This was an early morning as we had to catch a train at 6:40 in the morning but luckily it was at the train station right across the street from our hotel. We got to the station and the platform wasn’t announced yet so we waited and bought a few snacks to eat on the train.

Once we got on the train and found our seats we settled in for what was scheduled to be a 3 hour ride to Stuttgart followed by another train to Munich. It started out normally and we relaxed and ate a little breakfast but then after the Strasbourg stop we left but soon stopped and waited for quite some time. As we had a short layover I worried about our connection but then some police came through and we thought maybe it was a routine border check or something. This led to the discovery that I didn’t have my passport! We looked and looked through our luggage and called the hotel to no avail. The last I had it was in my pocket when I changed some money the day before so we are assuming I was pick pocketed but it’s interesting they only got that. I went online and found I have to make an appointment with the US consulate here in Munich and have done that so more on that next post. After coming to terms with the issue we decided there wasn’t much we could do at the moment so back to the trip. Turns out the train had gone the wrong way due to a switch problem and we had to back track and head to Stuttgart but by now we we’re an hour late. We asked the porters on the train what we needed to do but luckily we just could hop on the next train to Munich at Stuttgart and our tickets would be valid. So after all of that we got to Munich a little late but safely. As we made our way to the subway realized my day of losing valuable things was not complete as I had left my camera on the train!!! I ran back down the super long train and got a janitor to let me on the locked train and luckily the camera was there! Whew! After I found Becky again we took the subway to the central square, Marienplatz, and emerged into Christmas!

We oriented ourselves and headed to the hotel a few blocks away. After a short rest we headed out to do a Munich City Walk audio tour.

The tour went all over Munich and we saw several beautiful churches, a market (though closed on Sundays), parks and other sites around old town Munich. This was a good orientation and helpful for keeping us going after two long tiring days. After the walk we stopped back at the hotel for a brief rest before heading to the Haxnbauer restaurant which is a bit touristy but apparently known for it’s pork knuckle (schweineshaxe). It was amazing and a needed meal after all that walking!

We continued back to Marienplatz and wandered through the Christmas market until it closed about 8. Came back to the hotel then and relaxed and uploaded pictures and worked on blog posts.