Chilling in the Wombat Hostel Cafe, sipping on my Elderflower lemonade, I’m waiting for the rain which is about to fall down on Munich. This is my first stop of my interrailing journey towards Sofia, Bulgaria, where my new volunteering adventure will start. No worries, I won’t be away again for months and months, the project is only 6 weeks, so I will be home again in September.

But first, interrailing through Europe! I always had this idea, and this summer seemed like the perfect timing. After going to Paris by train, I was sure, this is the perfect way of traveling. After yesterday, I’m not that sure anymore. This German train system is honestly a joke, the only thing I can do about it is laugh. And wait. I started my trip in Amsterdam, and was already stressing about the 5 minutes delay we got on the way there. I had 15 minutes to transfer to my connected train to Frankfurt, but had nothing to worry about, the train was luckily waiting on the same platform. The highspeed ICE took me super quickly through the Netherlands to the border with Germany, and as soon as we crossed that border, everything went to shit. The train got delayed by 30 minutes, didn’t stop at one of the stations it was supposed to stop, and almost didn’t make a alternative one for the people who were supposed to get off on that particular station. When we finally arrived at Frankfurt Airport, I was assuming I missed my next train by a mile, since we arrived so late. But when I walked down the platform, I noticed on the info board it had not showed up yet. Which meant, more delay, but there was not even an alternative way of getting somewhere. It wasn’t just my train, but any train coming from that direction wasn’t running. I got some extra water and patiently started waiting. And isn’t that the biggest part of traveling anyways? So, after two and some hours, there finally was the train to Munich. I wanted to get a direct one, for the one with multiple transfers was packed as well, and this one not that much. After I got myself a seat, the guy next to me was super kind and got me some water in exchange for keeping his seat safe.

After a few hours of enjoying the views of the German countryside, we made a stop in Ulm, which is where Lena grew up, so of course I messaged her and told her about this, in my spoiled Dutch eyes, disastrous journey. She just laughed and was like, welcome in Germany! But it didn’t end here. As I was looking at the view, my neighbour from before nudged at me, saying this train wouldn’t go to Munich anymore, so I had to transfer at the next station. I’ll never complain about the NS, ever again. When I finally arrived at Munich Hauptbahnhof, I quickly got some food and went over to one of the ticket machines to buy my ticket for the metro. Super confused, a lovely girl from Romania came over to help me out. It was her first time as well, but since her sister lives here, she had gotten instructions. So together we managed to buy a ticket (and old school strippenkaart) and there we said goodbye again. At the hostel, hungry and tired, I had a little dinner, as I was not even that hungry any more after all, I took a quick shower and went to bed. Looking back at this eventful journey, I just felt happy and lucky, because no matter how bad it seems, there are always people willing to help you out, and together you can complain and laugh about it. Now I’m really looking forward to exploring Europe, with or without delays.

This morning started with a little sleeping in, and after getting ready for the day, I made my way towards the Old Town. With one of my self guided walking tours, I started at Marienplatz, the square in the middle of the city. It looked beautiful, with the old architectural buildings and little restaurants. The tour told me about the New Town Hall, with the two level Glockenspiel, or the carillon, which apparently contains 43 bells and 32 life-sized figures. It looked impressive as is, but as I read further, it said that between 11 am and 12pm, there would be a ‘show’, with the bells providing the music, and the figures spinning and dancing around. And what were the changes, I was at the square around 11:40, so I could see it! To kill a little time, I walked around the area behind the square, enjoying the music of some street performers and the sights of some churches. When it was showtime, the whole square was filled with people. It started with just some bell ringing, and being a bit disappointed, as soon as I wanted to leave, some ooh’s and aah’s coming from the crowd stoped me. The figures started their dance, and it was actually pretty cool.

I continued my tour, and got some lunch, where I looked into the rest of the stops. One big one I would pass by, was the Residenz Royal Palace. It said it would be worth a visit, so of course I would spend some time there during the afternoon. The website told me that it is a smaller version of Versailles, and it was, but since I have got recent pictures in my mind and on my phone, I definitely prefer this palace over Versailles! For starters, it was a lot less busy, but it felt more toned down. I mean, of course it was still grotesk and all, but a tiny bit more modest. Part of the palace, but with a different entrance, was the theater. And this, I really liked. It was like stepping back in time. In palaces and other historical places I feel it as well, bit this was just spectacular to see. Can we time travel and see an opera or play in there, please?

So after that, the next stop was another church, the Theatine Church. It is a Rococo structure that was the first Baroque-style religious building in Munich. Pretty cool as well.

I chilled for a bit in the Hofgarten, next to the palace, before the clouds went to dark and said rain would come crashing down. It still hasn’t, by the way. More to come tomorrow!