Luckily my nose was still pretty blocked up so I didn't have to smell the tent, but I was told it smelt very musty and very much like feet. When we arrived we were informed that they don't accept card. Unfortunately for us, we didn't have enough cash on us to pay. However the guy at reception told us that there was a grocery store a 10 minute walk away that had an ATM. Only issue, it closes at 8. By this time it was 7:45. We had to race to this grocery store, and we only just made it in time to get cash out. It was pretty lucky. Once we were all checked in, we were handed our blankets and informed that there were no pillows provided. So we had to use blankets stuffed in t-shirts as makeshift pillows. The first night wasn't too cold, I think I only needed two blankets and I was comfortable. We were lucky enough to find a free bunk so we were able to sleep close to each other. We got dinner from the camp bbq and went to bed, it had been a long day.
The heatwave finally seems to be over in Germany. We awoke to an overcast day, and found that it was actually a little chilly. But it was so much better than the heat we didn't care. We made our way to Marienplatz, which is kind of like the central square in Munich. It is not to be confused with Marianneplatz, which is in fact just a normal street with nothing too exciting to see, as we accidentally found out. We wandered around the square for a while looking at all the different shops and buildings. Standing in the centre of Marienplatz, is one of the most beautiful and amazing buildings I've seen. It's the new town hall that was built in the 19th century, and is still used today as the Mayors offices.
It's an incredible, huge gothic building with bright red flowers lining the balconies. I loved the way the red flowers stood out against the black sandstone walls of the building.
After eating lunch we made our way to the markets that are close by Marienplatz. It was fairly late in the day, so I think many of the stalls were closing up. So it wasn't that impressive of a market, and we were kind of dissapointed. By this time it had begun to get really cold and windy so we made our way back to the tent. Whilst the previous night had not been too bad, this night was absolutely freezing. I slept under 5 blankets! It was really horrible actually.
We woke up fairly early, as you do when you are sleeping in a tent. We had decided that we were going to go on a free walking tour. We really enjoyed the tour, as we usually do, and we learnt a lot about Munich. Once the tour was finished we made our way to the famous and very beautiful English Gardens. I think our guide said that they are the largest public gardens in the world. Bigger than Central Park in New York. They were very beautiful. Once you stepped into the park it was hard to believe that you were in the middle of the city. There is a river/canal running all through the gardens that you are allowed to swim in. There is a section of the river where the rushing water had created a wave, and people come to surf this wave! It was really cool to see! People were surfing in the middle of a park!
Some of them were really good too. Once we had had enough of watching the surfing we walked to one of the beer gardens that is located in the park. In the centre of he beer garden there is a large Chinese style tower that was given to Munich as a gift from China.
You are able to sit below this tower, and a band plays traditional German music inside. We got some beer, a pretzel and pork knuckle from the vendors around the beer garden and sat under the tower to eat our lunch.
It was really yum! And sitting in a park, listening to German music and eating good German food was an awesome experience.
Once we had eaten lunch we headed back into the main square and went to look at an old church that we had been told about. The inside was pretty spectacular, as most European churches are, and for just €1 you could climb to the top of the bell tower. We climbed over 300 stairs. The view of Munich at the top was very beautiful, you could see all the way to the alps. However, was it worth the climb? I'm still unsure.
It had been a very long day, so we made our way back to the tent. When we arrived we found that two of our friends from Grunau were staying there too! They had arrived that day, and were planning on going out for dinner, so they asked us to join them. We went to another beer garden and had dinner. It was a really fun night, and was a good way to spend our last night in Munich.
The next morning we were up very early to catch the bus to a place called the Wildschonau Valley. Luckily it was only a two hour bus ride. The place we are staying is in a small town in the valley, which is located in the Austrian Alps. We are staying at a ski lodge, that is right by the mountains. That first day we were both exhausted, and I wasn't feeling great. It was also raining so we couldn't go out into the mountains, so we had a relaxed day. The hostel we are staying at is quite small, and there were only 5 or so of us staying there. So we all got together that night and played a card game. It was really nice, I really love these smaller hostels.
Unfortunately, over night Harrison caught the flu that is going around! We had thought that he had been able to avoid it, as I was starting to get better, and there were less sick people on our buses. However it finally caught up with him, and he has been hit hard. We spent the morning in bed, and once Harrison had taken some cold and flu tablets and felt okay we decided to catch the gondola to the top of the mountain.
It was a beautiful ride up, and once we got to the top an even more beautiful view. It was just incredible, we could see the alps all around us and all of the little towns that looked so tiny from above.
At the top of the mountain there was a resturant that served traditional Austrian food, so we decided to have lunch there. Unfortunately, once the owner discovered that we were English he was very rude to us, and the food was not very good. By this time poor Harrison was not doing well, and was not able to eat the food. He was sitting at the table shivering like it was freezing, when it really wasn't. Luckily we had bought the cold and flu tablets with us so he took those and we got down the mountain as quick as we could. Once we got to the bottom he was starting to feel better, so we stopped for some apple strudel before heading back to the hostel. Harrison went to sleep for the rest of the afternoon. When he woke up he wasn't doing so great again. He was shivering and in pain and was unable to eat dinner. We made him a hot water bottle by pouring boiling water into a wine bottle and wrapping it in a towl, and sent him to bed.
This night was a hard one for both Harrison and I. Poor Harrison was up in the middle of the night puking, and just feeling awful. And I got a call from my parents telling me that my grandpa had passed away. He had been suffering with alzheimer's for a long time now, so in a way it is good that he is finally at peace. However it is incredibly painful for me being away from my family during this time. We were all very close to my grandpa, and his death has been extremely painful for all of us.
This morning Harrison woke up, and although he was slightly better than the previous night, he was still not doing well. We were meant to catch the bus to Venice today, but the guide on the bus found out that Harrison was very ill and wouldn't let us on the bus for fear of infecting other passengers, having to pull over for him to puke, and that Harrison would just have a miserable 6 hours. It is a little frustrating, as we have to move around our plans and accommodations; but I can't say I'm that upset. The Valley is absolutely beautiful, and a few more days here will definitely not hurt. We watched a movie in the morning, and Harrison has spent the afternoon in bed. He seems better than this morning, so fingers crossed his recovery is a quick one.
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