Arrived!

We are in Germany!  We have actually been here for several hours now, since about 4:00 AM CST.  We had a short layover in Duesseldorf and then flew into Munich.  From Munich we took a train to our hotel.

The trains are very easy to navigate.  We had an easier time getting around in Germany than New York!  Our class was waiting in the lobby when we got to the hotel.  We checked our bags at the desk and left immediately for the town center, known as MarienPlatz.  It is a very busy place!  Lots of local vendors and some American ones, such as Mcdonalds and Subway.  There is a huge soccer game going on today so there were small  but loud pep rallies all over the place:

People really love their soccer here.  There is a beer garden in MarienPlatz that was packed.  We finally found an empty picnic table and sat down next to some people we did not know.  An older man, probably in his mid-40s, sat across from us.  Our friend Evan asked where he was from and he puffed his chest out and said “Old Germany.”  He then started telling us how he was from Berlin and he did not like America, in fact he HATED America.  He said this over and over again and would not answer why.  We weren’t looking for trouble so we just got up and left.  We found a small sidewalk café and stopped there for a drink and ice cream.

Then we walked around town for awhile and found the oldest church in Munich- it’s over 1,000 years old.  It has been rebuilt after the wars.  We climbed about 300 steps to get to the lookout point up top.  The steps were very narrow and the building was not air conditioned!

However, this view made it well worth it.

After this we came back to the hotel to shower and get ready for dinner.  We headed to the Hofbrauhaus, which is one of the oldest beer gardens in the area.  Hitler loved this place- the Nazis held meetings here, some of the first violent attacks against Jews were here, and Hitler proclimed the 25 theses that established t Nazi party here.  Today it is a happy place where people from around the world gather to have a good time.  Our group paid for the buffet and sat in the huge upstairs room with live entertainment.

All of those seats got filled up and we had a night full of singing, dancing, and laughing.

Well, mostly. I think the jet lag is setting in and have been in a pretty grouchy mood this evening (sorry Mark).  But after a good night's sleep all will be fine.  More to come.....