"Munich According to Oja" a Munich Travel Page by oja

<B>Although Munich would not qualify as one of Europe's most unforgettable cities to me, it did play an important role a couple of times and brought me a few nice memories. The first time I was there properly (I'm not counting many short stops on hitching trips to Berlin and France) was on my solo Interrail tour in Summer of 1998. Munich was my first stop, the place where it all started, and now, in retrospective, I'm feeling nostalgic about it solely for this reason.</B>

I can recall almost every moment of it - getting out of the train all sweaty (I left my seat and stood myself by the door minutes before!), inhaling the smell and the spirit of the huge station hall, venturing out to get the feel of the streets and sit down for my first coffee of the trip. I don't know if this is happening to you too, but the first cafe I walk into is always expensive! Come to think of it, it can't be a pure coincidence - the logic must be that in the beginning I've still got money, feel festive and excited about getting started, and thus treat myself to goodies without too much pondering. The cafe was called Unter die Akazien, and was situated in an elegant pedestrian street. The coffee cost me five marks (see, I remember everything!). After the pleasant start the survival battle started: I had to find me a place to stay. Since my budget was modest to say the least, I opted for The Tent, which was of course hidden somewhere outside the map. Luckily I spotted the Tourist Information, scrambled inside with my huge backpack (feeling like an overweight elephant among all those gracious Asians), got all the info I needed with but few scratches, and stumbled on a tram without a valid ticket. Ah well, I'll buy it from the conductor if necessary, I thought not knowing how lucky I was there was no conductor at the end!

As I reached The Tent and unpacked, I sat down on the biergarten-type table and wrote down a few of first impressions. It was an early evening, sun was low and Ljubljana was still very much inside me, flickering like a mobile phone light in the distance, not entirely letting me go. I felt a bit melancholic. I ventured out all by myself, I made it - and what next? Suddenly I missed my friends and the balcony of our rented flat. I smiled to random campers walking past me, and finally decided to follow the flow and make the best of it.

Well, the evening that followed was already just what it should be - campfire was lit, people were met, and atmosphere flourished. I had a great laugh with a crowd of young Slovaks who were spending their summer working. I was offered loads of beer by two 17-year-olds from Cologne who felt quite flattered that a 23-yr old woman had a serious talk with them. As I woke up in the morning, I was reborn once again as a traveller, and that's when the whole story really started and led to the most unforgettable summer in my entire life.

That's my first memory of Munich.