Day 16-17 Homeward Bound

Thursday morning dawned nicer than the past few days, with clear skies and an expected high of about 20C in Berlin. Of course, that meant we were leaving…


Now that we understand the European Rail System, it was easy enough to find our bearings at the Bahnhof. We were heading down to the platform to wait for the train when it arrived, a few minutes early. This not being the originating point, it didn't stay that long, but we still had 10 minutes to get ourselves settled in before we left. Another 6 hours but with a different route, so we had many fewer stops and our fellow passengers were a lot quieter and more civilized than the first trip. Although Larry, in wandering around a bit, discovered that we were actually in a car that was designated First and Second Class, as opposed to a First Class only car. Quite a difference, and one that we will keep in mind for the next time we take to the rails in Europe. The First Class car has actual compartments rather than just a group of seats in an area divided from Second Class. But nonetheless, it was a comfortable trip. Overall, Monica got about a third of a baby blanket completed between the 2 trips and spare time, and Larry is getting used to using his e-Reader.

We arrived in Munich on time to the minute (what else?) to a beautiful and warm afternoon. After checking back into the Le Meridien, we picked up our stored bag, dropped everything in our room, and headed out for one last stroll into the old town, and one last Bavarian meal.

But before we did that, we had one more 'memory-lane' trip to make. As mentioned before, we had Googled the Hotel Pension that we had stayed in those 37 years ago, to find that it still exists And, since it was just down the street from the hotel, we just had to go find it. And you can guess what else we found, can't you?

Scaffolding!!!! Yes, that which no trip of ours would EVER be complete without – restoration and renovation. If there hadn't been a dozen people sitting in the café/breakfast/lunch area outside, we'd have rolled on the sidewalk laughing.

So, after that we set out to Marienplatz and the Hofbräuhaus for a last visit and beverage. We had also planned on doing a little more shopping, but of course all the stores were closed. It was Corpus Christi, a holiday in the heavily Catholic south of Germany. Not even the souvenir stands were open – and there were a lot of tourists around, especially at the HB. A couple of last photos:

Yes! - This makes 2 half litres of beer in one trip!

We also decided to go back to the Marktwirt, the restaurant near the Viktualenmarkt where we had had lunch before, for dinner. It was just as delicious as lunch, even though partway through dinner a few raindrops started to sprinkle into their small biergarten.

Pork roast and real potato dumplings



The little alleyway where the restaurant is located



After a slow wander back to the hotel – after all we did have to work off dinner and the beer, we got everything packed up and went to bed. After all 5:00 in the morning comes pretty early…And thanks, Maureen for the e-mail to make sure we got up on time!

So as we type this last report for this trip, we're sitting – ALONE – in the First Class compartment of a Lufthansa A340, somewhere over eastern Labrador.

This certainly has been an experience. Our very own cabin crew, just about anything you could want, including utter silence. Not to rub it in or anything, but here are a couple of photos of the cabin and the meal service:

Last chance to revisit the springtime asparagus tradition

This was the 'afternoon snack'!! - Note that even the butter is imprinted  'First Class'

Hope you had as good a time reading the blog as we have writing it. Now we just have to prepare for all the workout time we'll need to work off that good German food!! We can hear Eric chuckling in anticipation!!!