Departures and arrivals

 Wednesday, 20 April 2022, 9:25am. 

The Uber pickup and drop went off without a hitch. Susie and I woke up about 0300 before the alarm went off, got dressed and made a final inspection of the condo. Uber notified me that the driver was going to arrive early and so he did. (The Uber app is trés slick, very intuitive and doesn't rely on Google Maps, thank god!).

We were dropped off at the GR airport at 4:30, and checked in soon after. Although quite a few folks were traveling at such an early hour we were through security and at our gate in no time at all. 

The flight left on time and less than two hours later we found ourselves wandering around aimlessly at Charlotte Airport. (The place is HUGE, but well signed.) For reasons unclear to us the agent at GR could not check us in through to Munich -- although our luggage cleared that hurdle -- so we had to find an American Airlines customer service desk in Charlotte. That done and with boarding passes in hand we made our way to the Amex lounge to hang out for the next six hours or so. . . 

concourse E as seen from concourse D (Amex Lounge)

our Boeing 777 Dreamliner

We boarded on time, found our seats and settled in for the next 8 hours or so. Fortunately I had booked Premium Economy and out of 18 seats in that cabin only ten had been sold so we had plenty of room to stretch out (so to speak) and enjoy the flight. 

The onboard evening meal was mediocre but the service was pleasant and the onboard entertainment stellar: I watched the new Dune (part one apparently) and Susie and I both watched JLo and Owen Wilson in Marry Me. It was no Notting Hill to be sure but the music was good and Jennifer Lopez was terrific. 

Thursday, 21 April 2022,  0700 (Munich time)

After a relatively smooth flight with minimal turbulence we arrived in sunny Munich on time, slid through passport control with no problems (they didn't seem at all concerned about our vaccines cards), collected our bags and made our way to find the train that would take us into the city. I took the opportunity to let our landlord know we were in town and hoping to be at the apartment within the hour. A 45-minute train ride followed by an even shorter taxi ride and voilá! There we were standing in front of Prestalozzistrasse no. 18. 

Our hostess Agnes met us at the main door and took us through the courtyard to our apartment. (You can find the deets on our home for the next week right here: https://abnb.me/1lZJxRX3dpb.

We barely settled in before we laid down and took a much-needed nap - having the foresight to set an alarm giving us about 2.5 hours of the sleep we craved so much at that moment.

Once we were up, we unpacked, showered, changed clothes and headed out to buy some groceries for our home for the next week. We found a wonderful market just 3 minutes away, 

Edeka Market

After returning to the apartment and dropping everything off, back out we went to explore the neighborhood. Just two doors down from no 18 was the pleasantly funky Aroma KaffeeBar where we stopped to sit, relax, drink some spectacular coffee and eat freshly baked pastry.

Refreshed and refueled we pushed back out into the sunshine. 

After a ten minute stroll down our block (and the blocks hereabouts tend to meander every which way) we found ourselves at the Alter Südlicher Friedhof (friedhof is German for cemetery) literally just around the corner from our place. Naturally we wandered in. . . 

Two minutes after leaving the friedhof we were back home in time to catch up on various settling in tasks.

With early evening came a belated hunger and so we opted for one of the local eateries; in this case Junge Romer, a place known for its fresh pasta, tasty pizza and friendly and incredible service. 

We were lucky enough to score a free table inside the small cafe -- outside was too chilly for us although the outdoor seating would be full by the time we left. I had a ragu du carciofi (artichoke) and Susie had a delicious pistachio pasta, all washed down by an Aglianico red wine from Campania. 

After dinner we strolled for a just a few minutes through the cemetery next door before heading home.

So, all-in-all not too bad for our first day in Munich -- we had no idea there was so much to experience right in our neighborhood. 

It wasn't long before our bed called to us ever so persistently and of course we had no recourse but to oblige.

Tomorrow it's off to the Marienplatz, getting our transport passes, visiting the Alte Pinacoteke, strolling around the old town, spending time in the English Gardens and who knows what else?

Stay tuned!