Munich

I went down to Munich, on a train journey that lasted nine hours. If you ever do have to make a nine hour train journey, I highly recommend travelling by ICE (Inter City Express). The seats all come with their own individual pillow, and the interior looks a bit like a cross between a private jet and a space ship- all flashing lights, smooth automatic doors, chrome and wood. I was able to sleep my way through a few of the hours, spent a long time looking out of the window, ate, read, and amazingly didn't get too bored. That didn't mean I wasn't greatful to eventually get to Munich though!

It was really good to see Hayley, her Munich friends, and some of the many Leeds lot spending their year in Germany. We had a meal, went to Hofbrauhaus, a famous beer hall, then spent the evening in an entirely sensible way for someone who'd been up since six and had a nine hour journey- we went out to a club, and didn't get back until the trams started running again in the morning. Apparently that's a typical Munich night, and I was there to see what life in Munich was like...

After a long lie in, and some good bacon sandwiches (bacon is one of those ingredients that only appears in German shops very infrequently), we went out to see the Olympiapark, which had good views across Munich from the top of a hill. The Alps were even visible in the background. It's amazing what a difference in temperature there was, I was walking around in just a jumper, whereas in Stralsund I can't remember the last time I left the house without wearing my coat, hat, scarf and gloves.

We also saw the English Garden, a massive park in the centre of Munich, which has a river which has a current big enough for surfing on. It was quite surreal seeing someone wearing a wetsuit and flippers, carrying a surfboard, just walking through the park alongside all the families and other people who were out enjoying the weather.

In the evening, we had pizza, then went ice skating with a group of Hayley's friends at the outdoor ice rink. Ice skating always seems like such a good idea, until you get onto the ice and remember that you can't actually skate very well, and you've just paid for two hours clinging to the railing and being overtaken by small kids going backwards. It was fun though, and then we recovered in a beer hall afterwards.

On Sunday, we went out to the outskirts of Munich, to a lake called Starnberger See, which was very pretty. The Alps were visible in the background, the lake was calm, the weather was nice, and although there were loads of people there, it still felt quiet and peaceful there.

Basically, full marks to Munich, it's a really nice city. One weekend is definitely not enough time to do everything there, so at some point (probably not this year, there's only so many times I can face a 9 hour journey, and there are other corners of Germany I haven't been to yet) I will be heading back!