Getting my culture and snack on

We left Switzerland on 10/4, which was sad. Such gorgeous country! 

Switzerland

Rode in the bus most of the day, and realized we ate our meals in 3 different countries that day: breakfast in Switzerland, lunch in Austria and dinner in Germany. Also picked up a small bottle of peach schnapps, which is really different than schnapps in the states--more boozy, less sweet. I have to figure out how to drink that up before I head home or Security at the Vienna Airport will be enjoying it.

Saw more beautiful countryside along the way, including more of Switzerland--and found out that's where Tina Turner now lives! Because our driver is required to take breaks every 2 hours,  we stopped at rest stops regularly, and they almost always had pay bathrooms (way cleaner than in US), a restaurant, and a great selection of snacks. One restroom really surprised me with its umm, interesting vending machine offerings?

We arrived in Munich in the evening and had dinner as a group at a restaurant off the beaten path. Great food (veal schnitzel, sauerkraut), but they were very short staffed and food came out slowly. If this was a US restaurant, people would have been ripping them a new one on Yelp. People use Yelp here as well, but it's usually just tourists and not many of them write reviews.

I did try my first Radler, which is half beer, half lemon soda--so delicious!! If you aren't a beer drinker, this is a nice alternative so you can feel like you fit in. This region's also known for white wine, and I've had some of that along the trip as well. At dinner, some of our party was finished eating before we even got out food, which was annoying. I've also noticed that German servers get a bit impatient with American tourists--they don't like being corrected and don't like taking your food order at the same time as your drink order. Are Germans supposed to be efficient? :) Probably good for us to slow down anyway, but these Rick Steves tours are on a fairly tight schedule if you aren't in free time. We've gotten used to moving quickly.

Dinner in Munich

The next day we did a 2-ish hour walking tour of Munich, which was fun and interesting. Saw some quirky things along the way and people were very nice there.

Such a cool city, they even have same-sex couple crossing lights!

At the end of the tour, we took the U Bahn (subway) to Oktoberfest. If you've ever taken a train in Asia, where it's allegedly very crowded, this was probably on par with that.

Here's Oktoberfest in a nutshell: big ass state fair + beer tents. It was cool, but I don't need to do it again. Cross that off the bucket list! I really liked Munich and don't think 2 nights was enough--so much to do and see!

Overall, I've never eaten so much and so much bread as I have in the past two weeks. It's a miracle my clothes are still fitting! And while it's nice to have someone else do the driving, scheduling, and ticket purchasing, I don't think I will do another Rick Steves tour. Prefer going at my own pace and picking my own lodging. Big fan of Airbnb and ensuring the places I stay have all the amenities I want, especially a washer and dryer and means to make my own coffee and tea.

Items lost: Debit card