Morg!
We have left Munich and are now in Cologne. I like Germany, their transport system is really efficient and the train staff are really helpful.
So, Munich, the home of beer! Our original plan of 2 nights was quickly extended to 3 after finding some awesome beer halls on our first night. At first it was a bit hard to figure out how to get a drink- there's no bar and it's waiter service. We had our first 1 litre beers and sat on long wooden tables whilst being served by men in Lederhosen and an oompah band played in the background. It was brilliant! The only downpoint is that they all shut at 12.
The next morning, we went to have breakfast at 9.30 (it isn't supposed to finish until 11) and after filling our bags with enough ham and cheese rolls to last us the day we went to leave. But the staff had gone and the door was locked. It was only 10.15 and we we're stuck for about 30 minutes trying to shout for help until someone came by. We were offered an apple for the inconvenience and got ready to go crazy at them for closing early until we noticed the clocks. I'd forgotten to change my watch and we were still an hour behind! This meant we also had to take a brisk walk into the center to make our walking tour.
Munich's a really nice place, it's now in the running for the title of my favourite city :) We tried to do a 'pub tour' that evening but noone turned up, the guy running it gave us a map of some good beer halls and we did our own 'tour'. None of the places were as full as they had been on Saturday night but there were still big wooden tables and waiters in Lederhosen :) only the Hofbrauhaus has a band every night aswell. However, one hall was packed that night, the main area had been booked out. It was a big party for gay men. Stereotypical gay men. In tight black leather clothing and a lot of PDA going on. Think 'the bear' from American Pie 3 with the hole in the back of his trousers. Feeling a little uncomfortable, we quickly moved on.
On the second day of waking up with a hangover we went to Neuschwanstein, a castle 2 hours out of Munich built by a crazy king. It was apparently the inspiration for Disney's sleeping beauty castle. Surprisingly we got in for free (18 and over you're supposed to pay) and hiked up a mountain to get to it. It was quite impressive but the guided tour inside was rubbish. The castle wasn't completed and there were only about 6 finished rooms- we couldn't take pictures inside either. On the train back we ended up in the middle of a guided tour and were kept entertained by conspiracy theories surrounding the king's death. We managed to do the pub tour as soon as we got back to Munich, meeting a load of cool people and a group of annoying American girls. It was a really good night and we ended up at a youth hostel bar. For the first time ever Grace was drunker than me and I stayed awake longer! We didn't end up getting back to our hostel until 4, and then my alarm went at 7.
When I was packing my bag this morning I realised that I didn't have my camera. After a phone call to the hostel and a run across the city at 8am I'd recovered it- incredibly lucky! I still had time to walk into breakfast, make a few sandwiches and then leave to get our train. The plan was to go to Luxembourg today, however our train was delayed, we missed the second one so we're staying in Cologne today and heading over to Brussels tomorrow- the last stop!
We've had a few itinery changes concerning the next part of the trip. Our flights to Cairo and Tokyo have been (understandably) cancelled. We're looking to go to Hong Kong and Vietnam instead but haven't been able to book anything yet, but the plan is still to fly out Sunday night/ Monday.