A Munich Walking Tour and an Airport Hobo Stint

Moo had her official business today and so I did my usual free walking tour.  For those interested, I add my observation that no there was no Mike the Hottie.  I've forgotten the guide's name but I do remember he was Irish.  Once again, it was a beautiful day in Munich-town.  Perfect for a stroll!

We were first introduced to the most overrated, boring tourist attraction in Munich, the Glockenspiel at the New Town Hall.  Yes, even the guides dislike it.

They were the ones who warned us of it's slow, uneventful crappiness!

The Frauenkirche, also known as the church the Devil built.  A cold wind surrounds the church all year long -  ooh spooky.  The story goes that in order to construct the church quickly, the builder asked for the Devil's help and promised to make it a windowless structure.  Little did the Devil know that the builder had tricked him so when the Devil came to inspect the completed church, he stomped his foot angrily and here the footprint remains.

Also within the walls of the Frauenkirche is a little plaque featuring the current Pope.  He's a Bavarian and supposedly enjoys a beer every now and then.

This gold cobblestone is located on Viscardigasse, a little alley located behind the Feldhernhalle.  The gold strip indicated the path people would take to avoid having to give a Nazi salute.  Hence the nickname, Dodger's Alley.

The lucky lions.  If you rub the noses of three, you'll have good luck.  If you rub the noses of four, you're a greedy bastard and you get nuffin.  

Inside the Hofbräuhaus, where men used to pee under the table (just unbutton the lederhosen flap) while simultaneously drink their beer.  In olden times of course.

The Jewish synagogue.  An interestingly shaped modern building.

Munich's maypole.  One certain days of the year, if one city successfully steals another city's maypole, the loser city has to throw a party for the winners.  Yay! 

My final hotdog for the trip.   

Afterwards, I met up with Moo at the Hauptbahnhof to catch our relevant trains.  I marvelled at the German efficiency, watching each S-Bahn train pull into the platform, minute after minute.  Moo bid me adieu while I began my journey back to London and she headed off to Belgium.  This is where it all started to go wrong.

I boarded my S-Bahn airport train and chugged my way towards the airport.  My train would arrive 90 minutes before my scheduled flight which is a nice (though some would argue - too long) buffer.  Six stops into the journey, the train remained sitting at a station for about five minutes.  A bit odd, but I figured the train was being held back to regulate the too-efficient service.  An announcement was made in German but no one seemed bothered by it.  After 15 minutes of nothing, some people started getting antsy and began leaving the train.  Another announcement was made and more people started moving off the train but some remained in their seats.

I asked the hot guy sitting next to me what was happening.  He had been speaking Spanish on his phone but he was obviously one of those awesome, hot, multilingual, European guys.  He informed me (in his lovely accented English) that there was a problem with the train and they were unsure when it will be fixed.  (Thank you hottie European man.)

Oh f**k.  It was chaos at the station with an Oktoberfest-inflated population trying to catch buses and flag down non-existent cabs.  After flapping my arms for awhile and doing nothing useful, I decided the best option was to return to the Hauptbahnhof using the underground network (the U-Bahn trains were still functioning) and get a cab from there.

The underground was packed like how the tube is at peak hour with severe delays.  So after 1.5 hours of starting my journey, I was back where I started at the Hauptbahnhof.  I couldn't see any available cabs but then yay (!) I saw an airport bus loading up passengers and sardined my way on.  My flight was leaving in an hour and the bus journey would take 45 minutes.  Yes, I was going to miss my flight.

But the saga didn't end there.  Arriving at the airport, I was advised to queue in the non-moving ticket queue.  My patience was taken to the limit and after 50 minutes of standing in line, I cracked it.  I left the queue and tried to muscle my way to the Bag Drop-Off counter.  The woman sent me back to the ticket queue.  I hadn't asked the two guys standing behind me to mind my spot but I just gave them a pathetic face with a 'Can I pop back in here?' and they let my sorry ass back in.

When I finally got to the front of the queue, the last flight back to London had just closed and the best they could do was book me on the 6am flight the next day.  Oh and make me pay €50 for the flight change!!!!

So that's the story of how I ended up doing this in Munich airport.

I was too pissed off to consider an airport hotel.

I felt like a homeless hobo. 

A fellow hobo.  

I was hoping for a shower in the terminal but once I cleared security, there weren't any!

I did the next best thing and washed my feet in the bathroom sink.

The good thing is I can now add 'being an airport hobo' to my list of travel adventures.