Willkommen in München!

The flight to Munich was a success! I was very excited to see my humans when they picked me up from cargo (and I was beyond excited to get out of that crate and have some water). We gathered all our luggage and got on a train to the city center. After that flight experience, the train was no problem. When we checked in at the hotel, they had a fancy water bowl and squishy dog bed all set up for me in the room (and I got lots of pets from the hotel staff). It was nice to stretch out and take a nap while my humans headed out to explore the old city (I’ll let Prime take over the narrative here…).

The old city is stunning, so much beautiful architecture to take in. Dinner at the Hofbräuhaus was a fun experience, such as gorgeous building (originally built in 1589) and festive atmosphere! We sat at a communal table with two young students from Russia. After listening to Drew and I speak English (and a few large beers), they asked if they could talk to us and practice their English. They were 17 and 18 years old on break from university in Moscow. They were excited to meet Americans and seemed genuinely perplexed by our response to their suggestion we visit Russia (“it’s not really a good time, what with the war and all…”). One of my favorite parts of international travel is meeting people from different cultures and perspectives, truly fascinating (and eye opening).

The highlight of our time in Munich was reuniting with our exchange student Amabel! She is in her first year of university in Freising (just north of Munich) and in true Amabel fashion had researched and planned sites and restaurants she wanted to take us to. From cathedrals to the open air market and Kaisersaal Residenz, she did a fantastic job! Topped it off with a celebratory dinner of Indian cuisine at Madam Chutney before saying farewell. So many laughs and memories made with this amazing young woman, we will definitely see each other again!

Prime wasn’t feeling so great on our 3rd day in Munich, so she stayed in the hotel with me and we had a lazy day catching up on sleep while Spare went to the Deutsch Museum (where he spent an exorbitant amount of time looking at an exhibit on bridges). Every evening my humans would have a drink at the hotel bar and became friends with bartenders Dennis and Giang Lee (or as Dennis liked to call him “Jackie Chan’s older brother”).. Both of them would give me pets when I walked through the lobby and they provided many laughs and interesting conversations for my humans!