling Ravi which beers he liked and stuff. We didn't stay too much longer, and then we headed out!

We walked back to the subway station and checked out some of the city along the way.

When we got back to the hotel, we showered up and we had been up for almost 33 hours! We were tired but also kinda had energy to do something! I took a shower and Dan tried to find some place to go, but there really wasn't anything nearby.

We figured the best bet was to get to sleep, so now we're ready for bed. It's 10:30PM CEST.

Tomorrow we were going to take a tour of Munich but we don't know how much there is to see here so we may drive about a half hour, get breakfast, and then go to see a concentration camp.

Anyway, it's been a REALLY long and really eventful first day of our trip! Everything is going really well so far so I'm super excited!

Until tomorrow...

Goodnight. :)