Just got back from Munich.

[Zoomschwortz]

I got back from Munich yesterday. This was my first international trip and I was surprised at how much fun my son and I had.

We were lucky enough to Herf with a man from London that checks out C/S and is known on other sites as "Alex W."

At 6" 10" Alex is a giant dwarfed only by his personality and vast knowledge on many subjects. We spent the day at Andeches drinking Andeches Dopple Bock and smoking fine cigars that I never see in our B&M's.

Before leaving the USA, I had reservations on how we would be accepted by the locals. It didn't take long to find that my fears were unwarranted. The people of Munich couldn't have treated us any better and went out of their way to give us any help we needed.

Not knowing much more than a very few basic words in German, I found it was easy to find people 40 and under that spoke great English.

On a few occasions, my son and I went to some small local beer garden/restaurants and were greeted by suspicious stares from the locals. That is until they discovered we were Americans and then they were buying us drinks and telling us how much they liked Americans and one man thanked my son and I for the help we gave them after the war and bought us shots of Slipovich (I most likely butchered the name).

Another thing that is impressive is their transportation system. Keep in mind that I avoid big cities at all costs, never seen a subway, never rode a train and have been on a public bus (not counting school bus) a couple times. After figuring out which tickets we needed for a 3 day pass, we had the subway system down after our 2nd subway ride. It is very easy and safe to use.

Being a person that has spent most of my life living in the country, Munich is the only city I have been to that I loved being in and didn't even miss not being home. I never dreamed that I would ever say that I loved being in a city, but I can honestly say, Munich is great.

Another thing that I was told before going to Germany is, "watch out for the German Police". I have friends that are policemen and I like our police, but, I must say the German police were very helpful and more than willing to answer any questions. It would be easy to say that they were only that way because we were from another country except on many occasions we were able to see them driving in their cars, walking in the public or riding horses and they always had smiles on their faces and looked as if their job was enjoyable and not a burden.

Now for some warnings.
Try at all costs to avoid Charles De Gaul airport in France. When you land or get ready to take off, you get a 15-20 minute scenic tour of many places in the airport from the seat of your plane.

Avoid flying Air France. The employees on the flights were great, but, that is were it ends.

Nothing is well marked and you will need to ask what gate you will need to goto so you can catch your flight. After showing my ticket to an Air France employee and asking what gate I had to goto (gate and terminal not printed on the ticket because that can change at any moment) to catch our flight, we were told that we were in the right place and just had to go through security.

We got in a long line to go through security and while we are waiting, I notice people keep coming back from the gate side of security, through our lines and leaving the terminal with bags in hand (they are going the wrong way through the line). We finally go through the whole security thing with shoes off everything out of pockets etc. and get dressed again and go look for our gate.

Going into Germany from CDG, we found that the Air France employees only occupy the desk at the gate a couple minutes before they start boarding, so if you have a question you have a choice between empty desks or desks surrounded by many people with questions (trying to find out where they should be) who after getting their question answered, many times turn around and go through security, THE WRONG WAY.

I finally get to the front of the line and ask the Air France employee which gate I need to go to and he tells me it is gate 76, in a terminal that is 20 minutes away. He then tells me I need to turn around and go back through security (THE WRONG WAY) and walk (20 minutes) or try to catch a bus. This is GREAT NEWS since my ticket while saying very little, does tell me that my plane will start boarding in about 5 minutes.

Well luckily (I thought) I did find the bus that went to the terminal I needed to go to. We boarded the bus and then sat there for about 10 minutes (with no one getting on or off) and proceeded to take a very ssssllloooooowwww tour of the outside of the airport seeing many of the baggage and equipment yards, much like the tour we got from inside the airplane.

By the time we make it to the terminal I'm sure our plane has already left (but still driving around the airport on it's own 20 minute tour ;-) ) and we still need to go through security, AGAIN.

So, coat off, shoes off, pockets empty, liquid enclosed in plastic bag removed from pack etc. and make it through security, AGAIN, get dressed, AGAIN, only to see a sign stating that our gate is approximately 7 minutes away.

Well, we made the flight only because they were delayed in boarding the plane, but, we were most likely the last people to board because in just a very few minutes, we started our own 15-20 minute tour of the airport, AGAIN.

Soon we were off the ground, stinking of sweat from our running and on our way to 10+ hour trip in the most uncomfortable airplane (Airbus A330) I have ever flown in. It didn't take long before I was wishing I was 5' 2" instead of 6' 2".

Well we made it back in one piece, survived customs who took a bunch of flower seeds for my wifes flower garden, lost a beer glass and ceramic beer stein (lot's of broken glass in the suitcase and clothes) and as an added bonus from the plane ride I now have a sinus infection and runny nose, so, no cigars for me today.

I gotta go now, I think I just found a piece of glass in my slipper (ouch).

I do want to go back to Germany again, only no CDG airport, no Air France Airlines and no A330 airplane.

Take care everyone and have a great week.
Ken

[Fortunate_Son]

Great post, I've only been to Germany once on business and would love to go back again with some leisure time.

Have to agree with the comments on CDG airport - I've never been through there w/o problems of one sort or another but I don't remember it being as tough to navigate as you described. Sounds like it's getting worse since I was last there seven years ago. At least the food is better than most on Air France.

[D. Generate]

I have been to Munich twice. Both of which consisted of airport, client meeting and airport again. I look forward to actually seeing the city sometime.

[hotreds]

Ach du Lieber! Sorry about the ride- I hate air travel anymore with everyone considered a terrorist. Glad you enjoyed Deutschland, thanks for the informative post!

[Zoomschwortz]

Originally Posted by Fortunate_Son

Great post, I've only been to Germany once on business and would love to go back again with some leisure time.

Have to agree with the comments on CDG airport - I've never been through there w/o problems of one sort or another but I don't remember it being as tough to navigate as you described. Sounds like it's getting worse since I was last there seven years ago. At least the food is better than most on Air France.

The food and service on the A/F plane was great. The problems (except for knees stuck into the seat ahead of me for 10 hours) I had with Air France was on the ground trying to find where my plane would be.

I have never been away from home for a week without getting a little homesick until I went to Munich. I really hated to come back home.

Before I left for Germany, people told me to tell the Germans I was from Canada or I would have problems. It was the complete opposite when I got there. As soon as they knew I was an American, it opened up doors and they couldn't do enough for me. I never dreamed it would be so good there.

[tfar]

Ken,

thanks for your nice post. I am glad you were well received in my country and glad you decided to visit Germany. Munich is indeed on of the best cities to live in in Germany. If you ever decide to go back, try Hamburg and Berlin.

There are direct flights to all three of these cities from the US. You probably chose the Air France option for price reasons. You are right in that CDG airport is best avoided. The best airlines to fly are Continental and Lufthansa when you go to Germany. In Germany avoid Frankfurt airport. While it is much better organized than CDG, it is still huge, so the effect is a bit like that of O'Hare or DFW.

Which cigars did you smoke there? How did you find the prices on ISOMs? I was just in Berlin and found the prices to be high as always.

Till

[Todd W]

I'm glad you made it safely -- great post about the trip. It sounds like aside from some airport woes you guys had a stress-free time. We'll have to hear more about this soon!

Todd

[FriendlyFire]

Welcome back, I was in Frankfurt Twice did you get anu goodies in the Duty free humidor?????

[viesturs]

nice post. my son just got back from Munich 2 wks ago and said many of the same things. He actually stayed in Ingolstadt which is close to Munich.He also mentioned the police and how they can stop you whenever and search your car no reason needed.

[JohnnyKay5]

Nice Post, I'm looking at making it there for Oktoberfest this year on my R&R! If you have anymore insight on the place I'm intrested. Good Smoking to ya!


LT K

[pmwz]

The people in the brewhouses and beergardens are always nice their. I am german and my problem is that its hard to understand their dialect but a couple of maß will solve that problem.
I actually tend to dislike people from bavaria (mostly due to their soccer team and the bavarian politicians). Bavarians are not known for their openness and their kindness (besides in the beer gardens). Glad you had a great time over here.

[JohnnyKay5]

I havent made it there yet but thanks for the heads up.

[gnukfu]

Went to Frankfurt once on business to do some consulting and everyone I met was first class. Work hard and eat and party harder! I remember going to an outdoor cafe and consuming mass quantities of apple wine (apfelwein?) served in a stone like carafe with matching glasses. Paired that with a pork shank or two, I was in heaven and drunk as a skunk. And then there's the beer.....and the ride on the autobahn in the classic Mercedes coupe one of them had (drinking and the autobahn weren't on the same night). It was a blast! Had a great 2 weeks there. They never let me have dinner on my own. They either took me out or invited me into their homes for dinner.

Great food, great drink, but above all great people!!