Primo Giorno

So people got pretty smashed for our last night in Munich.  Had a good time at the Hostel bar again, before going to another bar area.  We had to get up pretty early though, to check out, and leave.  Had some food and drink and Yarmas before boarding the Luftansa airport bus.  Made the mistake of getting off at the wrong terminal, and had a far walk to the other terminal.  We checked in a little too early though, because there is nothing to do on that side of the airport.  Except two crap airport stores and a small food stand we were forced to deal with.  This airplane was delayed, because the plane getting to Munich was delayed.  A common recurrence with us already.  We didn't have to go through customs or anything, so we didn't get any Italian stamps in our passports :(   Our driver was waiting for us, and whisked us away to Trastevere.  I don't get how these people drive their big vans like maniacs in very narrow streets, but they do, and boy are they aggressive.  We checked out our new apartment digs, which is a very nice two story flat, with two studio type suites on the upper floor area.  We explored our neighborhood a little bit, and got a panini since we were starving.  Then we were off to walk to St. Peters Square, only to find out the visiting hours were over, since a papal concert was at 8 or something.

We went to a Pizza by the slice place featured on Anthony Bourdain's "The Layover" for dinner, and I had some pizza composed of prosciutto, buffalo mozzarella, and tomato.

We walked to the Vatican entrance, chilled before it was our reservation.  And then we were off.  It's just amazing how empty it was, when you first get in there. Not hordes of people, lots of comfortable room to see pieces of history.  The Egyptian museum collection it whatever, but the Villa Excacvations at Tivoli, showing Hadrian as a Pharoah/Roman soldier statue's were cool.

We actually stopped in the Belvedere courtyard this time, so I got to see my Laocoon and his Sons sculpture.  It's just astounding seeing all the historical sites and stuff.

Whether its the Belvedere Torso, or the famous Discuss thrower statue.

 But this time we made sure to visit the Raphael Rooms, and boy do they not disappoint.  I thought they we're going to be small or something, but the paintings are ginormous and cover the whole wall.  From the Room of Constantine, to the room featuring the School of Athens, the detailing by Raphael and his assistants is insane.

We blazed through the Borgia apartment, and the Collection of modern art before we could get to the Sistine Chapel.  The first you notice, was how empty the chapel was.  Of course all the seats are taken, but instead of dealing with 200 people on the floor all looking up and bouncing each other, you are on the floor with less than 50 people.  The guards don't have to yell as much, but they like to tell. They also love scolding people for using their cameras.  After this, everyone was really sleepy and we needed a taxi ride back to the apartment.  It's kind of sad that we're essentially staying in the loud and party part of the city, and today is the only day without rain, and that we're all in bed before midnight.  But that's life I guess.

Arriverdeci

Day Zwei

 So after drinking a lot of beers last night, I thought we'd wake up a little hungover, but nahh, we were all good to go.  We started our day by going to Yarma's at the Hauptbahnhoff (Train Station), and getting some drinks and some food at a nearby stand. Props to David, Jeremy, and Julian for having a beer and a brat for breakfast.   Then we got on the tram to Schloss Nymphenburg. We explored the gardens and pretty much walked around the whole backside.
We were lucky to complete this before the rain started.  Then after it started raining, we walked to Hirschgarten.  The biggest beer garden in Munich.  We had some delicious sausages/sauerkraut.

Then after that, we decided we were going to eat lunch at the Viktualienmarkt, but when we got there, it was closed.  The Germans are scared of the rain.    So after that, we decided to go up the tower of St. Peters church, to get the best views of Munich.  

Then it was getting near lunch time, so it was time to go to the Hofbrauhaus.  We sat with these awesome German people, Hans and Marie from Hannover.  Enjoyed our Beer, Bretzns, and Wienerschnitzel with them.

We were pretty drunk then, so we had to drop Jeremy and Julian off at the Hostel to rest and relax.  David and I then went to Theresienwiese, where the Oktoberfest is hailed.  It's pretty massive, and neat to see empty.  We visited the Statue of Bavaria, and walked around the hall of famous Munich's busts.

 After that, it was time go get some dinner.  I wanted to go to Paulaner Keller, since the Brauhaus is closed for renovations, but the tram that takes you there was out of commission, so we had to pass.  We instead went to Loewenbrau. It was pretty cool there, I enjoyed my burger once again.  While everybody else got some sort of sausage sampler dish.  After that, we headed to our hostel for a nightcap, and met up with our friend Hans.  He had to tell us that you drink Jaegermeister after a meal, and not as a shot.  But we enjoyed some radlers, lemonade/vodka, and other drinks with him.   Munich has been really chill, it's just a bust that everything has been closed.  So I can't wait to get to Rome tomorrow.

Auf Wiedersehen.

Day Eins

Day One.  Getting to the airport at LAX was fun.  Everybody in their adidas sweats, and Nike AIr Max 90s, everyone thought we were some sort of team.  Our flight to Vancouver was a little delayed, but everything worked out. Vancouver international airport is a very nice place.  Once we got on our Luftansa flight, it was a good time all around.  Warsteiners, Scotch, Gin, and Wine, and we were GUT.   The old bitch in front of me was annoying though, me and this Canadian dude didn't understand her deal.  Once we landed in Munich though, it was very easy to catch the Luftansa airport bus.  Then we got into Munich, and it was very exciting and refreshed my memory of the city.

Our hostel was dope, very fun, and nice people.

But the weather was rainy when we got in, so we went to the Englischer Garten expecting to have some brews at the beer garden(s) there, but nope, they were all closed.   So we just chilled at the Greek temple monument.

After that, we went to Augustiner Keller, and had the no.1 beer from Germany.

The beer garden was closed, but the restaurant wasn't.  It trips me out how little kids playing their Nintendo DS's are also drinking beers.  I had the Schweinhaxe, David had the Schweinbrauten (Roast Pork), and Jeremy had the Wienerschitnizel (Veal cutlet).  Our waiter from Albania was dope, and enjoyed speaking English with us. After that, we went to Sendlingor Tor to look for the cool bars, but we didn't find any we liked so we went back to our hostel street.  We partied at Wombats CIty hostel, met some very cool Australian people from Canberra.  Had cheap drinks, and then we went to our Hostel bar.  There we had another great time, met some locals.  And had shot after shot with them.  Talked about skateboarding, soccer, and surfing.  Day 1 was good, everyone got drunk and had a real good time.
Tschuss.

3rd Year Going Back.

This will be my third time going to Europe in a row this summer. This is the first time I'll be traveling with friends.  I'll be voyaging to Munich, Rome, Croatia, and back to my old stomping grounds, Florence.  I've been missing a proper lager, seeing a Renaissance master's piece daily, and avid soccer fans.  We're going to be hitting the ground running hard, and seeing all the sights I want to see again, and all the ones I didn't have time for.  Cheers to the crew.