Up til now

Last night we crashed into bed around 11:00 for the night, or so we thought.

I was so uncomfortable sleeping in the bed.  I think the mattress pad was made of rubber because I constantly woke up several times each night boiling hot and drenched in sweat.  Then after I cooled off I was wide awake.  By this time it was 1:00, 1:15, 1:25, 1:45, nuts!  I got up, turned on the Slingbox and watched Mean Girls on TBS.  Around 2:00 who joins me on the couch?  Matt.  We watched Slingbox TV until about 4:00 and went back to bed.

We had big plans for Monday - take the U-Bahn out to Dachau to tour the city and the Concentration Camp then get our rental car and drive to Regensburg to visit my friend from school, Ann and her family.  Well, an 11:25 wake up really puts a damper on the day.  We missed breakfast and still had to shower.  We had to scratch Dachau from our to-do list.

We have a rental car from this point on in our vacation.  In order to pick it up we had to take the U-Bahn back to the Munich airport.  Matt loves a good visit to an airport so this provided about 30 minutes of fun for him.  I have a much different view of the Munich airport after this visit.  When we arrived last Wednesday I found the airport to be very industrial and cold.  Now seeing it more in the daylight and having a chance to explore, it's quite a lovely airport.  It has an outdoor Beer Garden (shocking) and a variety of shops and even a grocery store. 

Getting to our car was no problem; Matt was excited to drive an Audi Q5.  The only thing we could not figure out was how to start the darn thing.  The key did not have a metal piece to stick into the ignition; the whole key fob went into the ignition spot.  The thing was there was no button to push and the key fob did not turn.  We felt like stupid Americans at this point.  Pushing random buttons and switches Matt finally tapped the brake and saw a message on the dash that said push the key in while holding the brake.  Success!

After entering Ann's address we were on our way to Regensburg!  Ann and her family are in Regensburg on a two-year plan with her husband's company. They live approximately 90 minutes outside Munich, so we decided a visit was in order. The drive was lovely, and Matt loved the high and sometimes non-existent speed limits.  One thing Ann brought to our attention before our drive was to check out the crops growing along the side of the road; they were hops!  A lot of hops. 

She asked me to bring a few items from the US that she was missing: vanilla extract, Tootsie Pops, and Cinnamon Altoids. I was shocked that vanilla extract was not an item available in German markets. Ann and Jim have friends that live on the military base nearby so she does get some of her contraband items from their commissary.

The town of Regensburg is a city that sustained minimal damage during the war.  The cathedral (Dom) and bridge are quite beautiful sites.  Ann, Jim and the girls showed us all the highlights of their town.  It was clear to see that they are proud of thier town.  The sky was beautiful, and Ann mentioned that it rained all morning so this was a lovely change.  As we were walking we noticed that they sky was getting very dark.  It was just about time for dinner so we ducked under several  awnings and made it, slightly damp, into a Bavarian restaurant.  After dinner we saw that the sun was shining so another walk through town was in order.  Jim stopped us at a Gelato shop to top off dinner.  Wouldn't you know it, they sky got very black, very fast.  We were not really anywhere near their apartment, so we had two choices go it in the rain or stand under an awning for who knows how long.  We chose to go it in the rain.  Maybe not the smartest idea since the rain brought thunder and lightning, but we all survived.  Albeit very wet.  Ann tossed our shirts into the dryer while we talked some more.  About five minutes after we got back to their apartment the sun came out and gave us a double rainbow.  I suppose the walk in the rain was worth it. 

Once our shirts were dry, it was time to leave my friend for our drive back to Munich.  Even with a late wake up we had a very busy day.  Tomorrow is going to be another good one!