After four consecutive days of company visits, today was a different type of day. I returned to my usual breakfast consisting of a turkey sausage sandwich today, but after that, the whole day was a new experience.
Today was Munich day, so we boarded a train for the city. Apparently, this was one of the nicest trains that any of my classmates had ever seen, but all I remember from the train is the soft headrests on the seats. As soon as I sat down and we started to leave the station, I was asleep. I eventually woke up, and five minutes later, we were arriving in Munich. Immediately after, we headed to the town square and met today’s tour guide. The tour began right there in the town square with the city’s old and new town halls. We then went to a large area with many small, one-room buildings where food was sold. The sheer amount of options was overwhelming, and I knew that later in the day, I would have to follow someone to lunch because I would not have been able to choose just one of the places.
The rest of the tour consisted of the Hofbrauhaus, a very historic building; a mall built to rival those in the United States; and the former church of Pope Benedict XVI, whose papacy ended just four years ago. After the tour ended, most of the group stayed together to climb 302 steps of St. Peter’s church. This seems like quite the trek, but it was really just a warm-up for what we would be doing in less than a week: climbing 768 steps of a cathedral in Ulm. At the top of this “small” tower though, the view was amazing.
After the climb, we were ready for lunch. As expected, I let the others decide where I would eat, and I’m not disappointed with their judgement. I had salami and cheese on a buttered pretzel, a much more German meal than what I had had yesterday. Next, a few of us went souvenir shopping for our friends and family at home. While some admired the merchandise for the city’s soccer team and others searched for the best postcard in Munich, I bought the souvenirs I always seem to buy: shirts for my brother and dad, a mug for my mom, and a magnet for our fridge.
We spent the next couple hours exploring the city, and while doing so, a parade happened to be passing by. Like in every parade, there was a marching band, and as a musician, I really enjoyed seeing the band and hearing their music.
Finally, everyone reunited and walked across the city to dinner at a burger restaurant. One more American meal couldn’t hurt, right? We left the restaurant just in time to dash to the train station and board the train. I don’t even know if we were all in our seats by the time the train left, so our timing couldn’t have been better. Overall, it was a fun a day with a lot of physical activity. I should enjoy this as much as possible because tomorrow will definitely be a sadder, more emotional day.